Biddy at Côte

Late morning, between meetings, I needed a refuel so it was a perfect opportunity to stop by and see what’s what at the newest restaurant in town: Côte Brasserie.   

Côte, just by the bridge on Northbrook Street, looks incredibly smart on the outside, the windows mysteriously dark, and inside the cool, contemporary, sophisticated decor follows through. I was welcomed with a big, warm ‘Good morning’ and was just in time to be offered either the breakfast or lunch menu. At 11.45am, my body clock was undecided, so I took both. 

I was shown to a table by the window – a fabulous people-watching spot, and as this part of the restaurant is a little below pavement level you get an interesting knee-level view of those going by. There is loads of space; the restaurant goes back a fair way with lots of tables, nicely spaced, just as I like. There were half a dozen or so other tables occupied but in no time at all it was starting to fill up with customers attracted by the lunchtime offers. (Their set menu is fabulously priced at £9.95 for two courses and £11.90 for three.)

I ordered coffee while I browsed the menus, and was also brought water in a pretty ceramic bottle, a lovely touch and much appreciated by me. But down to business … breakfast or lunch, breakfast or lunch? Oh, decisions, decisions… 

Côte’s style is based on the brasseries of Paris and I almost fell for the Crêpe Complète, which comes with bacon and gruyère, from the breakfast menu, but at the last moment put on my sensible head and plumped for chargrilled chicken and walnut salad from the lunch menu … and another coffee because I had already polished off the first one and it was sooooo good. (I made the second one a decaff though, as didn’t want to be climbing the walls, and it was just as good as the ‘caff’ variety.)

Salad? A bit of an un-Biddy like choice? Not one bit of it. Although listed under the lighter meals on the menu, even I could not quite work my way through the delicious bowlful (and I mean full!) of crunchy green beans, avocado, walnuts, croutons, fresh lettuce and hot chicken in a mustard dressing. It was a more than adequate lunch, and good value.

The staff were discreetly attentive, quick and efficient – I was all done in 45 minutes which suited me very well and by which time the place was really buzzing. And the staff all look great dressed in floor length black aprons and crisp blue shirts, very chic, very French.

In fact, with a glimpse of the canal from my vantage point at the window, I could almost have believed it was the Seine and that I was in gay Paree! 

Biddy x

GCSE students moved by inspirational young dancer

GCSE students at Newbury College were moved by an inspirational presentation and dance performance by local young dancer Frankie Rae when she visited the Monks Lane campus earlier this month.

Frankie gave a presentation to students about how she has remained motivated despite her disability and struggles with depression, and imparted the techniques she has learnt to help her deal with them. Born with a condition called Holt Oram Syndrome, that causes defects in the hands, arms and heart, Frankie has had to undergo ten operations and have major reconstructive surgery on both of her hands.

Talking of why she was happy to share her story, Frankie said, “I wanted to speak to the students today to share with them the battles that I have faced and show them that no matter what you face you can still achieve your dreams”.

Frankie’s difficulties have not stopped her determination to pursue her love of dancing as a career. Dancing from a young age helped to save Frankie from losing the use of her hands and arms and also meant that she spent less time in hospital undergoing physiotherapy. She has danced for a number of local dance organisations including Italia Conti Associates Newbury and after Wilkes Academy of Performing Arts she is well on her way of achieving her dreams.

GCSE student Dean Miller who attended the presentation said, “Her visit was truly inspirational and has motivated the whole course to always try their hardest. We no longer say ‘we can’t’, we now say ‘we can try’. We learnt this from Frankie”.

The visit concluded with a special performance of ‘Hold your dream’.

Biddy in Victoria Park

Thank heavens for green open spaces, even if they are in the middle of town. Or perhaps that should be especially if they are in the middle of town. And one such area in Newbury brings a welcome relief after a busy morning shopping. After an essential coffee at Café Rouge, I stepped over the road and into Victoria Park (or Vicky Park if you want to be more casual about it). What a lovely spot to get away from it all, for a quiet stroll, some thinking time, or just a place to sit awhile, and a haven for dog walkers, joggers, and parents with pushchairs.

The avenue of trees as you enter the park from Parkway is a pretty scene at any time of year, and there are plenty of seats to rest and watch the world go by. (I am also impressed by the number of bins, so no excuses for litter or doggie-doos to spoil it for everyone else.) The flower beds are always tidy – with a changing array of flowers depending on the season, but even in the coldest months they look smart with rose bushes pruned and the promise of things to come. Thank you to the council for making them so.

The park’s namesake stands in all her glory in red sandstone at the far end of the park, with the modest inscription ‘To the great and good Queen Victoria 1819–1901’. Although originally in the Market Place, the statue has been in the park since 1966 and dear old Queen Vic has much to look out on, with the tennis courts before her and skateboard heaven off to her right. Here too is a younger children’s area with climbing equipment and things to ride on and a slide with four ways to get to the top and two routes to slide to the bottom. And, of course, my particular favourite – the swings: I am not averse to kicking up my heels and flying through the air on one when no one is watching. (Ssssh! Don’t tell!) There’s a sandpit too, great fun for little ones.

The lake is a focal point and a great attraction to the swans – and indeed seagulls: close your eyes and you can almost believe you are at the seaside. Of course it’s from May to September that the park really comes to life with entertainments such as boating on the lake, refreshments at the café, music at the bandstand and a host of events taking place – funfairs, the carnival, the Crafty Craft boat race and so forth. All lovely on a fine day. But for me, on a bright winter’s day, a solitary stroll back along the avenue of bare trees is an absolute pleasure and a lovely break before I head back to the car and home.

Biddy x

Newbury College Team 19 5 a-side Football Tournament

Newbury College held a 5-a-side intra Team 19 football tournament at the end of January with six teams taking part from courses ranging from Motor Vehicle and Construction to Public Services and Animal Care.

The event took place to launch the Team 19 football programme at Newbury College, a programme which aims to address the 16-19 participation drop-off within sports by driving intra-college Team 19 football leagues which are led by students for students.

Sports Maker at Newbury College Aimee Kaur who organised the event said, “It was brilliant to launch a Team 19 football event which engaged students of all abilities from a variety of curriculum areas. We worked closely with Association of Colleges Sport and Berks and Bucks Football Association to ensure it was successful. The students worked incredibly well together and fostered good sportsmanship throughout”.

Aimee has recently been appointed as the new College Sports Maker and aims to deliver a wider sporting variety for students and help drive up student sport participation encouraging new participants during her time at Newbury College.

There is something for everyone at Newbury College. For more information go along to the Open Evening at the Monks Lane campus on Tuesday 10 February 4pm-8pm. For any other queries please contact on 01635 845000 or visit our website www.newbury-college.ac.uk.

Biddy Samples Breakfast at Bill's

I was in town for a (very) early meeting recently and with no time for breakfast beforehand it seemed a great idea to treat myself post-meeting. 

Bill’s is a fairly new kid on the block (well, the Market Place anyway) and a great addition to the choice of eateries here in Newbury. 

First impression as you walk in is good – the staff charming and attentive. They’ve created a very comfortable atmosphere here, with leather seating, pretty lights and plenty of tables. And I was able to have a window seat – a great vantage point to watch the world go about its business.

I had not had a coffee as yet so I enjoyed my first one of the day while I studied the menu. And darn good coffee it was too. I also liked the fact that you automatically get offered water for the table – I wish more places would do this as a matter of course. 

The breakfast menu has lots of lovely choices: bacon or sausage brioche roll; buttermilk pancakes; granola (with yoghurt and berry compote – yum); porridge (with bananas, hazelnuts and honey – double yum); scrambled eggs on sour dough toast (add salmon or bacon it you fancy it), to name but a few. Or of course you can go the whole hog and have Bill’s Breakfast – just what you’d expect, bacon, sausage, egg, mushrooms, tomatoes and toast (and add baked beans, black pudding and crispy potatoes if you’re really hungry!) – and there’s an equally filling veggie option too. But what I really wanted, and so what I had, was the wonderfully comforting eggs benedict (eggs royale or florentine also available).The sour dough toast was delicious, the eggs cooked to perfection, served with ‘proper ham’ (none of your pre-packed rubbish here!), a fabulous hollandaise and all topped with a tasty sprinkle of pumpkin seeds. A generous portion and truly delicious.

Bill’s clearly appeals to a wide mix of people – enjoying breakfast or coffee and cake (scones and toasted teacakes on offer too) were other lone diners like me, couples, parents with small children and those engaged in business meetings. You get the feeling nothing is too much trouble here – the chap on the next table wanted to swap an item on the full breakfast: ‘no problem’.

Breakfast aside, the lunch and dinner menus look great too – but that’s for another day. But I ought to mention there’s all sorts of ‘Bill’ items you can buy to take away, too: Bill’s marmalade and jam, oaties in a tin, truffles, olive oil, gift boxes for the foodies in your life … definitely worth a look.

Do go and give Bill’s a go. The breakfast certainly gets a big Biddy thumbs up!

Biddy x 

Biddy at Bucklebury Farm Park

The husband’s birthday and a day off work … so we decided to have a day out at Bucklebury Farm Park with our small grandson, DD.

We’d not been before but can certainly recommend this as a really good day out for children (even ones who have a beard and are over six feet tall!).

We started with a late breakfast (husband)/early elevenses (DD and me) at Woody’s Cafe & Tea Room, and a jolly good one it is too. It was a bitingly cold day so stepping into the warmth generated by the wood-burning stove was very welcome … as was the delicious coffee, bacon roll and cakes. Incidentally, anyone is welcome to go to Woody’s, you don’t need to be going round the farm, and there were several locals doing just that. 

And so onto the farm itself. Top tip – if you are going in the winter months, wrap up very warmly and take wellies as you will get muddy. (Well, it is a farm after all!) And if your littlies can manage without a pushchair I would recommend you leave it in the car, as although you can push it around many parts of the farm it is mostly on grass and … well, let’s just say that too will get muddy!

There is lots of open space for children to run free, and plenty of animals to admire – Shetland ponies, donkeys, llamas … and lots of fluffy guinea pigs in the guinea pig hotel. There are specific times during the day when you can pet some of the animals, too.

There are bigger animals that are not of the petting variety as well: cows, wild boar and, our particular favourite, lots of deer. You can get up close and personal with some of them on a tractor ride, and as DD loves tractors this was something of great excitement. Our lovely friendly driver told us all about the various types of deer as he ploughed us through the mud, and we had a chance to feed them. Big Ron had a particularly fine sets of antlers, and I am pretty sure I’ve seen him pulling Father Christmas’ sleigh before now. (Didn’t see that any of his friends had a red nose though….)

There is also a nature trail and wild walk which no doubt are lovely to explore in all seasons. However, this is something we will save for next time when DD’s little legs can cope with a bit more serious walking. But what he did love was the play park, especially as there were two (static) tractors on which he could sit, pull levers and turn the steering wheel – it was hard to drag him away from them! The enticement was the playbus, converted into a soft play area where he was able to run around safely and zoom down the slide to his heart’s content (we were there mid-week in term time, but at busier times of year you get a limited time on the bus to give everyone a chance). There is another indoor area with much bigger slides too, which looked great fun, if a bit scary!

After all that fresh air we were ready to go back to Woody’s and warm ourselves with lunch – delicious homemade soup for me; ham, egg and chips for the birthday boy (and he voted the ham the best ever, and he is something of an expert); and a child’s lunchbox for DD (he loved all the farm animals decorating it, and the gingerbread man was a big hit). There is gift shop next to Woody’s and a farm shop as well, with all sorts of delicious goodies to take home. I was particularly keen on their great range of frozen foods by ‘COOK’, really good hand-made meals, and very reasonably priced. Worth stocking up for those times you really don’t have time to make a lamb tagine yourself!

After another trip around the farmyard, we voted it a really good day out and wended way home, and are looking forward to a return visit in the spring.

Check out directions, opening times and prices at www.buckleburyfarmpark.co.uk. And remember to say ‘Hi’ to Big Ron for me.

Biddy x 

Enjoy Late Night Christmas Shopping in Newbury

It’s that time of year again when many people are trying to fit Christmas shopping into an already busy schedule. But never fear – Newbury has the solution, with late night shopping on Thursdays in December from 5 to 8pm.

Do pop in on for the late night openings – a great opportunity to browse the shops at leisure (and avoid the weekend crush), get advice from the assistants if you don’t know what to choose for ‘the person who has everything’ ... and, of course, get ideas to add to your own Christmas list!

This year each of the late night openings are themed and, as well as many shops stay open until 8pm, will offer something a little bit special. The next two nights are:

Thursday 11 December – Choir of 1,000 Voices

As well as late night shopping, tonight’s the night when Newbury comes alive to the beautiful sound of a Choir of 1,000 Voices. Many local choirs will keep shoppers entertained by singing carols around the town, then gather around the Christmas tree in the Market Place at 7.30pm for the finale. Make sure yours is one of the voices joining in, and really get in the Christmas spirit! 

Newbury Building Society will be running some competition too ... so pop in and find out how to enter.

Thursday 18 December – Frozen

Tonight, whatever the weather, Newbury will be ‘frozen’ as ice sculptors demonstrate their spectacular art around the town. There is even going to be an Ice Queen, so why not make this the night you give your children a pre-Christmas treat with a trip into Newbury? And with just one week to go until the big day, this is your final chance for late night shopping this Christmas, so make the most of the wonderful selection of shops in Newbury ... and perhaps find that last-minute gift for someone special.

Free parking

Late night shoppers can enjoy free parking in the multi-storey car parks at Parkway, The Kennet Centre and Northbrook from 5–8pm on 4, 11 and 18 December.

Traffic-free areas

To keep everyone safe, Northbrook Street, Market Place and other pedestrianised areas stay closed to traffic during this year’s late-night shopping events.