October 12, 2011 · 2:57 pm

Amigo y vino, el mas antiguo

The cellar at the Old Ship Hotel. Imagine hundreds more wine glasses.


What? Spanish wine tasting by Elwood Wines
Where? The Old Ship Hotel
When? 6th October
Cost? £25

When it comes to buying wine a la supermarché I don’t have a clue what I’m doing. Ordering wine in restaurants is easy because there’s usually only one of each colour that I can afford. But the supermarket is a minefield of sneaky offers and pretty labels and end-of-aisle “look at me!” displays. The last time I bought a bottle I couldn’t see any particularly tempting offers so I panicked and bought one with a picture of a cat sitting on an egg.

I have long been jealous of my friends and, conveniently, downstairs neighbours for their wine acumen. When I pop down in my jim jams to watch some telly or help them eat a Sunday roast I always know I’ll be presented with a large glass of something nice; invariably much nicer than my absurdly-labelled offerings. And because I am always saying how overwhelming I find the wine buying experience, they suggested I come along to one of the wine tastings that they regularly attend.

Elwood Wines is an independent wine merchant, and holds tastings at various lovely Brighton venues. I went to one at the Old Ship Hotel where they have a very atmospheric wine cellar come 17th Century smugglers’ tunnel. It’s a perfect setting for an intimate event such as this one, with a long candlelit dining table. The evening took us on a tour of Spain, with two sherries, a cava, two whites and four reds. Tour guide Karl Elwood (I just made that title up – he didn’t have a badge or anything) clearly knows his stuff and gave us the information in a way that held the interest of the seasoned wine drinker as well as I, the ignoramus. We sampled the wines alongside various tapas dishes to complement and enhance the flavours. The wines were tasted in pairs and we were encouraged to use our little maps of Spain to see how the flavours related to the regions and their climates. We covered the various ageing processes and grape varieties too (tempranillo featuring heavily for the reds). Though much of what I learnt went in one ear and out the other, I did fill in some notes on the tasting sheets provided. These notes start off in a pretty informative manner but quickly descend into expletives as a means of describing fervent appreciation.

It was rather nice being completely surrounded by wine glasses and felt a bit like experimenting in a medieval laboratory. I am the sort of person that usually dives straight into any food or drink put in front of me so it made a welcome change to inspect the clarity, colour and aroma, let the wine breathe, and savour it with the bite size accompaniments.

The prices of each bottle weren’t revealed until after we’d tasted each one and formed our opinions, with surprising results. I was pleased to find that between a £25.75 and £45.50 bottle I preferred the cheaper one and pleased further still to be told that that’s perfectly okay. I have come away with new vocabulary of aromas and flavours to add to my standard repertoire of ‘tastes red’ and ‘winey’. It’s great to find some evening entertainment that is, well, a bit grown up really. It’s informative and enjoyable in equal measure and at £25 it’s really very reasonable.

These are my favourites from the evening:

  • Cava Brut Reserva NV, René Barbier (£9.00) – very good value and particularly good with chorizo and manchego skewers
  • Casal Caerio Albarino 2010, Rias Baixas (£14.50) – a nice fresh white with peachy acidity, good with seafood
  • Ribero Tinto Meses 2009, Ribera del Duero (£10.25) – this red has quite an unusual flavour with hints of liquorice. I loved it but there were definitely divided opinions on this one
  • Pedro Ximenez Triana, Bodegas Hildago – La Gitana (£15.00) – sherry to die for, goes marvellously with chocolate

The next tasting is a Winter/Christmas theme with cheeses provided by Cave à Fromage. It’s coming up on 17th November at Lighthouse Arts and tickets can be booked here.

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September 12, 2011 · 2:55 pm

The Brighton Trunk Murder of 1831

John Holloway looking like he's up to something. I've stuck a dunce hat on him because he's a stupid meany.

Over the weekend just gone I have attended six of my aforementioned Heritage open days. I kicked it off on Friday with a tour of Brighton’s old police cells in the basement of the town hall (well worth a visit, see here for details) and a tour around Brighton to see the architecture of various buildings which have been cinemas in previous lives. On Saturday I toured the rest of the town hall, The Brighton Dome and the gardens at Preston Manor. Then on Sunday I skipped a tour of the Masonic Centre in favour of extra sleep and then went out in the afternoon to be informed about the North Laine conservation area. I’ve never been skilled at listening intently to spiel with a sneaky educational undercurrent but I did manage to pick up some genuinely interesting information here and there. One particular story which cropped up on three separate tours was that of Celia Holloway, an ill-fated lady indeed. It is of particular interest because the story features locations around town which can still be visited today, appearing to us now much as they would have done in the 1800s.

Brighton boasts three famous trunk murders, but they are all unrelated. The two most recent two took place in the 1930s when dismembered bodies were discovered in trunks abandoned at Brighton station. Wikipedia knows a fair bit about these cases if you are at all interested but there is only a sentence or two about the original trunk murder of 1831 and I think this one makes for a better story.

Having seen a portrait of John Holloway I would guess that he was considered an attractive man in those times. There are no known pictures of Celia Holloway but she was reputedly not much to look at and suffered deformities of the hands but nevertheless had a happy disposition. Celia became pregnant by John and so he was forced into marrying her. Their child was stillborn and given that divorce was not an option in those days, John was clearly eager to find a way out of his lifelong commitment to Celia. John had a mistress, Ann Kennett who he bigamously married and she was all too willing to help him take care of the situation.

John took Celia to a house on Donkey Row, which no longer exists but would’ve been close to Edward Street if my memory serves me correctly. That makes me sound very old indeed but I am just remembering from what I was told on Saturday. In the 19th Century the area was something of a slum. Waste was thrown into a hole in the ground. Given that Brighton & Hove lies on chalk valleys, all that delicious sewage would’ve seeped down the hill into the water supplies of Donkey Row. Needless to say, it would trump the student digs of today hands down. So John announced to Celia that they would have another go at marriage and they would live here together in Slumsville. It is said that he leant in to kiss her, but instead slipped a rope around her neck and strangled her to death.

Together, John and Ann distributed bits of poor Celia’s body around Brighton. I should say that at the time of her death, Celia was heavily pregnant again with John’s child. The wicked pair, John and Ann dumped Celia’s limbs in the communal privy of Margaret Street (Kemp Town seafront). They hid the head in a cupboard of the house and put the torso in a trunk, which they transported to Lovers Walk by Preston Park. The Summer months had made the ground hard so they buried Celia in a shallow grave there. Clearly neither of them were very intelligent murderers as over the following weeks the rain washed the top layer of soil away to reveal the fabric of Celia’s dress. Passers by investigated, found her torso and both John and Ann were tried and found guilty at a location nearby (I think it was the Crown & Anchor on Preston Road). I can’t remember what happened to Ann but John was hanged at Horsham Gallows and his body taken (ironically in a trunk) to Brighton Town Hall where his corpse was put on display for the public to come and see. 23,000 people turned up to visit; more than the entire population of Brighton at the time.

Celia’s body was buried in the graveyard next to Preston Manor. A plaque is mounted on the wall there with the inscription:

Beneath this path are deposited portions of the remains of Celia Holloway who was brutally murdered in the Lovers Walk of this parish in the year of Christ 1831 aged 32 years.

The ladies running the tour of Preston Manor go there every year to lay a flower for Celia because – let’s face it – she can’t have led a very happy life. Having said that, she has gone down in history which is more than can be said for most of Brighton’s residents in the 1800s. I’m thankful that this story hasn’t been made into a film or BBC televised drama as I would weep like I did at Tess of the d’Urbervilles, but Celia serves as a reminder that we should feel lucky today that we are no longer obliged to marry any man who gets us up the duff.

I still haven’t been inside Preston Manor but the gardens are free to visit and the pet cemetery there is strangely charming. I particularly like the headstone with an inscription that goes something like “Here lies poor tatters. I doubt it much matters”. The police cells, as I said are worth a look, particularly since they’re free but the other tours were English Heritage one-offs so you can’t see them unless there’s a special event running. The Town Hall is a beautiful building but is looking pretty shabby these days so the tour is pretty depressing, but if you get the chance to tour the North Laine area with an informed guide then do. I’ll put up a list of all the old cinemas I saw the frontages of, though I can’t remember many details unfortunately.

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August 31, 2011 · 12:08 pm

Heritage Open Days A.K.A Free Snooping

Recommended accessories for educational days out: clipboard, bumbag, juice carton and healthy snack, sensible shoes with elevated viewing platform, umbrella, street map.

What?
When?Thursday 8th – Sunday 11th September
Cost?FREE

Heritage Open Days celebrates England’s architecture and culture by allowing visitors free access to interesting properties that are either not usually open, or would normally charge an entrance fee. Heritage Open Days also includes tours, events and activities that focus on local architecture and culture.

A full list of events is available here: http://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/directory/town/Brighton%20&%20Hove/
However, the list is as long as a very long piece of string so I have kindly picked out some highlights for you:

  • BBC Studio Tours
  • Beanfields to Bohemia Walk (tour of the North Laine conservation area)
  • Brighton College Tour
  • Brighton Old Police Cells
  • Brighton Town Hall and Environs
  • Brighton’s Magnificent Sewers SOLD OUT
  • Clayton Tunnel North Portal
  • Duke of York’s Cinema
  • Middle Street Synagogue
  • Nice Girls Didn’t go to the Academy! Cinema Themed Guided Tour
  • Preston Manor, Outdoor Curiosities and Hidden Gems
  • Shoreham Power Station
  • Sussex Masonic Centre
  • The Dome Tour
  • The Old Ship Hotel

    • Many of these tours have limited places so it’d be a good idea to book in advance where possible. Bumbags and clipboards at the ready…

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    Filed under Architecture, History, Outings

    August 3, 2011 · 5:14 pm

    Elton John at Hove Cricket Ground

    She's got electric boots, a mohair suit, you know I read it in a magazee-eene, oh ho, B-B-B-Bennie and the Jets

    When? Sunday 26th June
    Where? Hove Cricket Ground
    How much? £60

    In October tickets to see Elton John and his band at Sussex County Cricket Ground went on sale and I was more than a little excited at the prospect. There aren’t many artists who I would pay good money to see and I’m not really a fan of the whole live music thing, primarily because I like to enjoy music sitting down but also because invariably music sounds far better when not played live. Elton’s gig was a definite exception to the rule. Firstly, he has many fans who can no longer be considered ‘hip young things’ and so the target audience are largely fans of sitting down. The cricket ground kindly catered for this. Secondly, Elton John is one of those rare artists who sounds just as good live as he does through my sexy fold-up headphones. Thirdly, he is a hit making machine and I could be sure he wouldn’t play anything that didn’t make me want to leap from my seat for a solid thirty seconds to dance like my dad.

    So I bought my tickets as soon as they went on sale to avoid disappointment and even shelled out for the second cheapest option. Over the following months I forgot about the magic in store for me, but as summer approached I sensed that something marvelous was afoot. On the afternoon of the concert my Elton companion Laura and I boarded the no.7 bus Hoveward bound. I have undertaken literally thousands of bus journeys around Brighton and Hove and I’m never surprised when they turn out to be strange experiences. Now, there are certain sorts of people that one doesn’t expect to see on a bus, but this bus was full of them. Apparently the over fifties dress for an outdoor concert as they would for a wedding. I’m talking men in pale linen suits and panama hats, ladies in floaty florals. There was also one guy in multicoloured skintight lyrca, but he’s not atypical of a Brighton bus traveller. If I were in possession of a pair of balls I’d have started a nice Elton-themed sing song. Sadly I’m not so I quietly ate my Co-op sandwich instead.

    I’ve never been inside the cricket ground before and was impressed by its size. My view of the stage wasn’t great but the people right at the back must’ve been pretty disappointed. Still, facing South in the late afternoon of a beautifully sunny day, my right arm enjoyed the tanning opportunities. Now, on my ticket it mentioned a ‘special guest’. This anonymity had my mind racing with all the possibilities. Laura and I were hoping for Blue to pop out on stage during Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word. Turns out they didn’t specify the name of the support act because it was some guy no one had heard of. It took me a while to find this out but he’s called Ed Drewett. According to Wikipedia he was in Any Dream will Do but failed to reach the final twelve; I think this just about sums up his musical presence. I daresay that some audience members may have been shocked by his raunchy lyrics. Here’s an excerpt (some of his finer writing): “Oh my God! Have you seen this goon!? Love his ‘wallet’, must be huge to bag a girl like you’. Anyway, let’s not talk about Ed anymore.

    I was just a bit relieved when Elton came on. He was wearing a splendid besequinned jacket with a mermaid or something on the back. Davey Johnstone was there looking frighteningly skeletal but sporting a very nice guitar decorated with the Captain Fantastic album cover artwork. There was Nigel Olsson on the drums wearing a pair of white gloves (à la Mickey Mouse as opposed to MJ) – incidentally, if anyone can tell me the purpose of these I’d love to know. Notably, there were also a pair of very dashing Swedes with double bass or cello, well some large instrument but I was too distracted by their loveliness to notice. I think my favourite element of lineup though was backing singer Rose Stone. I have never seen anyone look so miserable on stage. She was just about participating with the classic ‘sway and finger click’ but I wasn’t convinced her mouth was moving. Next to the buxom Táta Vega whose personality was clearly as big as her hair, this was made all the funnier. Rose’s daughter Lisa, however was really very impressive. She was given a solo at one point and I think everyone was in agreement that she’s some kind of angel.

    Elton sang all the favourites and it was every bit as magical as I thought it would be. There was even a firework let off during Rocket Man. How apt. All the people living in the surrounding flats came out onto their balconies to watch (probably with a better view than anyone else) and the music could be heard far and wide for all of Hove to enjoy. Lovely. Since it was such a good day I am willing to forgive Elton for shortchanging us by half an hour of scheduled Elton time. Given that he’s in his mid-sixties now I imagine he just wanted a nice cup of tea and a biscuit by the end.

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    Filed under Music, Outings, Uncategorized

    July 25, 2011 · 11:20 am

    Ghost Stories at the Grand

    Me with Rob Marks, ghost storyteller extraordinaire. That's his spooked face, I haven't just pinched his bottom.


    When? Sunday 12th June
    Where? The Grand Hotel
    Cost? £10

    It was a grey and rainy evening. As my friend Sinéad and I approached the seafront, a tempestuous wind tried to blow us back from where we’d come, as if in warning for what lay ahead. The crooked remains of an umbrella lay sprawled across the pavement like the hand of a scarecrow. Rounding the corner from Cannon Place to King’s Road, we became trapped in a bizarre sort of vortex, causing me to flail my arms about and turn on the spot for a good minute, before announcing that I would have to take a run-up. We ran the final few metres, screaming like little girls until we reached the safety of the Grand Hotel’s arches where Old Man Mike stood smoking his cigarette. Mike is really only 25, but wears a lot of flat caps. With one arm folded across his chest, he held his cigarette in the other with a bend at the wrist, as if smoking a pipe. He gazed out at the tumultuous waves crashing in, wearing a troubled expression. The set of doors behind us to the Empress Suite were taped shut due to high winds so I stayed out here a while to tut about the weather with Mike, while thrill-seeking Sinéad went back to play in the vortex.

    As part of Brighton Book Festival (Bookstock), which ran from 9th – 12th June, Brighton’s ‘Ghost Walk of the Lanes’ came to the Regency Room of the Grand Hotel. The stories are told by Rob Marks, who dresses up in Victorian regalia to frighten the wits out of tourists and local residents alike. The grand is the perfect venue for such an evening – here’s a little snippet from their website to give you an idea if you’re not familiar with the hotel:

    Boomtown. Brighton took off in the mid 19th century, following the arrival of the new fangled steam railway. The Grand opened in 1864, providing luxury accommodation for the massive increase in visitors to the town. All 201 rooms were taken for the first night. Guests were welcomed to a hotel with all mod cons: There was a billiard room, a ball room, a smoking room, a library and one of the first hydraulic lifts in the country – referred to as an ascending omnibus!

    The Regency room has wood panelled walls and no windows. The guests sat around small candlelit tables as Rob, or Silas as he is known in character, strode into the room sounding a bell and came to stand by the fireplace. With a variety of spooky visual aids he began the tales. There are stories from a plethora of establishments around Brighton’s centre that you may well frequent – The Druid’s Head, The Cricketers (and the little alleyway or ‘twitten’ between it and The Black Lion), The Friends’ Meeting House, Doctor Brighton’s and Northern Lights. You could do a pub crawl of the supernatural if you so desired. The creaky floorboards, candlelight and oil paintings of ships on stormy seas all made for a very atmospheric evening, although the merry ragtime tunes drifting in from the piano in the bar next door weren’t quite in keeping. I’ll certainly be going on Rob’s ghost walk at some point soon to hear the stories in situ. Brighton’s bustling lanes remain busy late into the night, but taking a shortcut through a narrow twitten you can suddenly find yourself very much alone. I used to only worry about the potential for being mugged in such situations but now I have to watch out for a variety of wandering souls, including none other than Jack the Ripper! Take a look at the video below for a taster of what (and who) lies in wait…

    The show runs every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday & Saturday from outside the Druid’s Head pub, Brighton Place (The Lanes). Seven nights a week throughout June, July and August!

    Private bookings can be for any night of the week. £8 Adults, £4 Children, £5 Seniors & Students, Family Ticket £20 (2 adults, 2 children).

    Telephone: 01273 328927 / 07522 605524

    Website:www.ghostwalkbrighton.co.uk. Visit website.

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    Filed under Festival event, Hotels, Outings

    June 20, 2011 · 9:08 am

    Fish Friday – it’s a supper club yah!

    Photo by Abi Signorelli. Fish Friday logo to the left.


    When? Friday
    Where? The Grand Hotel
    Cost? £20

    Since taking the plunge into the world of freelance, networking has become a necessity. I would once have described it as a ‘necessary evil’, but events like Fish Friday (www.fishfriday.co.uk, @fishfriday) bring a whole new meaning to networking. There is no hovering nervously on the outskirts of conversations in a stuffy room full of stuffy people. Everyone is friendly and genuinely interesting and genuinely happy to be there. Who’d've thought eating fish and chips on a Friday night with a bunch of strangers could be such fun!?

    We don’t want you to stand around sipping fizz and daintily picking at canapés. We want you to have a good glass of wine (or three) and a proper old natter while you tuck in to a hearty fish and chip supper.

    The event is run by My Girl Friday (@girlfridayhq) and Almat Business Services (@almatbs) and is designed to be a nice laid-back affair where everyone is welcome. As a newbie to self-employment, it is often easy to feel inferior in a room full of grownups with proper careers. However, there is the sense at these evenings that everyone is equal and you’re talking to one another because you’re interested in what each other has to say. As a designer, there will always be someone else in the room that does the same as me, but to me these are people I can share ideas with and potentially collaborate with – they don’t just have to be seen as the competition. Conversely, there are people with whom I might never have crossed paths; whether they’re a jewellery maker or kinesiologist or dating event organiser. What’s also nice is that places are limited to 30 or less which is a nice comfortable number to work your way around in an evening. I’m no social butterfly and so if there had been, say, 50 people in the room I may have thought “well – I can’t get round all those people so may as well talk to these same four all evening”. In a smallish group you know they know you know you haven’t talked to them yet so that’s good motivation to get you mingling better.

    The proceedings for the evening are as follows: arrive at 6.30 for a glass of wine and pre-dinner schmooze, then sit down at 7 for a very nice plate of fish and chips. When I say ‘nice’ I mean that this is the kind of classy establishment where they serve all the ladies first and put your napkin on your lap for you; I thoroughly approve of this. 7 as a start time is just right as you’re probably chatting to someone who interests you by this point and can naturally gravitate towards the same end of the table as one other. After dinner, everyone who has put their business card in a fish bowl can stand up in turn and say a little something about themselves. Any kind of forced public speaking has me army crawling beneath the table for the door, but this introduction session is strictly optional so at my first Fish Friday event I just watched and marvelled over others’ abilities to coherently describe what they do. At the next event however, I’d had a bit more wine to calm myself and had known this part was coming so I stared at an empty tartare sauce pot for moral support and blurted out around 30 seconds’ worth of stuff.

    Next on the agenda: everyone migrates to the bar for another glass of wine or seven and polite work-based conversations turn to more raucous, non work-related topics and all of a sudden you think – “this party’s a gas! I should network every day of the week.” Of course, this event being on a Friday means that guests are looking to unwind a little and being in the Grand does tend to make one feel like 1930s high society with not a care in the world. During this stage of the evening, the guests begin to disperse until there is just a small group left, thirsty for several nightcaps. So a small group of us took a stroll along to Bar Valentino for some expertly made cocktails. All in all, the night was a fantastic mix that I’m sure I will be repeating next month. Keep an eye on their various social media presences if you want tickets to the next one:

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    Filed under Bars, Food & Drink, Hotels, Networking event, Outings, Restaurants

    June 15, 2011 · 8:20 pm

    Meeting the Brighton Belles

    What? Brighton Belles’ monthly meeting – board game evening
    When? Monday 13th June
    Where? Temple Bar, Western Road
    How much? £3

    Going along to my local WI group, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I knew they were much younger than the average branch – they’re on Twitter for a start – and the venue was a bar and start time 7pm so it seemed likely many of them would have careers. Pleasingly, I was right on both counts. The ages ranged between around 25 to 60; a really good mix, I think. Though it would have been nice to have one token 90 year old, I’m not sure such a member would’ve managed the stairs up to the function room.

    The way it works is that as a non-member you can come along to up to three meetings, at a cost of £3 each or you can choose to pay for membership, which is £30 for the year. Seeing what they have planned for the coming months, I am keen to sign up for membership. Events include:

    • A day trip to Thorpe Park in July
    • Sewing a communal patchwork quilt in a seaside theme in August
    • A barbeque on the beach in August
    • A series of ‘Come Dine with Me’ style evenings in September
    • See a full list of events here

    I spent the evening sat at a table with three other newcomers. It seemed like everyone in the room was pretty like-minded and naturally we ditched the board game after about ten minutes in favour of gossiping. During the evening some cheques were presented to local charities – money made mostly by selling cake in vast quantities it seems. It’s good to see that the traditional pursuits of the WI are being upheld as well as those of the more modern lady. I look forward to a multitude of baking opportunities in the future.

    The evening was very enjoyable and a great way to meet new people. I’m sure everyone there has plenty of other friendship groups, but it is always nice to find a new one, knowing that you’re getting to know all sorts of people that you perhaps would never have otherwise met.

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    Filed under Bars, Food & Drink, Women's Institute