More About Mr Blackwell, Co-founder of Crosse and Blackwell, donor to St Anselm's Church and All Saints Church

I was in St Anselm's Church, Hatch End, where I learned that the land for the church had been owned (and then given for the building of the church) by Thomas Blackwell who co-founded Crosse and Blackwell.

I remembered seeing the grave, an impressive memorial, at All Saints Church just in front of the church.

Crosse died first and Blackwell is buried near him.

For a picture of both grave memorials see

http://www.blackwellhall.co.uk/?page_id=274

From this website I learned that Crosse and Blackwell were donors to the church and the founders had decided to have a long path leading up to the church from the road to give the church a country feel.


Drive or take a bus from Hatch End to All Saints Church is further East along the Uxbridge Road.

All Saints Church has a memorial inside it to the other local VIP, magistrate Gilbert, of Gilbert & Sullivan fame.

Reading about the Crosse and Blackwell products, I was amazed how large the Crosse & Blackwell company grew, how many different products, and how big the Branston's pickle brand became, along with the Crosse and Blackwell soups.


The census records list both Crosse and Blackwell and their wives and children and a will. See:
http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Edmund_Crosse

You can see a picture of Blackwell's grave on Findagrave.
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=61451958

More about the two families:
http://www.cooksinfo.com/crosse-blackwell

I haven't yet found any pictures of the Crosse or Blackwell families. But every time I look on line I find more information.

Crosse and Blackwell

St Anselm's Church, Hatch End

Photo copyright Angela Lansbury

All Saints Church

  © Copyright John Salmon and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence from Wikipedia

The Chocolate Festival London in December 2014

Here's a picture in the public domain from Wikipedia showing a Mayan chief forbidding somebody to touch chocolate.

Oh, dear - I've been told I have to go on a diet before my family allow me to attend London's chocolate festival.

Here's all you need to know about trying chocolate in one place in mid-December in London.

The nearest station is Angel.

There's a chocolate making workshop run by a nearby chocolatier.

Business Design Centre, 52 Upper Street, South Bank, London N1 0QH 

TELEPHONE

0844 338 0338 

TWITTER

@TheChocFestival

DATES:

12th, 13th and 14th December 2014 (Friday, Saturday and Sunday)

OPENING TIMES

Fri 1pm-8pm, Sat 10am-7pm, Sun 10am-3pm

PRICES

£7 (General admission), £4 (Children over 5), FREE (Children under 5)

SITE

www.festivalchocolate.co.uk

Rotisserie restaurant, reliable filling food in four locations

I have visited the reliable Rotisserie in Hatch End many times but had a new experience when friends took me to the branch in Whetstone. The familiar immaculate black interior was there, but the Hatch End branch is one open room whilst the other place has a pillar in the middle offering a choice of seating. My friends opted for the away from it all section nearest the front door entrance.

I chose French onion soup from the two course option. 

I also tasted the a la carte option of roasted butternut squash and goat cheese. Heavenly. So if you are booked in on a Saturday night after 7 pm when the the more limited two course menu is not available, you have this great opportunity.

My main course was lamb shank with mashed potato. It came without any greens, so if you opt for a salad starter you get vegetables that way.

The ladies toilet is a visual delight.

You can see their menu on their website.

therotisserie.co.uk

For books by Angela Lansbury check out lulu.com

Chocolate guide worldwide, and a real chocolate teapot

At last, a worldwide chocolate guide.

My favourites:
Alprose, Switzerland. You take the smiley train to this little village with a chocolate factory.

Chocolate Teapot
My picture shows one you can eat.
Cadbury, Birmingham. (See my earlier post.)

A real chocolate teapot which makes tea has been made by Nestle in New York for a TV programme. As you can imagine, the tea pot does not last long before it melts, either into the water - or in the mouth.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2747700/The-chocolate-teapot-IS-useful-Scientists-create-sweet-crockery-brew-tea-two-minutes-without-melting

tripadvisor has a page on all the chocolate factories in Switzerland.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-2773369/Love-Home-Swap-infographic-reveals-world-s-destinations-chocoholics.html

Meeting Michael Rosen, poet, author and university VIP

Michael Rosen was part of Pinner Arts week. 

'Michael Rosen former Children's Laureate and Pinner Resident,' said the programme. 

Michael Rosen teaches a university course in London. He could be your teacher.

For more information on Pinner Arts week info@pinnerartsweek.com

pinnerartsweek.com

If you want to know more about Michael Rosen and hear him reading his poetry, such as his poem on chocolate cake, go to his website:

http://www.michaelrosen.co.uk/foradults.html

St Anselm's Church, Hatch End, welcomed associated Mrs Beeton, Blackwell the soup mogul, the Spooner family and more

Mrs Beeton, the cookery writer, whose home is commemorated by the plaque in Hatch End High street was one of the well known parishioners of St Anselm's Church. After admiring her plaque take a walk along the bustling high street towards the station and turn down Westfireld Park, a cup-de sac, to the church, which is still an oasis of peace amongst the tall trees and birdsong. It's so quiet you could hear a pine cone drop.

The soup mogul, Mr Thomas Blackwell, famous for Cross and Blackwell soup, owned the land near what is now Hatch End station. (When another station was built, the station in Hatch End was renamed Hatch End and the newer station was called Pinner.)

If you search on Google you'll find several other churches called St Anselm's but St Anselm actually had a connection to this Harrow.

Here is St Anselm

When can you see inside the church?

Pinner Arts Week is 26 Sept to 5 Oct 2014 and at the weekend of Saturday 5 October and Sunday 6 October 2014 there is free entry to Discover St Anselm's. 11-3 pm.
 'Tours highlighting the Louis Davis stained glass windows, Charles Spooner's carved oak rood screen, World War One memorial, Millennium tapestry, embroidered vestments, displays, music and refreshments.'
(For more about the church see next post under construction - come back later for more.)

Union Jack, Scottish Tartan and England Souvenirs - where and what to buy

Union Jacks
When I travelled to Japan to stay with families I knew I'd need a lot of gifts but I could not take anything too heavy. I stocked up with UK tea towels. Nowadays you can also get pillowcases and bedding sets.

Watch out for the cheaper ones which have the wrong colours or words not correctly spelled.

If you want something special, department stores such as John Lewis are likely to have the more expensive cushion covers, or framed prints.

If you don't mind a heavier souvenir, supermarkets have union Jack mugs. The cheaper places such as the Pound Shop are in most high streets.

You can buy postcards, masks of the royal family for a fancy dress party, tee shirts and giant flags.
See my other posts on Shopping and Diary.

Scottish Souvenirs
Tartans come in various colours, with red and green, blue, black, brown. You can get a tartan for a Scottish name, even a Tewish tartan.

England flags appear on hats and banners whenever the football teams are playing major matches. Look in local supermarkets such as Tesco express. Just after the match, when a team has won or lost, the prices will come down to clear stock for the next team or seasonal item.

Look for the Edinburgh Wool shops but their prices will often be higher as they are top quality goods with a brand. If money is no object, you can buy smart raincoats and umbrellas.

Shopping for Silk pillowcases and clothes

The nice thing about shopping in a real shop is that you can try on clothes and feel the thickness, touch, quality, see the colour and shade and check the size to know it it's big enough.

See my post on buying silk on my blog on shopping and my blog on AngelaLansburyDiary

Loos of the world, London loos and toilet tours

The Romans idea of toilets was rather communal, as you can see if you visit Vindolanda at Hadrian's Wall.

If you are a tourist visiting the UK, where should you not relieve yourself? Not on the side of the airport terminal building. Not on a war memorial.

Where can you go? The usual system is to stop for a coffee or snack and use the toilet. Or go into a shopping mall and use the public toilet.

On a motorway, large numbers of cubicles.

In France you can use a toilet in any bar as well as asking for a glass of water to drink.
Most large hotels won't mind if you are well dressed and ask the way politely and look at their cafe menu and browse in their shop.

LONDON LOO TOUR
A tour guide called Rachel Erickson runs Loo Tours of London. Here's the link to the BBC video about her.
bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-27486586?post_id=698460596_10154644904150597#_=_
lootours.com

LOO BOOKS
When browsing in a big bookshop, you might buy a souvenir book about toilets.
Some books on loos?

Toilets of the World

How to Shit In The Woods

A book on mishaps:
Up Shit Creek: Collection of Horrifyingly True Toilet Misadventures by Joe Lindsay

And my favourite loos, London and worldwide?

London's Best Loos?
The ladies at Hedonism wine shop in Mayfair. A TV screen giving you the latest news.

The door is not marked. It's next to the downstairs tasting room and there for people who've sat drinking at their tastings.

UK Toilets

At Hadrian's wall a Roman tourist attraction shows the Roman toilet, a row of seats, holes, in a long platform. You can buy pictures of it.

Garages and service station malls on UK motorways have free toilets.

In London the one on Euston station charges money.

wikipedia.org/wiki/Toilet

The Harrow at Little Bedwyn restaurant, Ladies. Individual cloth to dry your hands. 

You could copy this idea for meetings inexpensively with a set of three facecloths for £1 from the Poundshop or similar in most UK high streets, plus any round or square box, with a basket on the floor for the used towels.

The Harrow at Little Bedwyn Restaurant, Ladies toilet. How jolly.

Singapore Toilets
Grandest toilets and bathrooms are in the five star hotels.

The grandest toilets are in top hotels and restaurants.

Slimline cistern on modern toilet at Restaurant Tristan in Horsham.

Temporary toilets can be hired for events. This grand version for a wine tasting at Nyetimber vineyards has a painting about the toilet in a cubicle in the ladies.

ASIA
Malaysia
Grandest toilet in the central top hotel with a flushing device inside the toilet so you can wash yourself before (physically) and aft (physically),  and after (timewise).

These toilets sold by the Japanese can also be bought in the UK. Saves space if you don't have room for a bidet and only one device to clean, not two.

See writings by Angela Lansbury author such as Quick Quotations: Lulu.com Amazon.com LinkedIn YouTube 

What a vineyard tour teaches you about red and white wine and sparkling wines

I need to know about wines for my level one exam. So here's a recap to help me and you.

Blanc is white (in French). Noir is black. White and black grapes.

Blanc de blanc (on the bottle label) is white wine from white grapes only, chardonnay the white grape.

Much rarer is
Blanc de noir which is white wine made from a black skinned grape which nonetheless has a clear colour juice.

The most usual black skinned grape juice added for a mixed grape sparkling will be pinot noir.

Pinot grapes come in three well known varieties, pinot blanc (white), pinot gris (grey), and pinot noir (black).

What about pinot meunier added by Nyetimber to one of their blends?


It is known is 'm e u n i e r' for short, because there are several pinots but only one m e u n i e r. I have had to insert spaces because the spell checker keeps changing the word to meaner.

So there are several Pinots.

Most champagne is brut - the driest.

My latest research on vineyards: England and Wales, Hotels, a campsite, Enoteca machines in Wine Shops

Winetrails in Wales
http://www.winetrailwales.co.uk/vineyards/

Llanerch Vineyard, Hensol, Vale of Glamorgan CF72 8GG
Tel:01443 222 716
info@llanerch-vineyard.co.uk
www.llanerch-vineyard.co.uk

Glyndwr (forvo.com pronounces it a cross between glan-doer and gln-do-or)
It should have a double dot above the w. Near Cowbridge where we had lunch and saw a botanical garden.

Wine in UK
For general history, grapes, laws:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wine_from_the_United_Kingdom

English Hotels on Vineyards
Hotels and a campsite:
www.theguardian.com/travel/2010/may/21/english-wines-vineyard-stays-uk

Enoteca Machines
To try several wines in the UK without visiting a vineyard in winter weather go to a shop or association with an Enoteca machines which dispenses a glass or tiny taster of a wine when you insert a credit card you can buy at the shop adding the amount you want to spend - such as £10 or £20 - of course you can use one card for a couple, family or group if you only want a glass or two each.
wikipedia.org/wiki/Enoteca

enomatic.co.uk
enomatic.com

Hedonism - Sales, Enoteca, Tastings
Hedonism in Mayfair is the grandest with a magnificent staircase and wine tasting events.
They also have the most amazing luxurious toilets for those on tastings. Sit down at some of the tasting events.

Wine Society - Shop, online shop, tasting events, Enoteca
The Wine Society in Stevenage if you join it has regular events, usually one a month at least, or you can pop into the shop if you are in the area and join up, and their website has Xmas gifts. Walk around tastings and stand up and listen to brief talk. A couple of seats if you are lucky.
The Wine Society
Gunnels Wood Road
Stevenage

Finally for the armchair traveller, if you want to buy oatcakes with seaweed, or Welsh wine, or non-alcoholic drinks with a difference, try
http://www.cwm-deri.com
Email:admin@cwm-deri.co.uk
Tel: 01834 891274

For their vineyard see
http://www.cwm-deri.co.uk/Welsh-Vineyard/
They also have two shops, in Cardiff and Tenby.
Cwm-deri Shops
Upper Frog Street, Tenby SA70 7JD
Tel: 01834 842999.
37 Castle Arcade, Cardiff CH10 IBW
Tel:02920 227168.
(Located opposite the main entrance to the castle.

Nyetimber Wines

Nyetimber vineyards are open to the public only on special days when they conduct tours. I've known about their wines for a long time but not until visited them for a tasting on the open day did I realise that they are in more than one location.

If you are in the business you might get a complimentary invitation, or if you are a frequent visitor to a local restaurant which features their wines, but members of the public were also invited to apply for tickets on line for £20 per person which included tasting three of their wines and you could use your ticket for a discount if you then ordered wine at the event. There was no refund on tickets so if you are likely to be working at that weekend or to cancel for any reason, don't risk it. However, even on a dull day it was well wroth the trip to see the vineyard, the delightful buildings, hear the talk, meet the people, try the wines, and get the voucher.

Leave your high heeled shoes behind in the car. You need walking shoes or wellies to walk along the stoney uneven ground with occasional muddy sections.

Sommeliers in restaurants in England and worldwide and others who work in shops, warehouses and sales and distribution in the wine trade take WSET exams. Right at the beginning you learn about the grapes in wines. For the WSET (wine and spirit education trust - two members of my family are taking different levels - me only level one - another member of my family several levels higher, diploma level). So the first thing I heard was Champagne is Chardonnay - plus pinot noir. It's dry white wine from a green grape, with a little extra livening up from a black grape, pinor noir, noir being French for black.

The black skins add the vibrant red colour to red wines but also the taste of tannin which some don't like. Remove some of the skin and you get rose wine.

However, many times I heard that, I tended to forget. But you remember it instantly after visiting the Nyetimber vineyard. First you see Chardonnay the main green grape used in sparkling wines.

(Sparkling wines include the king of sparkling wines, Champagne, a region of France - traditionally only wines from that country and that region - or possibly in our times and in the future new world areas owned or licensed by a Champagne house).  But now Nyetimber has challenged themselves and others to produce top quality sparkling wines, coming out equal to or better than some of the Champagnes, at some blind tastings in shows, and depending on your taste as a tester or consumer.

The well-kept vineyards.

The area features in the Domesday book and the name Nyetimber means new timber or new wood, as in the nearby New Forest on the South Coast. 

Later, Henry the VIII figures in the history. On the estate are genuine old buildings in which the family lives and works. 

The old barn has been beautifully renovated in sparkling clean white inside. The owners got married here and hope it will be popular when they open it for weddings. 

Everything is elegant.

They add to the green grape, Chardonnay, two black grapes, Pinor Noir and another Pinot, Pinot Meunier.

I'd heard that grapes for wine are often not suitable for eating. I and a couple of other people tried tasting a green and black grape. They are small and rather tasteless when not yet ripe for picking. Not horrible and bitter as I had imagined, but not nice eough for me to want a second. 

But the grapes are good enough for the local badgers. Nyetimber say they are lucky enough not to be plagued by local birds nor flocks flying in. Local farmers' sheep are invited in to graze on the grass which is a win win season, food for the farmer's sheep, and saves diesel and wages and time of people who would otherwise have to cut the grass.

Where can you taste Nyetimber? If you are local, I can recommend Restaurant Tristan in Horsham where we went for lunch. (See my post on the restaurant, which is also recommended by many people on Tripadvisor and rated in the Michelin Guide.)

If you are in London or the rest or England, many top restaurants as well as theatres and concert halls. Overseas Nyetimber is expanding to Denmark and Japan and seeking distribution in more countries. You can also buy bottles in Britain in Majestic wine suppliers and Waitrose supermarkets.

http://nyetimber.com/where-to-buy/

Books by Angela Lansbury on lulu.com and Amazon

Also read more by and about Angela Lansbury Author on Facebook, LinkedIn, Youtube.

Onslow Arms, English pub, with canal and horse brasses, and pub name books

An English country pub. In late September the pubs are still bedecked with hanging baskets of flowers.

Most country pubs have plenty of parking space.

A beer garden and designated smoking area. (It is illegal to smoke indoors in public place so often a seating area for smokers is provided outside.)

Increasing numbers of pubs are serving meals lunchtime and evenings and coffee.

It's worthwhile walking into the garden.

At the Onslow Arms we found the canal and canal boats.

Inside are horse brasses as you see down this pillar.

Along the top shelves this pub is decorated with model horses. In the days of our grandparents or great-grandparents horses would have brought carriages along the road, mail coaches between cities, and horse-drawn barges along the canals.

The shelves of books are wallpaper.

Check your bookshops for books on

Pubs: 

Britain's Best Real Heritage Pubs (CAMRA) by Geoff Brankwood.

Good Pub Guide by Alisdair Aird.

Scotland's Real Heritage Pubs.

Michelin Eating Out in Pubs.

Pub Names:

The Dictionary of Pub Names by Leslie Dunkling.

Discovering Pub Names & Signs by David Brandon.

The Old Dog and Duck: The Secret Meaning of Pub Names by Albert Jack.

Real ale:

CAMRA London's Best Beer Pubs and Bars.

Gourmet food: 

Michelin Great Britain and Ireland.

Hotels: 

Good Hotel Guide.

Scotland's Good Hotel And Food Guide.

CAMRA = Campaign for Real Ale

What to see in Horsham, West Sussex - Poet Shelley at the Horsham Museum

Poet Shelley is featured at the Horsham Museum.

The fountain to Shelley is in Horsham. (Both pictures from Wikipedia - more information and picture credits in Wikipedia.)

The Horsham Museum
The Horsham museum is free and it is open Monday to Saturday 10-5 (closed Sunday and bank holidays).
Look at the museum website and you can take a vital tour of all the galleries. You'll see  the
Shelley Glass, Old Fire engine, toy museum, art gallery and more.

The Horsham Museum and Art Gallery
9 The Causeway, Horsham, West Sussex RH12 IHE
Tel: 01403 211661
email visitor.information@horsham.gov.uk
www.horshammuseum.org/vitual_tour

More about Shelley:


About the Shelley fountain in Horsham
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rising_Universe

For the poem by poet Shelley which inspired the local fountain see:
http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/adonais-49-52-go-thou-rome

For a place to have breakfast or lunch in Horsham see my post on Restaurant Tristan.
Angela Lansbury, travel writer, author, speaker. See books on lulu.com and amazon.
Also Angela Lansbury author on Facebook, linkedIn and Youtube.

Recommended Restaurant - Tristan's Restaurant, At Horsham - Associated with Poet Shelley

Nyetimber Vineyard open day enticed us from London down to West Sussex, and we diverted to a lunch at a restaurant recommended by people we met at the Vineyard, whose recommendation we cross-checked with the restaurant's credentials written up in the Michelin guide.

The restaurant was in a pedestrian area and the nearby car park was full but we found a place not far away, with free coupon parking on a weekend. Horsham is delightful, a market town which probably gets its name from being a horse-trading ham or hamlet. 

The pedestrianised streets reminded us of historic York. A very civilised little place, with well-spoken local and Wikipedia says the local council would not allow a discotheque. This made the place qualify as one of the worse places in a listing of where to live, but of course local people and some tourists think the opposite. If you prefer beamed buildings to drunks at discos, this is just the place you want to visit.

Restaurant Tristan is named after the chef, Tristan. This is a husband and wife family business, with Candy serving.

This picture shows Candy who welcomed us at the downstairs counter. If you don't have the time, money or appetite for a lunch, the breakfast dishes, cakes and one course lunch look interesting.  

Breakfast from from 9 until 11.30 includes Croque Monsieur/Madame at ££6/£7. Eggs Benedict £8. Home smoked salmon and scrambled eggs £8. Wild mushrooms, poached and toast £8. (Prices Sept 2014.)

Lunch 12-3 downstairs included Duck egg,peas, air dried ham, truffle £7.

 Cake of the day was £3. Blackberry tart, dark chocolate, clotted cream, £7.

Upstairs we enjoyed a two course lunch in the historic beamed restaurant dining room.

Here are the two desserts we shared.

We ordered a double espresso coffee (for one) and it came chocolates for both of us. In the middle is my favourite, the macaroon. On the right is a chocolate. 

What can you do to walk off all those calories consumed? After lunch you we walked around the shops and I checked out Hotter shoes and boots. We bought fresh strawberries in the market.

We passed the plaque to writer Hammond Innes on our way to look in at the chuch. The church appeared to be shut. But the chapel to the left of the locked door was open. The chapel contained various memorials as well as having a wall of plain glass picture windows enabling you to get a good view of the church and its stained glass windows.

The Shelley Fountain
We missed Horsham's fountain commemorating poet Shelley who was born nearby. I discovered the fountain later in Wikipedia and saw it in action on YouTube. The fountain is smaller than it appears when photographed close-up. The sculpture commemorates Shelley's poem.
Perhaps the line, 'one fountain of a mourning mind' is not the best advertisement for Horsham, and the controversial fountain has had its water cut off at some times, apparently during water shortages, but it makes for an amusing video.

The globe descends a column and sends water downwards, unlike many dramatic fountains which shoot water upwards.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufYCawLU1pc

Restaurant Tristan
3 Stan's Way
East Street
Horsham
West Sussex
RH12 IHU
Tel:01403 255688
info@restauranttristan.co.uk
www.restauranttristan.co.uk

For more information and pictures of Shelley and links to the Horsham museum see my next post.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer, author, poet, speaker. See books on Lulu.com and Amazon

Visiting British vineyards: Denbies and Nyetimber British Wine

Here's my wish list of vineyards to visit in Britain. Surprising as it may seen to those in those in other countries, England has a growing (excuse the pun) wine industry. You can visit vineyards, buy the wines on site or at supermarkets, dine in restaurants and shop in gift shops. Here are a few:

England

Nyetimber
Nyetimber.com
Video about their vineyard.
Their wines are available in restaurants near their vineyards such as Tristan in Horsham as well as London theatres and concert halls.

More about Nyetimber in my later post after my visit.

Tasting at Nyetimber in the barn.

Denbies
Denbies has a restaurant and gift shop.
Denbies Wine Estate
London Road
Dorking
Surrey RH5 6AA
http://www.denbies.co.uk/visit-us/

Wales

http://www.glyndwrvineyard.co.uk

Llanerch Vineyard Restaurant, Llanerch Vineyard, Hensol CF72 8GG, Wales

Newspaper article online:

http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2010/may/21/english-wines-vineyard-stays-uk

http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/uk/travellers-guide-english-vineyards

(I'll be updating this with photos over the weekend so come back later. Angela Lansbury.)

Garden Centres Around Britain - Squires, Stanmore, seeking vines and scented roses

Plants available now, colourfully displayed by colour.

VINES - ORNAMENTAL LEAVES, Edible grapes, or grapes for wine-making
You can buy ornamental vines with pretty leaves but the grapes are no good for eating or winemaking.We cleared an area of garden with a sunny patch for the vines which must be planted with space between them. But what we want is not yet in stock. So we are waiting for the deliveries later this month.

Here are the ornamental vines currently in stock so on sale. Must admit I only found out this year that sweeter eating grapes and grapes suitable for wines are different, and now I know that there's a third variety, ornamental vines. Always worthwhile calling their knowledgeable staff to find out what to buy for what purpose and when.

The same delay applies for roses - scented roses will be in stock later. They are grown in fields and after the rose season ends and the plant is dormant is when they are uprooted or cut for replanting.

Squires Garden Centre, Stanmore

Other centres around UK include Windsor. Some have cafes and some have aquariums. Entertainment for all ages from children, gardening grannies and grandads, shopaholic and keen cook mum, and wine-making Dad.
www.squiresgardencentres.co.uk/garden-centre/stanmore

I have another post about what to buy under shopping.
For books by Angela Lansbury see lulu.com - my latest is a book on quotations.

Toastmasters International Guests Welcome WorldwideTo Meetings & Humorous Speech Contests

Want to hear a humorous speech? Or two or three or four or more? Every autumn Toastmasters International clubs worldwide hold contests.  You can visit a club in most capital of the world and/or major cities.

Each club holds a contest. Then you get area contests. Check out your area or any area you are visiting on holiday or business. The bigger contests may involve expensive venues and catering and therefore make a charge but sometimes they are sponsored and many of the club contests are free or free to guests.

In the autumn clubs have contests for Humorous Speeches, also Table Topics (impromptu speeches).
If you've missed them, go along to an ordinary meeting, or make a note to attend the springtime contests which are regular International Speech Contest speeches, and Evaluation Contests (where all the contestants evaluate the same speech).

Toastmasters International started in the USA. It's now worldwide. I've been to meetings in London and a lll over England, as well as several in Singapore, China and Thailand.

London has clubs speaking in English a small number in other languages, Spanish and French and German and Polish I believe. Singapore has mostly English with a few Mandarin speaking clubs.  You can get manuals on giving speeches, printed in other languages such as Arabic and Japanese.

You can also find forums about speaking on LinkedIn and Club pages with videos of speeches on Facebook.

More details from the Toastmasters International website.

Angela Lansbury first place in Humorous Speech Contest at HOD Speakers, Harrow, London

Honey and Ginger ice cream at farm shops and entertainment venues

I loved the ginger ice cream I had at the Festival Hall on the South Bank in London and at the theatre in Bath which is near the farm where the company started. The company which supplies ginger ice cream and many other flavours is Marsfield Farm.

I was so enraptured with the ice cream that I keep rescuing the carton from the waste bin.  I've finally checked out their website which tells you all the farms around Britain which they supply. Their flavours also include a diabetic ice cream.

I love the little cow on the label. They have even added some black and white as background across the top of the container.

Marsfield Farm Ice Cream Ltd
Marsfield
Nr Bath
SN14 8LE

tel:01225 891221
www.marsfield-icecream.co.uk