WATER and the sea are the constant backdrop for Philip Goulding’s play A Fine Bright Day Today, and so the incessant downpour that greeted the audience leaving the Swan Theatre seemed almost appropriate. It’s the story of a 30-year widow and her daughter and an American hobby painter. Margaret has lived since her trawlerman husband’s…
PANTOMIME animals come in all shapes and sizes and are an essential element of the show – stroppy horses kicking up their heels, poor Daisy the cow on her way to market, quick-witted Puss in boots or helping Dick Whittington and even Captain Hook’s nemesis, the ticking crocodile. Highcliffe Charity Players’ Treasure Island boasts what…
HILARY Mantel’s award winning novels Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies have been adapted for the stage by Mike Poulton, and are currently part of the Swan Theatre season at the Royal Shakespeare Company theatre at Stratford-upon-Avon. And while fans await the publication of The Mirror and the Light, the third part of Mantel’s…
WEST Country beef and lamb have been awarded protected status by the European Commission. Regional meat has been given Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status while another specialist regional product, Anglesey Sea Salt, has been given Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status. The EU designations give the products similar protected status to 60 other UK foods,…
A monthly column by Justin Tunstall of Town Mill Cheesemonger, Lyme Regis FRANCIS is an outstanding Dorset cheese success story. Few cheeses win consecutive Best in Category gongs at the British Cheese Awards (our Oscars), yet Francis, a lovely washed-rind gem from Child Okeford has achieved this feat, scooping Best New British Cheese in 2012…
BOURNEMOUTH Symphony Orchestra’s Resonate Strings is a quintet made up of members of the BSO who, as well as playing in the concert hall, perform in smaller venues, working with different audiences and leading a variety of musical activities. Their “Winter Serenade” was presented in partnership with Artsreach – one of the first events in…
PETER James is one of the UK’s best known crime writers, with his 25 novels translated into 36 languages, and his novella The Perfect Murder spending 15 weeks at the top of the best seller charts. Last year it was announced that the book would be adapted for the stage by Shaun McKenna, and audiences…
IT probably isn’t sunny all the time at Wrington – it just seems like that to us. On the two occasions that we have had lunch at The Ethicurean restaurant in the Barley Wood Walled Garden, despite cold and wet weather before and after our visits, the sun has been shining and the peaceful valley…
THERE’S a talking, walking, scheming feline in Street until 4th January, and he and his chums are delighting audiences at Strode Theatre. Glastonbury and Street Musical Comedy Society is back on the Strode stage for the fourth Christmas season, this year with Keith Marsden and Geoffrey Rundle’s version of Puss in Boots, directed by Rodney…
SHAFTESBURY-born private chef Philippa Davis will be back in the West Country for Christmas, but in the run-up to the festive season she has been cooking in the south of France … Chilled milky blue light rested over the Alpilles mountains as I drove towards my final pre Christmas job down in the south of…