8 www.shropshirestar.com SS Tuesday, September 18, 2012 Star FEATURES PETER READ BY MORE THAN RHODES 128,000 PEOPLE EVERY DAY Why our top chefs are [email protected] COMPUTER musings. Up pops that Fine end to damn message on the screen again. Tell me, has there ever been a time when a new version of Java was not fine season ready to be installed?

IF THE Taliban really were targeting for county mixing it in the ring Prince Harry in Camp Bastion, then alarm bells should start ringing. Harry Putting the weather aside, it arrived at the base on September 7. has been a wonderful British The attack took place exactly seven summer, with the glory and Report by days later. The Taliban, battered for a enthusiasm of the Olympics and decade by Nato forces and with its Paralympics, and with the height- leaders picked off in their dozens by ANDY RICHARDSON endless drone attacks, can still plan, ened patriotic feelings brought arm, equip and execute an attack on about by the Queen’s diamond [email protected] one of the most heavily-defended jubilee. locations on earth, and do it all within The two places in the county here’s a loud thud as Will Holland’s a week. If this is an enemy on the back which the Prince of visited black boxing glove smashes into my foot, I’m General Custer. yesterday chimed well with his T upturned hand. My shoulder shoots interests in heritage and history, albeit in two different ways. back and there’s a sharp, needle-like pain I HAD a strange but well-intentioned speaks of medieval as my humerus rotates in my shoulder email from a worried reader before splendour and fine traditional blade. my trip last week to the Gower architecture, a town which has Peninsula in south Wales. He Ludlow’s celebrity chef continues pounding away at warned me to avoid all ice cream moved with the times without my red hand guards. His trainer, Andy Hackney, issues and ice in drinks, and to shun sal- being spoilt by progress. It also ads. I replied that Wales was surely has a racecourse with which the commands. “J ab, cross,” he shouts. “J ab, cross. Quicker, come on. Jab, cross. Jab, cross.” My arm not that dangerous. I returned home Prince is very familiar. It is amaz- to find his response, explaining that ing to think it is almost a decade springs back and I get into position for the next blow. he had confused Gower with Goa. since he opened the Jubilee Stand “J ab, cross, left hook. Jab, cross, left hook.” Beads of there. sweat start to form on the top of Will’s shaven head Then it was on to the premises as the punches fall down like rain. MRS Rhodes in Telford of a charity which he “Okay boys, that’s it,” says Andy, and our hands fall stuck a tourist brochure under founded, and then to Ironbridge to our sides. I’ve simply been standing in an upright Chef Will Holland and his coach Andy Hackney work out on the heavy bag in the gym Gorge, which is celebrating a my nose and position, bent slightly forward, while Will has been remarked on the jubilee of its own, as it is 25 years doing all of the work. And yet I feel exhausted. Will, leaning tower of since it was designated a World in contrast, is jumping on the spot, as though skipping one of the castles. Heritage Site. The links between without a rope. His eyes are looking at the floor, as I explained that it Prince Charles and the cradle of though he’s somewhere far away: he’s relaxed, focused was distortion, the Industrial Revolution are and utterly composed. caused by the longstanding. As museum patron, On Thursday, Will will be among two dozen of the wide-angle lens. But apparently it is like home turf for him. nation’s best chefs at Rumble In The Kitchen, an all- Everywhere he went during his not. Did you know star celebrity boxing match featuring some of the UK’s Shropshire visit he was greeted that Caerphilly The Leaning by enthusiastic and welcoming best-known chefs. It will take place at The Royal Auto- Castle has a Tower of crowds. Had the Prince seemed a mobile Club, a prestigious century-old private mem- tower which leans Caerphilly bit distracted, it would have been bers’ club off Pall Mall, in London, where 400 guests at a more perilous understandable, with both his will each pay £250 a head to watch chefs fight. It will angle than the Leaning Tower of Pisa? generate tens of thousands of pounds for the charity I realise at this point that some readers sons currently facing very differ- will be shaking their heads at the ent trials and pressures. Harry is Galvin’s Chance, an inspirational ‘into work’ pro- appalling ignorance of journalists but in a combat zone and, if the Tal- gramme targeted at creating jobs, appenticeships, col- I had never heard of it. iban is to be believed, was the tar- lege programmes and sustainable employment for get of an assassination attempt. people aged 18-24. William and his wife have been STILL on history, I wrote recently the subjects of a squalid intrusion Fiercesome about the war 200 years ago this year which no-one likes to talk into their privacy. TV star Marcus Wareing, the one-time protégé of Yet Prince Charles was relaxed about. It was the War of 1812 Gordon Ramsay and twin Michelin-starred London between Britain and the United and happy. Maybe being in Shrop- restaurateur from The Berkley and The Gilbert Scott, Monica Galetti –Michel Roux Will Holland –trains to the Marcus Wareing –another shire and among Salopians agrees States (they started it). will be another celebrity boxing. So will Monica Jnr’s right-hand woman theme from Rocky chef pulling on gloves Tourism Association has written to with him. point out that American flags cap- With temperatures dropping Galetti, the fiercesome female chef who appears as Will says: “Clinton and Andy have both been amaz- rant in Ludlow’s Corve Street, where he clocks up up Michel Roux Jr’s right-hand woman on MasterChef tured during the raid on the White and autumn at the door, the visit ing. They’ve turned me into a boxer. The thing is, to 100 hours each week. House of 1812 are proudly on dis- by Prince Charles to Shropshire The Professionals: apparently, she her right hook is as when you step into the ring for a full contact bout, “It’s been a tough schedule,” he says. “But I feel play in the regimental museum at was a great way to round off a painful as her withering remarks to aspirant cooks. you know that you’re going to get hit and you know absolutely amazing. The guys in the kitchen think I’m Shrewsbury Castle. And no, pard- season of many glittering high- Will, however, is likely to be among the favourites. that you’re going to get hurt. Psychologically, that’s mad. My sous chef, James Walshaw, has been doing ners, whatever the Special Relation- lights. He’s one of the biggest, fittest, strongest boxers taking really tough. You have to get into the frame of mind shuttle runs with me, which kill us both.” ship suggests, you can’t have them part. He said: “I was volunteered for this about four where you know you’re going into a hostile environ- Will travelled to London last week for his weigh-in, back. months ago by my boss, Alan Murchison, the Miche- ment where the other guy is going to try and kill you. tipping the scales at 80kg. His opponent on Thursday lin-starred restaurateur. Robbery a “Being punched in the face hurts, being punched in will be Matt Wilkin, Australia’s first Master Somme- WHAT sort of fanatical idiot doesn’t “Alan’s a seriously fit guy and he was asked if he’d the stomach hurts, but that’s all part of it. You have lier and Will has a distinct height and reach advantage, realise that the United States govern- take part in a charity boxing match. He told them ‘no to put your body on the line and trust yourself. When at 6ft 2ins, he will tower over his 5ft 8in opponent. ment has no control over an anti-Mus- major blow way’, and volunteered me instead. When I came to I step into the ring on Thursday, part of me will be However, he is likely to concede around 8kgs. lim video put on the internet by a US Andy’s gym I couldn’t do ten push-ups. Now, I’ve lost afraid. But you have to over-ride that fear and trust “It’s going to be tough,” says Will, and with that, citizen? Probably the same sort of 10kg, I’m out running to the theme tune from Rocky at he rasps another right hook into my upturned hand. idiots who think the best way to protest The burglary at the John yourself, you have to rely on your training, your speed, 7am every morning and I’m doing suicidal workouts.” your tactics and the work you’ve done in the gym.” If I were a betting man, I’d have a fiver on him to win. about a French magazine picturing Davies Boxing Centre close to the Kate topless is for us to start boycotting riverside in Shrewsbury was a Andy Hackney, his trainer, adds: “The difference in Will is better known to people in Shropshire as ● All proceeds from Will’s bout will go to French products in the shops. If there’s hard enough blow in itself. four months is extraordinary. Will was squash fit the county’s youngest ever Michelin Star holder, as Galvin’s Chance and donations can be made at one thing that gutter-press magazine But the intruders were not just before, but now he’s match fit. He’s lean and hungry. the man who features regularly on James Martin’s www.justgiving.com/kitchen-rumble-will-hol- editors don’t worry about, it is the prof- content with the inherent misery I expect him to do well.” Saturday Kitchen, the chef who starred on BBC land while people can also text a £5 donation to its of the Camembert industry. caused by breaking in and steal- Will has been receiving additional coaching from TV’s Great British Menu and the energetic chef 70070 with the characters: RKWH79 ing things. They also set fire to Clinton McKenzie, who fought America’s ‘Sugar Ray’ who leads one of the demonstration stages at Lud- the place, an act which magnified Leonard in the quarter-finals of the 1976 Montreal low Food Festival. BUT why was Kate topless in the SEE THE VIDEO first place? There cannot be a young the damage and misery many Olympics before turning professional and becoming Despite his training, he’s continued to work every man in this whole world more aware times over. British and then European Champion. day at La Becasse, his multi-award-winning restau- www.shropshirestar.com of the threat from paparazzi with The club has 250 members, long lenses than Prince William, son some of whom are as young as five of the late and much-snapped years old. Some of them were left Princess Diana. As a military officer, in tears. Campaign is growing to give Chinese lanterns the chop too, William should have been Boxing is not everybody’s cup of aware of the lie of the land around tea but those involved in these The ghostly shape of Chinese But the charge sheet really starts James added: “The other problems the villa, and the fact that it could be clubs see how they instil rigour lanterns floating serenely Report by to mount up once the lanterns burn are ingestion and entanglement. overlooked. If there is a great view and discipline in the young and through the twilight has become out and drop to earth. These are probably more likely to out, there is also a great view in. give them an outlet for their ener- LIAM CREEDON What a lot of bother he could have an increasingly common sight in A piece of flaming debris falling affect waterbirds.” avoided by advising his wife: “Better gies which is guided through Shropshire skies. from the sky can easily cause a fire if Wild birds being killed is one thing, sport. [email protected] keep your top on, love.” Instead, we Eerily beautiful and almost hyp- it lands in the wrong place, such as a but as soon as it was discovered that are now faced with the prospect of This break in and fire is a rob- notic to watch as they slowly shrink tinder-dry heathland or moorland in valuable and expensive livestock bery –for it robs them of opportu- Invented by the Chinese in the third a French court being urged by and disappear into the gloaming, it is century, the lanterns first gained pop- the middle of summer. were also affected, the pressure on William and Kate to jail those nities. hard to believe that even the most Wildfires pose an obvious threat to the lanterns ratcheted up a notch. While the somewhat isolated ularity in the UK after being symboli- responsible for the photographs severe of killjoys could find fault cally released to commemorate the housing, land and crops but they are Livestock can eat lantern rem- and to prevent French citizens buy- club might have been able to take ing copies of a French magazine. I a break-in philosophically, as against them. victims of the Bali bombing in 2002. also a huge risk to our wildlife. nants out of curiosity or when shards But these seemingly inoffensive Since then their appeal has soared. The RSPB’s Richard James said: become hidden in vegetation they are cannot imagine anything more likely sadly these things do happen, the to irritate a proud republic than a fire introduces a level of spite and paper vessels –which have been Cheap to buy and striking to look at, it “Fires can easily occur in places such feeding on. The NFU has received known to raise the odd false UFO is believed around 200,000 are sold in as heathlands which are naturally reports of a number of livestock couple of royals making strident malevolence which is disgusting. demands on its legal system. Security camera footage may alarm in the county –have caused a the UK each year. dry a lot of the time. deaths that are believed to have been reveal the offenders. Should they storm of anger and upset. Once airborne they can be seen for “This could kill reptiles and caused as a result of animals eating be caught, an appropriate part of Branded as flying fireballs, Chinese miles around, which is obviously a key amphibians and young birds too. lantern shards. IT OCCURS to me that the phrase their punishment and rehabilita- lanterns have been blamed for killing part of their appeal. But their hard-to- Adult birds would normally be able There is now a growing movement, “Kate topless” may now be generating tion would be to send them to the cattle and birds, have raised the hack- miss credentials put them at odds with get out of the way but the habitat can for Chinese lanterns to be banned - more searches on the internet than club to see what damage and les of parliamentarians and now have the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. be damaged.” following the example already set by that overnight sensation “Pippa Mid- heartbreak they have caused. It a coalition of farmers, environmental- Those bright lights soaring above the The startling picture of a dead Spain. But the UK’s burgeoning Chi- dleton’s bottom.” Using both phrases might, just might, change their ists, the RSPCA and the Coastguard coast can be, and repeatedly are, mis- barn owl snared in the remnants of a nese lantern industry is a lucrative in this column should do wonders for outlook. united in a common goal of banning taken for distress flares. Each hoax coast- Chinese lantern highlights one of the one and businesses will not let such my hit rate. them for good. guard call-out wastes money and time. device’s key dangers. a cash-cow go without a fight.