Category Archives: Features

Anything and everything

Features

Obsession

1 Comment

Peter Batten writes about his obsession with jazz…

Have you ever been taken over, or possessed, by an obsession? I have. This is my story.

The trap was set in a way which I hardly noticed. In my final year at St Olave’s Grammar School in Southwark, my English teacher, Freddy Wickens, was laid low by a slipped disc. Once or twice I visited him at his home to discuss my University application. One afternoon, when we had finished and were having a cup of tea, he asked me if I knew anything about ‘Jazz’. I didn’t, so he played me a couple of recordings by Jelly Roll Morton. They were pleasant, but did not really stir my interest. I soon forgot them. About a year later I was on National Service in the Royal Air Force. This was quite a culture shock. I had not listened to much current popular music at that time; it was 1952. Now, I found myself among fellow airmen who were constantly listening to the radio for the records of Guy Mitchell, Kay Starr, Frankie Laine, Johnny Ray, and a host of others. It was awful. But one singer began to really annoy me. That was Doris Day. Little did I know that she was to prime the trap.
Continue reading Obsession →

Features

Strange Interlude

Leave a comment

Brighton resident, Peter Batten, writes about another time, another place…

In the spring of 1952 the normal progression of my life was interrupted. I had just secured a place at University, so I decided to leave school and begin my two years of National Service.

I was enrolled in the RAF and on 19 May I travelled to Padgate in Lancashire to begin my basic training. This was not a pleasant experience, but, as a promising cricketer, I was able to get several days off to play for RAF teams. About two weeks before the end of the training period I was told to report to the officer in charge. He told me that the Air Ministry staff had looked at my records and noted that I had A levels in French and Latin. They were recruiting airmen for a new course in Russian because it was expected that we would soon be at war. They would like to add me to their list. I agreed. Thus began a strange period in my life.
Continue reading Strange Interlude →

Features

Say Cheesology

1 Comment

Moon Pale SliceWallace and Gromit can’t get enough of it, some believe that the moon is made from it and you can’t really say it without smiling…cheese!

Great cheese is food alchemy and now the discerning cheese eaters of Brighton & Hove can indulge in some of the really good stuff. Not the mass produced cheese that you buy in a supermarket but cheese that is hand-made with lots of passion using traditional recipes and very high quality raw ingredients.

Welcome to Cheesology your local mobile cheesemonger, supporting small artisan cheese-makers and delivering great hand-made cheese to your door. My cheese is either locally sourced or from small British suppliers.

I personally taste and select all of my cheeses. A typical Cheesology cheese box contains 5 types of hand-made cheese – a combination of cows’, goats’ and sheep’s milk to give you a perfectly balanced cheeseboard. Imagine a creamy Brie style cheese from Devon just at the peak of its condition, or a deep, soft and mellow Cheddar, matured for over a year by third generation Somerset cheese makers – totally delicious!

The cost of the standard box is £13.50 including some quirky tasting-notes and delivery within the Brighton & Hove area. The Cheesology cheese box is perfect for your dinner party or as a great gift for those foodie friends. I change my cheese selection regularly, so it’s a good way for you to discover and taste some new ones. My customers come mainly through word-of-mouth and recommendation. You might say that Cheesology is Brighton & Hove’s best kept secret.

Try saying Cheesology without smiling.

If you enjoy fine cheese I’d love to hear from you. Tel: 07950 217351
Email: lucie.ilovelucie@btinternet.com

Lucie Inns

Features

One Man’s Dream

Leave a comment

Brighton resident, Peter Batten, writes about another time, another place…

My Uncle John was a man with a dream. Like the Muscovite who I met once with his own small ‘Dacha’, John dreamed of weekends in the country, where he could escape from the pressures of work and London. But John was a man who could make things happen. He brought his dream to life. Like thousands of Londoners from his generation, born in the 1890s and lucky enough to survive World War 1, he bought his own little plot in Essex, on the way to Southend. This was the 1920s; for some hard-working Londoners the future seemed bright.

How did John’s dream begin? In 1909 his father, one of the last independent farriers in South London, died. John, aged 12, was the eldest of three children from a second marriage. The family suddenly became quite poor. John was very disturbed by the loss of his father and, for a time, was out of control. His mother, thanks to some good advice, enrolled him in the newly formed Boy Scouts. This was the first of several moments of good fortune in his life. He was already a keen footballer (he would carry on playing well into his thirties) and now he could join a band. He played the bugle so well that he was asked to play the Last Post at one of many WW1 funerals and was given the engraved instrument as a memento. But, above all, he went camping! The first site he visited was at Horndon-on-the-Hill, in Essex. He was enthralled. The countryside there was relatively unspoilt and it amazed him. One important fact about his generation is often overlooked: that he was a first generation city-dweller.
Continue reading One Man’s Dream →