WINTER 2019 ISSUE 18

GARY PLAYER Exclusive interview GOLD IN THEM HILLS The treasures of Britain’s only goldmine APPEASEMENT Bruce Anderson on Chamberlain and Churchill WILLIAM DALRYMPLE on the East India Company

Also inside HOW DRONES ARE CHANGING THE WORLD CALIFORNIAN WINE THE JOYS OF COOKBOOKS JOY LO DICO NICHOLAS COLERIDGE WILLIAM SITWELL GILES MACDONOGH

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THE MAGAZINE OF BOISDALE RESTAURANTS

Editor’s Letter There are many old and new friends with the level of social veneration and pressed between these pages, who have respect that would have been reserved generously contributed an astounding for warriors of old. Beyond being range of research and opinion for your superb athletes they have, to my limited edification and entertainment. experience, always been people with a Poignantly, eighty years after Great very special kind of high intelligence. Britain declared war on Germany on For none, one could argue, is this more 1 September 1939, it is timely to true than of an iconic golfer. The grace, reconsider the pivotal role of Neville precision and timing; the mental game Chamberlain, who, outside 10 Downing and the consistency required, are Street on 30 September 1938, declared, utterly phenomenal. I am thrilled to “My good friends, for the second time welcome Gary Player, undoubtedly one in our history, a British Prime Minister of the three greatest golfers of all time, has returned from Germany bringing to Boisdale Life in an inciteful peace with honour. I believe it is peace interview with Robin Swithinbank. for our time. We thank you from the One also needs a very special set of bottom of our hearts. Go home and get skills to be the Speaker of the House a nice quiet sleep.” He resigned in May of Commons, if you are going to control 1940 and the rest, as they say, is history. the House and not irritate everyone. fashioned cocktails with the dexterous Was he playing for time or was he Benedict Spence illuminates John Alice Lascelles; or visit the best foolishly deceived? In this 18th issue of Bercow’s peculiar ability to formidably wineries in sunny California with the Boisdale Life Bruce Anderson examines succeed on the former and masterful oenophile, Mike Karam. Neville Chamberlain’s controversial phenomenally fail on the latter. Finally, it is with significant pleasure record and remembers the man. The opposite is true of the former that we welcome two new outstanding I have never particularly enjoyed titan of magazine publishing, Nick writers to Boisdale Life. William watching other people play games, or Coleridge, who in his interview with Dalrymple, who hopefully requires no sport as it is collectively referred to the intrepid Paddy Renouf, displays introduction, gives us a tantalising taste now, and many things that interest me, such charm that, reading between the of his wonderful new book, The like collecting Roman antiquities, lines, one can hardly imagine him Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the mushroom hunting or reading requiring any management skills at all. East India Company and, just when you Hebridean history, will I am sure be far Meanwhile, if the world wasn’t thought you knew what you believed less interesting to many people than bewildering enough, Pippa Malmgren in, Joy Lo Dico compellingly argues that observing paint dry. However, perhaps investigates the astonishing libertarians are quite simply wrong! like a theologian who does not believe implications of the proliferation of in God, I do have enormous respect for drones in our world. the ideology of sport and appreciate the Enough to turn you to drink? Well, cultural benefits, the inspiration as well you are in luck, as in this issue you as the pure excitement, ingeniously have the opportunity to be truly predicated on never knowing who is fascinated by Champagne with Giles RANALD MACDONALD actually going to win. But the great MacDonogh – one of my very favourite Editor & Chief and founder of Boisdale sportsman is undoubtedly a true hero, wine writers; to shake some old Restaurants and Bars

WELCOME TO BOISDALE LONDON’S ORIGINAL RESTAURANTS & BARS

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9 BOISDALELIFE.COM WINTER 2019 ISSUE 18 S H O P P I N G

BOISDALE LIFE

FEATURED CONTRIBUTORS

JOY LO DICO Joy is a writer and journalist specialising in politics, the environment and society, and was formerly the executive PIPPA MALMGREN editor of the Evening A former economics advisor Standard. On page 22, she to US President George W takes issue with libertarians, Bush, Pippa Malmgren is arguing that their envisaged the founder of H Robotics, utopia will always be which produces drones unachievable. and autonomous vehicles – technologies with profound social implications, which she delves into on page 20.

AVRIL GROOM Avril is a journalist covering the worlds of fashion, jewellery and fine watches for the likes of FT How To Spend It, the Daily Telegraph and Country & Townhouse. For Boisdale Life, she tells the story of the UK’s only goldmine, recently opened in the Scottish Highlands, and the stunning jewellery to which it’s giving rise.

WILLIAM DALRYMPLE One of the country’s most renowned writers and historians, William Dalrymple’s ROBIN SWITHINBANK latest book, The Anarchy: the Robin is a freelance journalist and editor, Relentless Rise of the East India writing for publications including the New Company (Bloomsbury), has York Times, the Financial Times and the Daily received wide acclaim. On page Telegraph. For Boisdale Life, he sat down with 30, Dalrymple tells of the first South African golf legend Gary Player. Read stuttering attempts at diplomacy his interview, taking in Trump, Zimbabwe, between East India Company fitness, socialism and high-kicks, on page 38. envoys and the bemused Mughal Emperor.

Ranald Macdonald Barbara Widera Boisdale Life ISSN 2058-499 BPA Audited Circulation of 161,152 Editor & Chief Marketing director © 2019. Published four times a year by Boisdale Limited, boisdale Publishing director Andrew Davies Cover Rui Ricardo - FolioArt 15 Eccleston St, London, SW1W 9LX Managing editor Timothy Barber Editor-at-large Paddy Renouf Any facts stated or opinions expressed anywhere in the magazine Creative director Munnoo Malik Contributing editors Jonathan are the responsibility of the individual writers and contributors. All material omitted intentionally is the sole responsibility of the Food editor William Sitwell Wingate (music), Ben Oliver (Cars), individual contributors. Boisdale Life and the Editor are not Twitter @boisdalelife Associate editor Katia Hadidian Michael Karam (wine), Bill Knott responsible for any injury or loss relative to such material. All Instagram @boisdalelife material is compiled by sources believed to be reliable, but Web boisdalelife.com Sub editor Emma Hughes (food), Bruce Anderson published without responsibility for errors or omissions.

11 BOISDALELIFE.COM WINTER 2019 ISSUE 18 We callitawork ofart. 2019 -Supreme ChampionSpirit. perfect gin at its heart. Thecriticshave ginatitsheart. calledNo.3thebestinworld (fourtimes) perfect of three key flavours: Juniper, ginandtonicdemandsthe CitrusandSpice.Theperfect Look closer. You’ll seepassionandprecision inevery drop. Themostrefreshing balance Created byNo.3Ginincollaboration withRichard Gillam,renowned mixologist No.3 andTonic, magnified40Xunderthemicroscope The ofPerfection Art #2 * no3gin.com Discover gin,justasitshouldbe. International SpiritsChallenge 2012,2013,2015,2019–World’s BestGin, trophy winner. BOISDALELIFE.COM WINTER 2017 ISSUE 10 ISSUE 2017 WINTER 13 * .

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BOISDALE LIFE WINTER 2019

24 34 56 72 BOISDALE LIFE 26 50 BOISDALE MONARCHY PROFILE PURSUITS 14 Alexander Larman puts Paddy Renouf sits down with BOISDALE LIFE & TIMES Prince Andrew’s woes in celebrated magazine man 68 The people, parties and historical context Nicholas Coleridge LUXURY places, including the Timothy Barber on a historic Boisdale Music Awards, 28 EAT WELL maker of British writing shooting chefs, the Oyster MUSIC WITH SITWELL instruments Championships and Alice Cockerell on rockers Boisdale’s 30th birthday turned country squires 56 70 COOKBOOKS GOLF TABLE TALK FEATURES Foodies including Ravinder Colin Cameron takes his old Bhogal, Ed Smith and Rose school wooden clubs around 20 30 Prince pick their top tomes the PGA course at Gleneagles TECHNOMICS MONEY & MAHARAJAS Pippa Malmgren delves William Dalrymple on the 60 72 beneath the surface in the rise of the East India FOOD BERLIN fast-evolving world of drones Company Bill Knott gets stuck into Jeffrey Mills gets the best out suet, stodge and custard, in of Berlin, 30 years after the 21 34 praise of great British puds fall of the wall AMBER LIGHT HIGHLAND BLING A new film takes an Avril Groom on jewellery 62 75 enlightened view of whisky made from Scottish gold WINE ISLAND LIFE Discovering the finest Stanley Johnson visits the 22 38 offerings coming out of remote island country, Sao SOCIETY BOISDALE HERO California Tome & Principe Joy Lo Dico thinks the Robin Swithinbank meets The Art of Perfection #2 libertarians have it wrong golfing legend Gary Player 64 DIARY COCKTAILS No.3 and Tonic, magnified 40X under the microscope 24 42 Alice Lascelles mixes a 78 Created by No.3 Gin in collaboration with Richard Gillam, renowned mixologist STYLE HISTORY Rum Old Fashioned LIVE MUSIC AND EVENTS Harry Mount on smart Bruce Anderson considers What’s coming up at dressing gangsters the dilemma around Boisdale venues Look closer. You’ll see passion and precision in every drop. The most refreshing balance 65 appeasing Hitler DRINKS of three key flavours: Juniper, Citrus and Spice. The perfect gin and tonic demands the 25 Wine expert Tom Harrow on 82 perfect gin at its heart. The critics have called No.3 the best in the world (four times) *. POLITICS 46 the wines we should steer THE LOWDOWN We call it a work of art. Benedict Spence hopes for CHAMPAGNE clear of at any cost Soul and R&B superstar better from the new Speaker The rise of Brimancourt, Alexander O’Neal Discover gin, just as it should be. of the House a new independent house no3gin.com

*International Spirits Challenge 2012, 2013, 2015, 2019 – World’s Best Gin, trophy winner. 14 2019 - Supreme Champion Spirit. BOISDALELIFE.COM WINTER 2019 ISSUE 18 a LIFE & TIMES WHAT AUTUMN 2019 LOOKED LIKE AT BOISDALE BOISDALE MUSIC AWARDS 10 October: Bois­dale Patron of Music, Jools Hol­land, and recent­ly appoint­ed Glob­al Ambas­sador for the Puglia region of Italy, Nan­cy Del­l’O­lio, host­ed the fourth annual Bois­dale Music Awards in asso­ci­a­tion with Puglia Pro­mozione & Regione Puglia at Bois­dale of Canary Wharf.

Kelsey Grammer and Megan Barton-Hanson

Best Soul Artist: Shaun Escoffery

Best Jazz Artist: Judi Jackson.­ Each Boisdale­ Music Award-win­ner performed­ after receiving­ their accolade­

Best New­com­er: Tal­lia Storm and received limit­ ed-edi­ tion­ Boisdale­ sunglass­ es­ from the UK’s number-one­ eye­wear designer,­ Tom Davies. JEREMY GODLONTON

14 BOISDALELIFE.COM WINTER 2019 ISSUE 18 a

LIFE & TIMES

Best Instrumen­ ­tal­ist: Soweto­ Kinch (centre) with Jools Holland Best Band: British Collec­ ­tive (from left, Junior, Don-E, Noel McKoy, and Omar) and Nancy Dell’Olio

Out­standing­ Con­tri­bu­tion to British Music: RJ Gibb (second left) on behalf of Robin Gibb Best Inter­na­tion­al Band: Shar­moofers

Best Singer-Songwriter:­ Raye (right, with a friend)

Life­time Achieve­ment Award: Joe Jack­son

Best Lati­no Band: Ladyva & Silva Spe­cial Award nominee: Richard Hadfield­ Best Reggae­ Artist: Dawn Penn

15 BOISDALELIFE.COM WINTER 2019 ISSUE 18 FIELDS, MORRIS & VERDIN SHOOTING CUP Neil Rankin(left)andCalumFranklin Third BestShotaward, William Sitwell Ryan Bailey ofDoubleDutchDrinks(right)withthe Dave Swiftonthedoublebass of Belgravia. of Belgravia. at Boisdale lunch game a seasonal before School West London Shooting at pigeon shoot aclay with season game of the start the celebrated sommeliers and chefs, restaurateurs, London’s24 September: finest

Roy Evans(farright)ofFields, Morris & Verdin leadsatoasttothewonders ofgame Shot award toPatrick MetselaarofKricket Harriet ChandlerofNo. 3Ginpresents the Worst Mike Robinsonof The Harwood Arms winsBestShot BOISDALELIFE.COM WINTER 2019 ISSUE 18 2019ISSUE WINTER LIFE &TIMES LIFE 16 Adrian Blyth Eggs ofClarence Court Second BestShotaward winners, Peter Fiori(left)and James Knappett ofKitchen Table (left)andaninstructor

JEREMY GODLONTON JEREMY GODLONTON e Hg o Stroz­za of Hugo Brid­get Russell NormanofPolpo (left)seesoffafriskymollusc Hancock, BillKnott Chris LaMasurier, Jean-Jacques Cadoret, RanaldMacdonald, Rowley Leigh, Ben Wright, Robin ­preti William Woodhams (left)and Neil Borthwick BOISDALELIFE.COM WINTER 2019 ISSUE 18 ISSUE 2019 WINTER LIFE &TIMES LIFE 17 and Vivek Singh(right)ofCinnamonKitchen Jacob Kenedy ofBoccadiLupo(secondfrom left), Zeren Wilson (centre), Gillardeau winning the Best Rock Oyster. Oyster. Rock Best the winning Gillardeau Maison and Oyster Native Best the winning Cadoret Huitres Les with France, to belonged day the Ultimately writers. food and restaurateurs of London’s panel judging leading of the delight the to –much shucked 1,000over oysters saw The day France. and UK the in producers different eight from oysters native and of rock tasting ablind conduct to of Bishopsgate Boisdale at of London Distillery City the and Brothers The Wright up with teamed Boisdale 6 November: CHAMPIONSHIPS OYSTER James Pembroke ofTheOldiemagazine LIFE & TIMES

BOISDALE’S 30TH BIRTHDAY PARTY 12 November: The great and the good of the Boisdale community gathered at Boisdale of Belgravia to celebrate 30 glorious years over five courses of incredible British produce, the finest wines and whiskies, and a surprise appearance from Suspiciously Elvis!

Helen & David Soul

The Ambassador of the Republic of Cuba to the United Kingdom, Teresita Vicente Sotolongo (standing)

Peter McKay of the Daily Mail

David Burnside of New Century Media Lawson Muncaster of City AM (left) and Elvis songwriter Bill Martin MBE

Florence Walker of the Evening Standard and High

Commissioner of Jamaica Seth George Ramocan Glen King (left) and Kevin Moran Historian and biographer Nikolai Tolstoy, JULES ANNAN

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121039485_IT_ADVERT_Boisdale_Brand_210x280mm_2167.indd 1 21/11/2019 12:01 wrong it got have libertarans the says calls Dico Joy Lo CONTRARY THEQUITE P They all were early pioneers of drones – pioneers early of were drones They all the next frontier of the global economy global of the frontier next the and Marilyn Monroe have in common? have in Monroe Marilyn and 22 22 What do the British Army, Amazon, British do What the THE EYEIN THE SKY Technomics former advisor to the US President US the to advisor former and founder, tech author, Economist, MALMGREN PIPPA DR in dark places dark in friends from cues style takes Mount Harry GANGSTA CHIC P 24 24

Parliament in back decorum wants Spence Benedict TO ORDERCALL P BOISDALELIFE.COM 25 25 F WINTER 2019 ISSUE 18 2019ISSUE WINTER understanding ofthistechnology, Arabia, arealldrones.Fora true oil refinery, Abqaiq inSaudi down theworld’s mostsignificant cruise missilesthatrecently took warheads onforeheads”,and the Predator dronethat“puts toy inthebackgarden, talk about“drones”.Thechild’s be useful.Yet thisishowpeople “nicotine products”,itwouldnot technically correcttocallthese and shisha.Whileitmightbe cigarillos, nicotinechewinggum category withsnuff,cigarettes, was throwntogetherintoone 20 Churchill, orLusitania where aCorona,Robusto, there, imagineaworld or thecigarsmokersout royals of errant history the charts Larman Alexander CONTROVERSY COURTING P 26 26 (1940), AroundtheWorld in Human Bondage(1934),Rebecca Hollywood films,including Of Denny, whoappeared inmany was theEnglishactorReginald equipment. Thefatherofdrones Modern dronesbeganasdefence thinks ofthemthisway. are nottoys,evenifthepublic because webelievethatdrones We onlyselltocompanies, the firmIco-founded,HRobotics. industrial dronecalledHiSightby geopolitics, Iproducean international markets,policyand work asaneconomistadvisingon confidence becausealongsidemy £25,000. Isaythatwithsome commercial dronethatsellsfor have farlesscapabilitythana cost upwardsof£250,000and so-called “militarydrones”can 33 hoursinDecember2018.The disrupted GatwickAirportfor caused whentoydrones – witnessthe£50millionlosses than £20candoalotofdamage produced toydronesthatcostless between drones.Themass- useful waytodistinguish $190,000 each.Butpriceisnota word is,theyinitiallycost night-vision capabilities.The cameras thatofferinfraredand 16 grams,andhavethreeonboard They measure4x1inches,weigh Nano dronesusedbytheSAS: Take theNorwegianBlackHornet does notguaranteeperformance. and someotherthingsinlife,size about UAVs isthat,likecigars lump togetherasdrones. aerial vehicle”(UAV) thatwe qualities ofeach“unmanned we needtolearntheunique This wasnotalwaysso. The firstthingtounderstand nature by tamed legends music finds Cockerell Alice ROCK OF FIELDS P 27 27

SHUTTERSTHOCK TABLE TALK

Eighty Days (1956), and Batman can tell what a business is worth (1966). He’d been an RAF pilot in from an aerial image, whether it’s Film the First World War, until he was an agribusiness, a mining site, shot by friendly fire. Fascinated infrastructure, a construction site by aircraft, he brought several or even a parking lot. These days THE AMBER LIGHT Sopwiths to Hollywood and sold hedge funds and asset managers them to Howard Hughes, who pay firms like Planet Labs, with A new documentary about whisky used them to make his epic film, their thousands of shoebox-sized gets to the heart of the spirit’s Hell’s Angels (1930). With the satellites, for the imagery of creative side, says its maker proceeds, Denny indulged his parking lots at airports, shopping passion for remote-controlled malls and city centres to tell how aircraft and ultimately launched many people are passing through “Whisky has this incredible role in bringing the “Dennymite” – the first-ever before any hard data points are people together,” says Adam Park, the maker of a mass-produced UAV. It had one available. Drones capture and captivating and unusual new documentary on the particularly unexpected result. deliver this data even faster. The subject, titled The Amber Light. “There are whole The production line had lots of dark allegation that the US has communities where people come together and “Rosie the Riveters” – women made is that Chinese drone share a dram and solve the challenges they’re who built defence equipment. companies are gathering the data facing, and it applies as much to a working man’s Fellow actor Ronald Reagan was and making it available to the pub in the docks in Glasgow or a croft in the then Head of Public Relations for Chinese Government. That’s why Hebrides, as it does to a laird in his castle.” the US Army’s First Motion the US Government has recently In his film, Park follows the whiskery whisky Picture Unit, fondly referred to as prohibited the purchase of writer Dave Broom (pictured below) on a convivial “the Celluloid Commandos”. He Chinese-made drones by any Scottish journey around the rough-hewn, lesser- commissioned a young US Army government entity and grounded known corners of the spirit’s ‘cultural terroir’. photographer called David the existing drone fleets. From Islay peatbogs to Fife microbreweries to Conover to take some photos of The Chinese find all this a bit fields and pubs, via writers (including the novelist the ladies. One caught his eye as rich, given that one of Google’s Iain Rankin and the poet/artist Alasdair Gray), she fixed props onto the drones. early backers was DARPA (the musicians, distillers, foragers and others, it’s a He immediately took two weeks Defence Advanced Research charming and fascinating quest to understand the leave to teach the young girl how Projects Agency), which gets to spirit’s capacity to unify and inspire. to pose for the camera. That’s see every single internet search Nor is it afraid to peer into the darker side where Marilyn Monroe was and track every person’s – Whisky Galore this is not. As Park says: “We discovered – on the first drone movements. Amazon, which the wanted to get away from that fusty, highly mass-production line. Chinese view as another traditional world people associate whisky with, UAVs are now at the heart of surveillance machine, now and look at its place within the social fabric of national security. President houses all the data management Scotland, in all the forms that takes.” Trump and the US national for each of the 17 US intelligence Park and Broom partly crowd-funded the film, security establishment have agencies. Others have also which was shot over the course of 2018. For the accused China’s drone makers of noticed the details in the patent next few months, it’s touring the country for a disguising the best reconnaissance filings for the new drones from series of one-off screenings. system in modern history as a Amazon, Google and Walmart. Whisky lovers should hunt it out! children’s toy. The idea is simple. They all seem to contain far more Many of the toy drones have to elements for gathering data than For details of upcoming screenings of be plugged into a computer every for delivery. Is delivering a The Amber Light, go to amberlightfilm.com few weeks so that the software package an excuse for finding out for the autopilot function, which what car the family drives, how allows the drone to be flown many kids reside at home, and remotely, can be updated from what the dimensions of the house time to time. But, because the are? The best read on this subject drones typically only have one is Shoshanna Zuboff’s The Age of motherboard for both the camera Surveillance Capitalism (Profile), data and autopilot, the two data which warns of the threats to free streams can co-mingle. In theory will and free markets by such it is possible to take a download data-collecting technologies. witch each update and thus get Little wonder the public, and all the telemetry and data. governments, are uneasy about Why would anybody want the drones’ surveillance aspects. Yet camera data? The amazing thing they come in many forms with about the aerial view is that it capabilities that serve many allows you to value assets. You purposes. Just like a good cigar.

21 BOISDALELIFE.COM WINTER 2019 ISSUE 18 TABLE TALK

olitary, poor, nasty, which doesn’t need legislation. brutish and short.” “We would be better off if we No, not Toby Young just…” they say, dismissing but Thomas Hobbes. several centuries of intellectual “SThis is how the philosopher energy already expended on finely described life before the Leviathan balanced decisions about the of the State arrived, the citizen’s competing rights of a landowner defence against war and hunger. who wants to build a skyscraper In the minds of some, there is with those of his low-rise another world possible, with the neighbour who objects. Or, say, Leviathan caged and the people the whisky drinker who’d like to free. Such is the dream of the know he’s drinking decent liquor, libertarians. Emboldened by a few but there’s no label on the bottle. recent victories – the Brexit result, It is no surprise that libertarians the arrival of Boris Johnson – they despise government. Government have determined to build a new was designed to be despised. Its Garden of Eden without the pesky job is to balance the assertion of rules about which fruit we can eat. liberty to build or distil as one In this land, people will no wishes against the rights of those longer hurl spears at each other on affected. The bureaucrat makes Twitter. Respect and tolerance will the ruling, steeped in the tedious flourish. So too will trade, history of similar bickering, takes propelled by gentle ocean winds, the flak and allows us to greet uncannily always in a favourable each other civilly if somewhat direction. The brambles of sulkily. Does the outsourcing of regulation will recede, the these decisions not in turn give us overbearing government will trip a different kind of freedom – to do under the weight of its own S ociety something more enjoyable? branches, and the taxman will be Push any libertarian hard hunted to extinction. Hobbes’s enough and it’s all about taxes: French contemporary, Poussin, QUITE THE A socialist chastising the rich for will paint this libertarian Arcadia, greed and demanding it be shared populated by handsome men in CONTRARY is another form of greed. Though red corduroy trousers, and women sure that man is by nature good with equal status, yet who How might the game of life unfold and productive, the libertarian strangely always do their bidding. if it were played with no rules? suspects his fellow man wouldn’t You have to love a libertarian Libertarians are gasping to find out agree with his vision of society. for their idealism in the face of all It is not just about minding my evidence to the contrary. Ever country has adopted full-blown own business. It is about assuming since the State and the social libertarianism as its philosophy. my business judgement is best. contract took shape, they’ve had Because they know one thing: Poussin’s painting of Arcadia is a better idea. The early libertarians When the weather is fair it is easy looking rather messy by now. The were proto-hippies in the Midwest for man to love his fellow man curve of the hills is ruptured by a in the 19th century, following the and agree on a set of principles to tower block. On the right there is “individualist anarchist” Josiah live by, without any written a chap in the stocks for stealing an Warren. There was peace, love, and contract of duties. But, as poet umbrella, to the left someone harmony in this self-organising JOY LO DICO Charles Bowen said, when it rains, flattened on cheap hooch. Around society but they never got much “The rain it raineth on the just/ the rubble of a civic building, further than a few dozen oxen – Writer and And also on the unjust fella;/ But people gather to debate how best no-one would invest capital in journalist for the chiefly on the just, because/ The to make decisions for the a place without rules. Our modern Financial Times unjust hath the just’s umbrella.” community. “What about a kind libertarians, in the US and UK, and Monocle “No, no,” cry the libertarians, of council?” one asks. “Elected,” gave up on the idea of the shared “you’re confused. The umbrella adds another, “with some officials plough but instead argue that if cannot be stolen as we shall to enforce the rules.” “And it’s we take individual responsibility, enforce property rights.” Well, we hard work and unpopular,” says the sum of all our actions will lead already do – and still the umbrella one more. “Do you think we to a happier, more productive and is not always where you left it. should give them some financial naturally co-operative society. If Raise further objections and a compensation for doing it?” only we didn’t have to pay taxes. libertarian will find a simple Poussin depicts them all with

It is with good reason that no answer to every complex problem, taxed expressions on their faces. SHUTTERSTOCK

22 BOISDALELIFE.COM WINTER 2019 ISSUE 18 TABLE TALK TABLE TALK

overcoats set off with silk scarves, Warren Beatty, was due to their and those caps. Some say that clothes: in photos found at their S tyle ‘blinder’ was actually slang for a hideout, Bonnie Parker smokes natty dresser, not a hidden blade, a cigar, holds a gun, and wears a GANGSTA CHIC because detachable blades, made long, black flapper’s dress with by Gillette, only debuted in 1903. a black beret set at a rakish angle. The criminal underworld has At the same time, a female In another photo, Clyde Barrow always had an exquisite sense of style, gang, known as ‘the Forty wears a banded hat, three-piece and now its dress codes are found Elephants’ (from their Elephant suit and tie, with a razor-sharp in all the best post codes and Castle base in South crease to his trousers. London), dressed beautifully to Al Capone also favoured shoplift from the grandest shops. three-piece suits with wide lapels s I walked down the From 1873 to the 1950s, the Forty and ritzy ties. His parents were elegant, Edwardian, Elephants stole from those shops born in Italy. That background Piccadilly Arcade and dressed up as maids to steal lent Italian gangsters in America recently, I saw a set of from their rich employers. a European look (so perfectly Ahats that took my breath away. They wore fashionable coats, captured by Robert De Niro and They were in the window of skirts, and hats, set off with muffs Al Pacino in the Godfather series, Swaine Adeney Brigg, one of the and cummerbunds; their clothes and their new film,The Irishman). smartest shops in town. Founded HARRY MOUNT featured extra pockets to hide It also offers another explanation in 1750, over the past 270 years their swag. One gang member, for gangster chic: Goodfellas the firm has made, among many Journalist, editor Lilian Goldstein, was nicknamed wanted to show they’d made it in other things, James Bond’s of The Oldie and ‘the Bobbed-Haired Bandit’, the country where their parents briefcase (in From Russia with author of How thanks to her hip hairstyle. had arrived with nothing. Love) and six postilion whips for England Made the Even when gangsters weren’t The Italian-American gangster English (Penguin) Prince William’s marriage to Kate disguising themselves as rich style caught on among wartime Middleton. And here were the people to steal from them, they spivs in Britain – note Private hats worn in Peaky Blinders, the wanted to look like them to show Walker in Dad’s Army, who’s hit TV series about 19th-century they had made it out of the ghetto keen on wide-collared, double- Birmingham gangs. and to command respect. breasted suits, wide, glitzy ties, Displayed prominently was the The same happened in and lashings of Brylcreem. flat cap worn by the show’s star, America, where Bonnie and That American-Italian gangster Cillian Murphy, though his Clyde reaped murderous havoc influence can be traced in the character and his fellow gangsters through the South and Midwest Kray Twins. Reggie Kray wore liked to customise the peaks of from 1931 to 1934, killing nine single-breasted dark suits with a their caps with razor blades, to policemen and four civilians. white shirt, black tie, and pocket slice them across enemies’ eyes. Much of their misguided square. The chubbier Ronnie Kray Thus the name, Peaky Blinders. glamorisation, revived by the plumped for a double-breasted You can also buy, for £450, the 1967 film,Bonnie and Clyde, suit – wise for a larger gentleman. ‘Peaky Domino’ hat – a black, starring Faye Dunaway and I once met Frankie Fraser, the rabbit-fur bowler, with black and violent thug who tore enemies’ white domino pattern, worn by teeth out with pliers, who worked the character Polly Gray (played for the Richardson Brothers, the by Helen McCrory, queen bee of Krays’ rivals. He was terrifying the Peaky Blinders). (“Don’t write anything rude about Has it really come to this? The my book,” he said, as I bought chicest shops in St James’s selling Mad Frank: Memoirs of a Life of gangster clothes? In fact, it isn’t Crime) but wonderfully kitted-out that odd. For over a century, in a black suit, white shirt, floral gangsters have imitated St James’s tie, and razor-sharp parting. styles. That gangster clothes now As sartorial standards have appear in the Piccadilly Arcade declined over the past 50 years, just shows how well-dressed the so, too, has the gangster look, but original Peaky Blinders were. elements survive in Terry Adams, From 1890 to 1910, the Peaky 65, head of the North London Blinders dominated Birmingham Adams Family. Jailed for money- crime, controlling gambling and laundering in 2007, Adams is influencing politics through trim and immaculately dressed in violence and robbery. They wore tailored suits, velvet-collared

waistcoats, tailored jackets, overcoats – and a Peaky Blinder. SHUTTERSTOCK

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ith any luck, the his reputation, and to that of highlight of Sir Parliament, than perhaps even Lindsay Hoyle’s the expenses scandal a few years time as Speaker ago. Sir Lindsay, Bercow’s deputy Wof the House of Commons will be throughout this torrid episode, the day of his accession; may his would have seen up-close what fame gain no more gravitas than that behaviour has done. There what little it currently holds. is little to suggest that he will That is not to be snide, or in venture down the same dark path. any way to check his ambitions or But something that often downplay his character or ability. escapes, amid the outrage at But a great many of us have had Bercow’s lack of impartiality on enough of the office of Speaker. Brexit, is how the culture he His predecessor, John Bercow, encouraged in the Commons has much to answer for. A fuelled the febrile atmosphere the controversial choice from the nation has found itself in. outset (backed by Labour MPs for In a realm where insults reign, the sole reason that, even then, and where ideologies, he was roundly disliked by his increasingly, are diverging from fellow Tories), he left with his one another at a far greater rate reputation for rudeness, than normal, wit inevitably and grandstanding and pomposity quickly gives way to wrath. much enhanced. That is what we found in the Many may shrug their Commons over the chaos of 2019. shoulders and ask, “So what?” Gone were the days of droll British politics has always had banter; they were replaced with that element of the bear pit – Politics red-faced bellowing from all sides more akin to a school debate, of the aisle, drowned out by shrill with victory measured as much CALL TO ORDER accusations of racism, sexism and by the volume of guffaws that other frequently hollow insults, greet a barb, as by the rectitude of The new Speaker of the House must with positions irreconcilable and a point. Why should the Speaker ensure that MPs mind their Ps & Qs politicians furious that it should not be as vicious as anyone else? before Britain’s once-proud debating be so. At the centre of it all? The Curiously, the reason why culture sinks further into a mud- man appointed to keep the peace, Bercow, as ringmaster of this slinging free-for-all preserve civility, and do more circus, did the nation a disservice than just shout about in leading this behaviour starts “Ordaaaaahhh”. with his most positive the run-up to the UK’s As the Commons behaves, so achievement. Under his tenure, referendum on membership of the the nation reflects, and there is backbenchers were encouraged EU – a vote, fundamentally, on little doubt that the rhetoric of and given more space to let how, and by who, the public is our politicians, some of whom themselves be heard, in a manner represented. At the very moment really ought to know better, has not previously seen for quite that discontent at a lack of true become emboldened and some time. This was a strangely representation began to really inflamed by what the outgoing prescient move – we were, BEN EDIC T simmer, Bercow gave the world Speaker has allowed. though he would not have known SPENCE a window into the performance Sir Lindsay Hoyle has a it, rapidly approaching an age of of MPs – how they could (mis)use thankless task ahead, but for the political engagement through Writer and TV their voices, what they chose to sake of his office and the wider commentator on social media, where an MP’s talk about, and what power, if country, he needs to rein in these global politics voice could not only be heard, and current any, they really had. odious tendencies in but amplified from the Chamber affairs It is what has happened since Parliamentary discourse. through the internet, and the referendum that will really This will mean leading by deposited directly into people’s stick, however. example, and not using his feeds. Bercow gave backbenchers We all know about Bercow’s platform as a stage to write his a new kind of power – and my, questionable positioning on own name in the history books. how they used it. matters of precedent, ripping After what came before him, For quite different reasons, them up or following them as it there could be no greater Bercow’s tendency to indulge the suited him. There is little point commendation than if history lowly MP also proved prophetic opining on it here – it was wrong, chooses to say very little of

SHUTTERSTOCK as again, unknowingly, it came in partisan, and did more damage to Sir Lindsay at all.

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But he is only the latest in a long Edward’s assistant-private line of royals who have assumed secretary, Godfrey Thomas, Monarchy that their status offers them carte miserably informed the Queen. blanche to behave as they wish; “He is always cheery and full of the feelings and rights of others fun but far, far too weak and COURTING be damned. hopelessly irresponsible.” George VI and Elizabeth II were This has been a pattern over CONTROVERSY models of decorum, but Edward the centuries with royalty, as VIII proved to be a disaster princes and kings have often Prince Andrew’s woes continue a long before, during, and after his brief preferred the company of the legacy of men’s misdeeds at the Palace reign (20th January-11 December, licentious over the dutiful. 1936) – the shortest in history. Charles II was notorious for this, He was well known as a ladies’ surrounding himself with a man, much to the horror of his “merry gang” of playwrights, private secretary, Alan “Tommy” poets and wits, including the Lascelles, who said Edward “was notorious ne’er-do-well, Lord never out of the thrall of one Rochester. Charles enjoyed female after another… there was cavorting with his familiars, but always a grande affaire, and, as always stressed that he, as King, I know to my cost, an unbroken held the power, and that they series of petites affaires”. A should dance to his tune. This typical episode was his seduction did not always work: In one of a Mrs Margery Barns, wife of scandalous incident, Rochester, a local commissioner in Dodoma, spying an elaborate sundial in Tanzania in 1928, while on a Charles’s garden that reminded royal tour. What led Lascelles him of a phallus, shouted, “What! to call it “incredibly callous Dost thou stand here to fuck behaviour”, was that he had been time?”, drew his sword, and informed of his father George V’s smashed it to pieces. He was grave illness immediately before. banished from court – yet again Edward dismissed the news as – but Charles always recalled him “some election-dodge of [Stanley] from exile. Court was too dull Baldwin’s”, and pursued his without him, he said. libertine entertainments. The tradition of royalty with any who watched the Yet he met his match in Wallis outré sex lives was perhaps best carcrash Newsnight Simpson, his notorious inamorata, personified by Queen Victoria’s interview with who has been rumoured to be son, Edward VII, who rejoiced in Prince Andrew felt everything from a hermaphrodite the nicknames of “Dirty Bertie” Mutter disbelief. As the grand old to a dominatrix. One disgruntled and “Edward the Caresser”. He Duke of York made his bizarre letter-writer described her as was so committed to his pleasure and fanciful assertions – being “queen of the golden grummet”, that in his favourite Paris A L EX A N DER unable to sweat because of an Thirties’ slang for a dominant brothel, Le Chabanais, he kept a LARMAN “overdose of adrenaline” from partner in a gay relationship. bespoke siège d’amour (“love serving in the Falklands; that he Edward was disparaged as the chair”) that allowed him to have Journalist and submissive “knight of the golden sex with two women at once, author of the could not have slept with Virginia forthcoming Roberts, then 17, because he was grummet”. After he abdicated in and at his coronation in 1901, he book, The Crown in a Pizza Express in Woking – he December 1936, he was reduced had his own pew reserved for in Crisis did more harm to the monarchy to living an uneasy hand-to-mouth “the King’s special ladies”, for in one hour than anyone since existence abroad, all but exiled ease of access. Princess Diana. She, at least, had from Britain and dogged by Andrew can take heart that his the excuse of avenging “the Firm” rumours that he was a Nazi actions follow a long, ignoble that had wronged her; Andrew sympathiser. Many argued that tradition of royal bad behaviour. failed to realise that his damage- the price he paid to marry Wallis He is undeniably an international limitation exercise could backfire was too high for anyone to bear, laughing stock at time of writing, spectacularly. Tellingly, his despite her attractions. and worse may ensue if he initial reaction was that the Edward was just as foolish as becomes a person of interest to interview went well. The press Andrew in his choice of friends, the FBI. He can console himself thought not. who included his equerry, by knowing that our nation’s Prince Andrew has been hugely “Fruity” Metcalfe. “Metcalfe is history will be all the richer for

embarrassing for the Royal Family. not at all a good thing for HRH,” his conspicuous shortcomings. SHUTTERSTOCK

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TABLE TALK

friend recently sat next to his wife Shirley on their 600-acre Bryan Ferry at a smart stud farm in Devon. The Stones dinner party, where the drummer is said to walk straight off Roxy Music legend was the stage after a gig, toss his Asurrounded by aristocrats. “So, drumsticks to a flunky, and clamber who’s your favourite duke?” she into an old Land Rover to be back asked jokingly. “Buccleuch!” he home before midnight. replied, without hesitation. Alex James, songwriter and bass Forget being anti-establishment, player for Blur, has made a second befriending the best of Burke’s career as a cheesemaker from his Peerage is in: wellies have been Oxfordshire farmhouse. “I squeaked over leather trousers to sometimes think of myself as a headline Knebworth; albums laid monk. Monks make cheese and down in sound-insulated statelies; music,” he says. “I walk down the and the adrenaline of bloodsports street in Chipping Norton and draws a music industry crowd. people say, ‘Oi, Cheese Boy!’ It used “When I go fishing,” says Roger to be because I was in Blur, but these Daltrey of The Who (pictured, right, days it’s all about cheese.” in the 1980s), “I come away feeling Similarly, David Gilmour of Pink like I’ve smoked half a dozen joints.” Floyd lives a bucolic life – his In fact, Daltrey, Ferry (who’s son Otis family’s frolics in meadows all was arrested in 2004 for breaking documented by photographer Sarah into the House of Commons to Lee on her Instagram page – and protest a ban on hunting with dogs), credits his band’s newfound mellow Roger Waters (of Pink Floyd), and vibe to “an awful lot of downtime, Eric Clapton were members of the which was home time for all of us “Countryside Rocks” campaign that – in the country. I don’t think any of supported the Countryside Alliance. us became fully-fledged rock’n’roll Then there’s Ed Sheeran, who Music people.” bought a country estate in Some were born posh and found Framlingham, Suffolk, in 2011. rock salvation. “Bunter”, the Duke of He has just been granted planning FIELDS OF ROCK Beaufort, head-bangs with his band permission to build a chapel or The Listening Device; while Loyd ‘prayer retreat’ on the property, after Counterculture be damned – once Grossman and Guinness heir hiring newt specialists to prove that fortunes have been made in the Valentine Guinness have what must the endangered great-crested variety stadium, the band heads for the hills be the world’s poshest punk band. won’t be disturbed by his worship Tax-wise, farming is the way plans. to dispose of your rock pounds. When not fronting The Who, the with the Prince of Wales. “I have “However stately the home, if you gentrified Daltrey is a distinguished friends who are in the posh category can show that it has a semblance fish farmer who breeds trout so he and some who are in the not-at-all- of agriculture, you skip inheritance can “invite all my old workmates posh category, and some who you tax,” my accountant advises. “You from the sheet-metal factory to come would find it very hard to get any also get to use red diesel, which is a fishing”. But operations for his four sort of handle on,” he says. boon.” What rockers manage less interconnecting lakes are directed Meanwhile, the Big Pink’s Robbie well are the rural detractors that from the Jacobean splendour of A LIC E Furze and pop star James Blunt have come with their new estates – village Holsmhurst Manor. COCKERELL married landed girls, in the form of biddies, eco warriors, and county Eric Clapton is a crack shot and Lady Mary Charteris and Lady Sofia councils fling injunctions rather than Freelance writer adept with a twelve bore. “He came Wellesley. knickers. It is not just newt wars; on a very ropey partridge shoot with The Rolling Stones – or rather the endangered bats have held up Noel us,” says a gun from Somerset. “All Rolling Sloanes – epitomise the Gallagher’s stately-home the beaters were singing Clapton progression from stage god to improvements, and Roger Daltrey is songs to drive the birds. Happily his country squire. “There was a battling to build a new guesthouse ear-muffs were so smart, he didn’t moment,” says one former aristo on his estate. We fans may have to hear a note!” groupie, “when Mick was going out accept rock gods falling off the Historically, the aristocracy and with Sabrina Guinness, his PA was wagon and breeding the rare oxen rockocracy have rubbed up nicely. Miranda Guinness, and his money that tow it instead. Jools Holland found love with was handled by Prince Rupert Christabel McEwan – the ex-wife of Lowenstein.” Band-mate Charlie

the Earl of Durham – and a bromance Watts now breeds Arab horses with ALAMY

28 BOISDALELIFE.COM WINTER 2019 ISSUE 18 TABLE TALK

Music THE POWER OF THE POP Thirty years after it soundtracked the fall of the Berlin Wall, pop music is still able to agitate and provoke

ROB CROSSAN

Freelance writer, author and radio presenter GETTY

27 BOISDALELIFE.COM AUTUMN 2019 ISSUE 17 MONEY AND MAHARAJAS A rollicking read and cautionary tale, William Dalrymple’s new book tells the story of the mighty East India Company, and how it took control of one of the world’s most magnificent empires

Right: Hawkins Presenting King James’s Letter To The Great Mogul – an illustration from the 1912 book, The Romance of India (artist unknown) GETTY I to charmtheMoghulEmperor, Jahangir. ambitions. Inthiseditedextract,saltyseadogstry behemoth, whichhelpedforgeBritain’s colonial charts theprimacyofthisprivately-armedtrading India Company(Bloomsbury),William Dalrymple and answerableonlytoitsshareholders”? private company, basedthousandsofmilesoverseas become dominatedby“adangerouslyunregulated princely statesformingwhatwenowknowasIndia, How didtheMoghulEmpire,avastexpanseof million, byfartherichestmonarch intheworld. Mughal Emperor, withanincomeofaround£100 way totheMughalexchequer inAgra,makingthe A goodproportionoftheprofits onthisfoundits three percentoftheworld’s manufacturedgoods. of India’s populationandwasproducingjustunder In comparison,Englandthenhadjustfivepercent ‘deindustrialisation’ duetoIndianclothimports. whose textilemanufacturesufferedacrisisof weight ofitseconomicpowerevenreachedMexico, of worldtradethananycomparablezoneandthe It wascertainlyresponsibleforamuchlargershare dungarees, cummerbund,taffetas–ofIndianorigin. weaving –chintz,calico,shawl,pyjamas,khaki, nothing aresomanyEnglishwordsconnectedwith the world’s leaderinmanufacturedtextiles.Notfor ways itwastheworld’s industrialpowerhouseand a quarterofglobalmanufacturing;indeed,inmany a fifthoftheworld’s total)andwasproducingabout commander ofanEICvesseltosetfootonIndiansoil. his ship,theHector,offSurat,andsobecamefirst a bluffseacaptainwiththeThirdVoyage, anchored with apiraticalenthusiasm. commercial openingsfurtherafield.Thistheydid forced toscourtheglobefornewmarketsand from theirbaffledneighbours,theEnglishwere something ofapariahnation.Asresult,isolated themselves intheeyesofmanyEuropeansinto powerful institutioninEurope,soturning unilaterally cutthemselvesofffromthemost minds anactofwilfulself-harm,theEnglishhad course ofthis,inwhatseemedtomanyitswisest the mostdivisivesubjectoftime:religion.In had spentalmostacenturyatwarwithitselfover impoverished, largelyagriculturalcountry, which seemed lesssureofsuccess. for atitsfoundingfewenterprisescouldhave inevitable. Butthatwasnothowitlookedin1599, retrospect, theriseofCompanyseemsalmost put it,“astateintheguiseofamerchant”.In corporation inhistory, asEdmundBurkefamously In India thenhadapopulationof150million(about On 28August1608,CaptainWilliam Hawkins, At thattimeEnglandwasarelatively world’s tradeandbecomethemostpowerful eventually grewtocontrolalmosthalfthe We knowthattheEastIndiaCompany(EIC) t isalwaysamistaketoreadhistorybackwards. The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East The Anarchy:RelentlessRiseoftheEast

BOISDALELIFE.COM WINTER 2019 ISSUE 18 ISSUE 2019 WINTER (1601) Leaving Woolwich Company East India Fleetofthe The First Right: father. Akbar, Jahngir’s 16 in the was built inside the Agra Fort, Jahangiri Mahal Above: th -century by -century BOOKS Engraving of 31 The barely concealhisboredomat suchconversations. customs duties,buttheaesthete Emperorcould point andraisethesubjectof tradeandpreferential obeisance, Roewantedimmediately togetthe finally grantedanaudience, and hadmadehis difficult interviewswiththe Emperor. When hewas had afondness.Roeneverthelessseriesof crates ofredwineforwhichhehadheardJahangir Mannerist paintings,anEnglishvirginalandmany Irish greyhounds–anEnglishstatecoach,some presents of“huntingdogges”–Englishmastiffsand “man ofquality”,SirThomasRoe. Ambassador totheSublimePorteandself-described courtier, MP, diplomat,Amazonexplorer, to sendaroyalenvoy. Themanchosenwasa and thistimetheCompanypersuadedKingJames an ArmenianChristianwife. sea dogandsenthimbackhomewiththegiftof before Jahangirlostinterestinthesemi-educated Jahangir, withwhomheconversedinTurkish, Here hewasbrieflyentertainedbytheEmperor managed tododressedasanAfghannobleman. took HawkinsayeartoreachAgra,whichhe a relationshipwiththeMughalEmperorhimself.It partners andpermissions,whichmeantestablishing successfully withtheMughals,itwouldneedboth In 1615RoefinallyarrivedinAjmer, bringing A new, moreimpressivemissionwascalledfor, The Companyrealisedthatifitwastotrade

 Jahangir was a proud inheritor of the Indo-Mughal Above: Illustration tradition of aesthetics and knowledge. As well as of The Birth of the Company in Founders’ maintaining the Empire and commissioning great Hall by Maurice works of art, he took an active interest in goat and Greiffenhagen cheetah breeding, medicine and astronomy, and had (1903) an insatiable appetite for animal husbandry, like some Enlightenment landowner of a later generation. Right: Illustration of the Emperor oe would try to steer the talk towards Jahangir he was, despite himself, thoroughly dazzled. In a commerce and diplomacy and the (19th century) letter describing the Emperor’s birthday celebrations “firmans“ (imperial orders) he wanted in 1616, written from the beautiful, hilltop fortress confirming “his favour for an English of Mandu in central India to the future King Charles Rfactory” at Surat and “to establish a firm and secure I in Whitehall, Roe reported that he had entered a Trade and residence for my countrymen” in world of almost unimaginable splendour. “constant love and pease”; but Jahangir would When Roe eventually returned to England, after assure him such workaday matters could wait, and three weary years at court, he had obtained instead counter with questions about the distant, permission from Jahangir to build a factory (trading foggy island Roe came from, the strange things that station) in Surat, an agreement “for our reception went on there, and the art which it produced. and continuation in his domynyons” and a couple “He asked me what Present we would bring of imperial firmans, limited in scope and content, him,” Roe noted. “I answered the league [between but useful to flash at obstructive Mughal officials. England and Mughal India] was yet new, and very Jahangir, however, made a deliberate point of not weake: that many curiosities were to be found in conceding any major trading privileges, possibly our Countrey of rare price and estimation, which regarding it as beneath his dignity to do so. the king would send, and the merchants seeke out Yet for all its clumsiness, Roe’s mission was the in all parts of the world, if they were once made start of a Mughal–EIC relationship that would develop secure of a quiet trade and protection on honourable into something approaching a partnership and see the Conditions. He asked what those curiosities were company gradually drawn into the Mughal nexus. I mentioned, whether I meant jewels and rich Over the next 200 years it would learn to operate stones. I answered No: that we did not thinke them skilfully within the Mughal system and to do so fit Presents to send backe, which were first brought in the Mughal idiom, with its officials learning good from these parts, whereof he was the Chiefe Lord … Persian, the correct court etiquette, the art but that we sought to find things for his Majestie, of bribing the right officials and, in time, as were rare here, and vnseene. He said it was very outmanoeuvring all their rivals – Portuguese, Dutch well: but that he desired an English horse … So and French – for imperial favour. Indeed, much of the with many passages of jests, mirth, and bragges Company’s success at this period was facilitated by its concerning the Arts of his Countrey, he fell to ask scrupulous regard for Mughal authority. Before long, me questions, how often I drank a day, and how indeed, the Company would begin portraying itself to much, and what? What in England? What beere the Mughals, as the historian Sanjay Subrahmanyam was? How made? And whether I could make it here. has nicely described it, as “not a corporate entity but In all which I satisfied his great demands of State.” instead an anthropomorphised one, an Indo-Persian Roe could on occasion be dismissively critical of creature called Kampani Bahadur”. Mughal rule – “religions infinite, laws none” – but By kind permission of Bloomsbury Publishing.

32 BOISDALELIFE.COM WINTER 2019 ISSUE 18

HIGHLAND BLING Up in the Scottish Highlands, Britain’s only gold mine has sprung quietly into life. Avril Groom reports on an unlikely tale of panning and perseverance, whose first fruits are being turned into jewellery of unique provenance SCOTLAND

link and you miss it. Cononish, Britain’s only commercial goldmine, is well camouflaged, tucked into a rocky Highland hillside Bhalfway between Loch Lomond and Rannoch Moor, and totally unlike the usual mining image of vast workings and industrial mess. By mining standards this is small scale and, as its location near the village of Tyndrum is in a National Park, environmental unobtrusiveness is top priority. At present it comprises two large sheds and some earth heaps – the latter will eventually be planted with native vegetation to blend with the hummocks of glacial moraine that dot the natural landscape. The whole project takes some believing, especially if you assume – and why would you not? – that Scottish gold is as mythical as Nessie. But this metal has history, as the mining company’s main jewellery-making partner knows. In the archives of the grand Edinburgh jeweller and silversmith Hamilton & Inches are two Victorian pieces bearing a special mark: it shows that the gold wouldn’t bother, but we have generous shareholders who are itself, and not just the making of it into committed to the Scottish gold project.” jewellery, is of Scottish provenance. It goes back much further, too: gold was lanning permission was another major hurdle in such a known to have been refined for jewellery sensitive area, especially when scientific tests showed in the Iron Age and was worn by Pa potentially larger amount of gold than initially Scottish monarchs. envisaged. The mine is now planned to run for between 10 In fact, people have panned Highland and 17 years, and estimates of the total value of its gold go up streams for alluvial gold for centuries, to £200 million at current prices, which are gently rising (gold says Chris Sangster, CEO of mining is seen as a safe haven in times of economic uncertainty). The company Scotgold. “Commercial gold is smelted on site and is made to an unusually pure 22 research didn’t begin until the early carats, a point of difference from the normal 18 carats used 1980s, after the British Geological in top-end British jewellery. It has a pleasing, rich yet subtle Survey found gold during a study of yellow tone. stream sediment in Northern Ireland, in The mine will come fully on stream during 2020, but has a similar rock structure which runs right already been producing gold, and the first precious harvest across to Scotland,” he says. has been made into fine jewellery by Hamilton & Inches. The Getting investment wasn’t easy for evocative and unmistakably Scottish collection of 30 unique a painstaking project which entails jewellery pieces is probably a sound investment on rarity following the gold upstream until it Opposite: Cononish value alone, but their beautiful design adds profound appeal disappears, and then following the mine, hidden in plain for anyone whose heart – or ancestry – is in the Highlands. nearest tributaries until you find the sight. It is the first step in what both partners hope will be a right kind of rock and – maybe – fruitful alliance, though it has been a twisting and rocky road some gold. “Any mining project takes This page: the requiring, says Hamilton & Inches CEO Victoria Houghton, large amounts of time and money, Holyrood Palace “commitment and patience on both sides”. cuff (£24,250) and and this one is also very small scale Scotgold’s association with the only Scottish jeweller to Linlithgow Palace for an industry where the minimum ring (£96,500) from bear the Royal warrant goes back to the mid-1990s, when investment is usually £100 million,” Hamilton & Inches Hamilton & Inches’ then CEO took a farsighted view on the Sangster explains. “Big companies Scottish Gold collection nascent project. Now Houghton has the job of overseeing 

35 BOISDALELIFE.COM WINTER 2019 ISSUE 18 SCOTLAND

This page: a fleur de lys, ancient symbol of the Auld Alliance between Scotland and France, in the making, and a lump of Highland ‘host rock’

Opposite: the Cabochon Tourmaline earrings (£9,200) and Linlithgow Palace Ring with 4.77ct diamond, £96,500

its fruition. The collection has been an intricately engraved shank, its back backed with lapis lazuli or trimmed designed and made in the studio and decorated with a gold saltire, Scotland’s with sapphire. workshop above the brand’s store on ultimate symbol. The third is a bombé Edinburgh’s imposing George Street, ring (£74,500) with a stunning 4 carat, he collection was designed, says and it is hard to imagine a location more oval yellow diamond. Houghton, “with both Scots and conducive to creating Scottish-inspired Other key pieces include cascades of T people from abroad with Scottish jewellery. The workshop runs the whole unusual stones in soft shades redolent ancestry in mind”. So far about a third of width of the building and looks both of Highland landscapes. The most the collection has been sold especially, south to the rugged Pentland Hills and evocative are the Tyndrum Waterfall she says, “the fleur de lys and heraldic north to the Firth of Forth, a permanent chandelier earrings (£11,900) named heritage pieces, the host rock items and taster of the landscapes which the after a fall near the mine, with blue- multi-coloured pieces, and most of our collection evokes. Woven round this are green tourmalines flexibly set and buyers have been Scottish or Americans tokens of Scottish history, symbols of the shimmering, set off by little diamonds, with Scottish backgrounds”. Because the nation, sometimes on the back of a piece and the Holyrood Palace cuff (£24,250) stones are unique the main pieces cannot and therefore very personal to the owner. of hammered gold set with an emerald be replicated, and the rarity of the gold Everything is hand-made using and tourmalines in autumnal shades, its means no more can be made at present. traditional crafts like engraving and outline based on the French fleur de lys However, Houghton says, “we will get gemsetting, and even the names reflect as a symbol of the Auld Alliance, yet fit new supplies in the spring as production their inspiration. The collection divides for a Celtic warrior princess. increases and we are already taking into two: major pieces with gold as a Other chandelier earrings feature commissions. We will make more of the beautiful foil for an array of carefully Burmese rubies or multi-hued popular pieces and hope to create more chosen gems, including sizeable stones, “watercolour” spinels, while the limited edition items as interest grows”. and smaller items where gold craftwork Stirling Castle necklace (£34,500) has Clients are already encouraged to visit is foremost. a rainbow of pear-shaped tourmalines, the workshops to see their commissions recalling both sunlit waterfall rainbows take shape and may eventually be able mong the hero pieces are a trio of and Victorian acrostic jewellery where to visit the mine too. dramatic rings. One, named after stones’ initials spelled out a romantic Scotgold’s long-term hope is that the A Linlithgow Palace, the birthplace message. Earrings with detachable mine will become an upmarket tourist of Mary Queen of Scots, is as grand drops holding sapphires, tourmalines attraction with considerable benefits for as its title, with a 4.7-carat, radiant- or garnets are also based on Victorian the local community. But this is an cut diamond, set high above a frame designs. The smaller items, priced from unpredictable industry. As Sangster of smaller diamonds in pear, brilliant £1,450 to £9,950, have a different slant, says, “we virtually fell over this very and baguette cuts. At £96,500 it is the with finely engraved gold designs based important seam, and we are targeting collection’s most expensive item. The around the fleur de lys, trimmed with other sites but we haven’t found anything Queen of Scots ring (£29,995) features diamonds and backed with “host rock”, comparable yet”. You’d better get a piece a rich and clear Sri Lankan sapphire the quartz mineral in which the gold is of this vanishingly rare metal now, just in of almost 9 carats plus diamonds and found. Some reverse to a gold saltire, case it really is a flash in the pan.

36 BOISDALELIFE.COM WINTER 2019 ISSUE 18 LAURENCE DUNMORE seam ofgold” seam important very fell overthis ‘We virtually

EAT WELL

Gary Player is one of golf’s all-time greats. The South African superstar tells Robin Swithinbank why, at 84, he’s still THE lifting weights, doing high-kicks, sinking PL AYER’S putts – and admiring Donald Trump PLAYER

38 BOISDALELIFE.COM AUTUMN 2019 ISSUE 18 BOISDALE HERO

ary Player looks up briefly from the sports section of his newspaper. “I just want to see what they have to say about this Kyrgios fellow,” he says, referring to the mercurial Australian tennis star Nick, who’s upset the tennis establishment again. “Here’s a Gheadline. He says, ‘Tennis needs more bad boys.’” Player shakes his head and tuts disapprovingly. “He shouts, he spits, he swears… It frustrates me. Above: Player white trousers at the 1960 Open Championship – using golf It’s character we need. There’s no question if he earned the for political ends in a way the game would still be very nickname ‘Mr had Nadal’s head, or Federer’s, he’d be the best in uncomfortable with now. Fitness’ for his the world. He’s so talented. But he’s nuts.” interest in sports He says he’s also played golf with every US president Player, one of the greatest golfers of all time, has never science, well before since Reagan and that he was never afraid to tee it up with been afraid to speak his mind. Now 84, the fires still burn. athleticism was the South African prime ministers who advocated apartheid. “I The South African was always a fighter, norm for golfers was criticised for playing golf with him,” he says of former not just on the greens where he took the game to the mid- South African prime minister Balthazar Vorster. “But if century poster boys of American golf – including Jack President Xi, a communist, asked me to play, I would play. Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer et al – but in life, in politics, in I’d play with him out of respect for what he is.” philanthropy, in whatever he was doing. Nothing appears to He compares Trump to another of his heroes, Winston have changed. Churchill. “He was arrogant, he didn’t care what he said, he We’re having lunch at Surrey’s leafy Wentworth Golf got the job done,” he says. “All the Democrats have Club on a steamy summer’s day and the plan is to talk about hammered Trump. If Kim Jong-un had met Obama, they his first major win, 60 years ago. At just 23, he rocked up at would have said it was the greatest diplomatic move ever Muirfield and won his first Open, coming from four strokes back to win by two. But it’s going to be a while before that comes up in conversation. Instead, he wants to talk about While he was racking up Donald Trump. “I’m a big Donald Trump fan,” he says, inspired, I can tournament wins, he was only assume, by talk of high-profile bad boys. “I’m not going also an activist, speaking by his character; I’m going by what he did for the country.” He reels off tax cuts, meeting the Korean dictator Kim out against apartheid and Jong-un, and cutting immigration as symbols of Trump’s achievements. “And he’s done more for black people than befriending Mandela any president in the history of America,” he adds. We’ve only been talking for five minutes, and while golf made. Trump doesn’t come across as a diplomat, but he’s hasn’t come up, we’re already on race and the most getting the job done.” controversial American president in living memory. That He’s played golf with Trump, who he describes as the latter comment won’t sit easily with many. But coming from “best presidential golfer by a mile”, and has no regrets. He’s Player, it warrants hearing. not worked on one of Trump’s golf courses, but says he’d love While he was racking up 167 tournament wins around to, adding, “He doesn’t know the intricacies of golf design, the world, the diminutive golfer was also an activist – long but because of his ego, he thinks he does.”T hen, as quickly before the term was claimed by progressives on the Left – as we got on to golf we’re off it again. routinely speaking out against apartheid in his native South onversation moves to Zimbabwe (“It was the food Africa, befriending Nelson Mandela (one of his heroes), basket of Africa,” he laments); to the recent spate of sponsoring black athletes, and even wearing black and murders in the South African farming community  GETTY; GETTY; JO WALLACE C

39 BOISDALELIFE.COM WINTER 2019 ISSUE 18 murdered them!” murdered I Africa, South to came Palmer or Nicklaus time “Every says. he country,” own their in guys these against play and jets no with in a plane hours 40 fly to had “I infancy. its in still was travel air international when won he And yard. back Nicklaus’s Jack in yard; back Palmer’s Arnold in won he America, in won he When golfers. major-winning 10 top all-time the USA in the outside from golfer only the is a senior. as and tour regular the both on majors) of golf’s four all (winning Slam Grand career the win to history in golfer only the Tour, becoming Seniors the on haul major own his doubled then He seven. has battles, titanic most of his some had Player whom against American charismatic the 18. Palmer, with top on still Nicklaus, and Woods Tiger Hagen, Walter behind and Hogan, Ben with level list, all-time the on fourth equal him puts nine of tally major His deficit. a seven-stroke overturn to 64 afinal-day shot he where Masters, 1978 the of them last the more, eight win to on going 17. at pro turned He played. he holes three first the parred have to said is and golf, 14, up Aged poor. took he estimation, own his by was, he old, and years eight was he when died mother His children. three of their youngest Player, the Muriel and miner, Player. Gary about And I suggest. I say…” what careful very be to got I’ve But world. the around happens of what facts the to oblivious they’re Because this. like something them show to it’s interesting up socialism, bring they and people Imeet “So when bill. worthless the holding still solemnly, says he socialism,” with happy quite of 10 out were four doubled. had chips and burger of your price you’d the holes find you’d time the 18 played by that meant rate inflation the because Zimbabwe in of golf around before lunch order to having it up. remembers He holds and pocket of his out note $100 billion a Zimbabwean pulls He socialism. to and life”); 1974 my in since on (“A lived time sad and very owned he’d farm stud the sell to decide him made year last that architect, walked by and said, ‘Gary Player will never win win never will Player ‘Gary said, and by walked architect, course] [golf the Jones, “Trent 325lbs recalls. he my on back,” squatting Iwas before night the Slam, Grand the win to Fitness’.‘Mr was nicknames of his One game. your for good considered –was Koepka Brooks one number world current or Woods –like musclebound being before long gym the hit and early science sports with fascinated became He determination. and discipline in up for made he stature in lacked he 5’ at 7” what –but peaked – he Player may have been smaller than Arnie and Jack Jack and Arnie than smaller been have may Player Player Vardon, Harry star turn-of-the-century Jersey’s Bar prize), £1,000 a (for major first his won he later, years Six a gold 1935 in Harry, to Johannesburg in born was He golf, about talk let’s and on move case, which In apparently and recently, people of young a poll did “They “In 1965, when I won the US Open to beat Nicklaus Nicklaus beat to US Open 1965, the Iwon “In when BOISDALE HERO

BOISDALELIFE.COM WINTER 2019 ISSUE 18 ISSUE 2019 WINTER apartheid the heightof he befriendedat Mandela, whom Right: withNelson and Player third Palmer wassecond Nicklaus won it, Tournament – at the1965Masters Palmer and Arnold Player, JackNicklaus Above right: 40

IMAGE CREDIT IMAGE CREDIT

BOISDALE HERO BOISDALELIFE.COM GETTY ALAMY; WINTER 2019 ISSUE 18 ISSUE 2019 WINTER the glory daysthe glory out ofabunker in Below: Player hits 2015 Masters PlayerGary atthe admirably nimble Nicklaus andan Palmer, Jack Left: Arnold 41

‘Please, give me the key and Ipromise and key the me give ‘Please, it’s ‘No Isaid, locked,’ said, he and gym the use could I if manager hotel the asked and 11 at hotel o’clock night at the to back Igot When balls. hit “I of his. way memorable that in forward head his jutting Idid,” says, he “That’s what night.” the in upwards toiling were slept, companions their they,while but flight, sudden by attained not were kept and reached men of great heights “The quotes: and of paper apiece out picks and wallet his to back goes He up Churchill. bring to preferring sayings, own his remember we when blushes Iget,” almost but luckier irks. still comment the Apparently, golf.’” play and You weights do can’t tournament. another the opportunity” grateful for be got to it. You’ve to react just cent90 per how you happening you,and to “It’s cent per ten what’s H my life.” throughout of thing kind that Idid And it back.’ give it and lock I’ll stopping him. stopping of it.” advantage take to and opportunity the for You’ve grateful be to got it. to react you how cent per 90 and you to happening what’s cent it’s “But per ten setbacks. and defeats handle some how on reflecting say,“People offers, unlucky,’” he ‘I’m so I’m a fruitaholic.” And drink. to of milk a glass had never I’ve 22 years. in cream ice an or bacon haven’t had properly. I Ieat “But down. back sitting on, goes he blessed,” you’ve be to got Player. course, “Of Gary broke that guy the be not I’d rather athleticism. such demonstrating old man 84-year- an see to It’s alarming head-height. his above to foot walk!” can’t –they my age guys other at Look bank. the in energy put I’ve it going, kept I’ve But treadmill. the on get and weights those lift and go to “It’s tough asmile. stifling says, he Idon’t “Well, want iron. some pump then and course the on out get to wants he lunch, After staying. You get the impression he’d have this for his epitaph. epitaph. his for he’d this have You impression the get the Iwork, harder “The said, having for He’s famous And with that, he heads off to play golf. There’s just no no There’s just golf. play to off heads he that, with And again. athletes today’s and Kyrgios on he’s back then And his kicks up and jumps he point, the emphasise to if As gym, because there wasn’t one where he was was he where one wasn’t there because gym, the to you”) been or for a year like (“That’s weeks two in golf played hasn’t and Greece e’s in been to go to the gym,” gym,” the to go to

HISTORY THE ROAD TO WAR In light of a brilliant new book on the subject, Bruce Anderson considers the complexities of the argument around appeasing Hitler 81 years ago

ppeasement was the little heroic on the home front in Britain, most contentious issue and on the Continent, ancestral voices in British political never stopped prophesying war. The term history. It gave rise to ‘appeasement’ came into the diplomatic quarrels that lasted for vocabulary, but in the early days it was decades and had a major merely a gentle-sounding word, impact on election results, especially expressive of a desire to make peace. Ain 1945. As is often the case when Anthony Eden was happy to use it. history impinges on current politics, It is easy to understand such longings, most of the arguments generated far as Bouverie makes clear. There was a more heat than light. Perhaps only now widespread assumption that any future can dispassion prevail, with the help war would be even more terrible than its of an outstanding new book. Appeasing predecessor. The miseries of trench Hitler: Chamberlain, Churchill and the warfare would be reinforced by the Road to War is Tim Bouverie’s debut, horrors of war from the air. Stanley and a compelling one. Baldwin warned the public that the His opening sentence provides bomber would always get through. historical context and should embarrass Estimates of likely casualties from the facile critics of appeasement: “The bombing turned out, thank God, to be desire to avoid a second world war was considerably exaggerated. But in the perhaps the most understandable and 1930s, it was widely expected that great universal wish in history.” cities would be pounded into rubble Over 16 million people died in the while another generation of young men First World War. In the UK, the figure was went to the slaughterhouse. almost 750,000. Casualties on that scale The case for appeasement had two key affected virtually every family in the reinforcements. The first was the belief land. The people who had not lost a close that Germany had been treated too relative knew others who had. Think of harshly in the Treaty of Versailles. As those pals’ battalions, often recruited a result, a lot of the British public felt from Northern towns, whose young men guilty about Germany, just at the wrong did not wait to be conscripted but fell in moment. Guilt and the resulting desire behind the band, marched off cheerfully to make amends might have appeased any together, trained together, fought together other German leader: not Adolf Hitler. and often died together. Forget the But there appeared to be another mythical Angel of Mons. It was as if the reason to make peace with Hitler. Angel of Death had swooped upon those Bolshevism was not only turning Russia towns, leaving behind a pall of grief and into a giant Gulag. The Communists had life-long heartbreak. allies in every European country. Hitler Chamberlain had That was heart-rending. Worse still, dealt with his Communists and in those all the skills to be it created the conditions for further early days it seemed impossible that heartache. After the war to end all wars, he could ever do a deal with Stalin. If he a considerable peace was supposed to create a land fit for could help to protect Europe from heroes. By the 1930s, those prospects Bolshevism, it was worth forgiving him Prime Minister...

became increasingly distant. There was a certain amount of rough-neckery at GETTY in peacetime

42 BOISDALELIFE.COM WINTER 2019 ISSUE 18 IMAGE CREDIT “peace for ourtime” delivering, hesaid, earlier thatday accord hesigned 30 Septemberwiththe Heston aerodrome on Chamberlain arriving at Below: Neville territory. annex theCzech authorising Hitlerto Munich Agreement,the day afterthesigningof 1 October1938, the Sudetenland on march intothe Left: Germantroops

like a monster from the gutter. gutter. the from a monster like sound not did That Beethoven. conduct Furtwängler hear – to box Kaiser’s the – formerly box Führer’s the in tie white wore who a man was This him. tame power. to come should a populist that surprising hardly it was of Bolshevism; threat the and Depression Great the the 1920s, of inflation the after stability. and realism for a force be could that army an plus universities; great elites; social and commercial industrial, powerful culture; of high history a long with nation European a sophisticated was Russia, unlike Germany, all, After home. Yet surely there were forces in play to to play in forces were there Yet surely Versailles; by followed war a lost After BOISDALELIFE.COM AUTUMN 2019 ISSUE 18 ISSUE 2019 AUTUMN HISTORY 43 B It is one of the most fascinating episodes episodes fascinating most of one the It is Churchill. and Hitler death: the to a fight in decade the ended who men great two of the role decisive the acknowledging 1930s without of the history the consider But one cannot forces. economic and of social favour in of history, theory man’ ‘great the down play to tendency 1.7 million against. only with agreement, international by aircraft naval and military of national abolition all-round of an favour in voted 9.6 over million just population, adult the of cent 38 per canvassed that poll opinion disarmament. and pacifism on campaigned candidate 5,000. Labour The of one of 15,000a Labour to lost majority Government a Tory/National by-election, East Fulham the at month, same the In of war. event the in strike a general and disarmament, of total favour in voted of 1933 Conference Labour the lunacy, that to response “doto worst”. In your world the dare and forces armed Britain’s disband to wanted Lansbury George leader 1933, In Labour war. the another avoid to wanted simply people of decent theories. their contradicted that facts any to impervious were sides Both Stalin. from civilisation save to trying was Hitler that proclaimed characters intellectual less Right, the On civilisation. a new create to trying was Stalin that insisted intellectuals Left, the On believe. to like September 1938 with Adolf HitlerinMunichfor peacetalks in Above: BritishPrimeMinisterNeville Chamberlain In recent years, there has been a a been has there years, recent In of 1935, Ballot an Peace the in And millions meanwhile, middle, the In reason to believe what they would would they what believe to reason finding of people example a classic 1930s was the during politics ritish

 Minister he becamePrime Cabinet. InMay 1940, Chamberlain’s Warin Lord ofthe Admiralty appointment asFirst 1939, afterhis shortly in Kent inOctober Chartwell House a cigarathisdeskin Churchill seatedwith Right: Winston Hitler’s... Only deterrence would work wouldwork Hitler’s... Onlydeterrence understand helped himto personality It may that be Churchill’s own demonic Everyone knew him, although not not although him, knew Everyone 25 for years. politics of British forefront 1933, By the at been had he personality. own Churchill’s did as mood, public deterrence. was work would that deal only the Hitler, with that understood hero, greatest Britain’s perhaps Churchill, British The a Nazi. never but militarist, a Prussian been have would Churchill A German Holocaust. the and civilians of butchery the enslavement, in revelled hell-hound, the Hitler, ends. comparison the There of Versailles. humiliations the and of defeat shame the expunge to war to go to ready been have would too he work. But the key figure was Churchill. was figure key the But work. not would appeasement knew and act, Hitler’s buy not did Vansittart, Robert Sir and Rumbold Horace Sir diplomats, The manageable. therefore and forces, economic and of social a product was he insisted who notion; a primitive such for sophisticated too themselves thought who men faced He successes. his explains them? without like been world have the would What history. alternative in I Hitler’s. If Churchill had been German, German, been had Churchill If Hitler’s. understand to him helped personality demonic own Churchill’s that be t may But this vital insight ran contrary to the the to contrary ran insight vital this But There were a few exceptions, however. however. exceptions, a few were There this and evil, absolute embodied Hitler distrusted him. Many moderate Tories, moderate Many him. distrusted Tories A lot of traditional tribalism. of party loyalties easy the to down settled never he But put re-ratting. it, himself he as then, and Liberals the joining before a Tory as career political his started had him. with around shop a china carried who a bull war-monger; inveterate of an passions the from cool-headed geopolitical assessment but a from arise not did Hitler threaten to willingness his that believed critics of his Many unreliability. of his proof further as cited widely was view. Gallipoli minority a was 1930s, the that in But worked. have it might that thought too He it. for him criticised never Gallipoli, at fought who Attlee, Clem Labour’s Interestingly, distraction? a wasteful or execution, incompetent by ruined stroke, master Was it a strategic blame. the bought he’d which for and overseen had time, the at Lord Sea First as Churchill, which Turkey, in 1915 campaign disastrous belligerence. in revelled he Strike, General the do. In normally Secretaries Home what not is That house. End East an up in holed were gunmen anarchist some when Street, of Sidney siege the oversee to person in arrived he Secretary, Home While him. trusted everyone There were other problems. Churchill Churchill problems. other were There the Gallipoli, was there Then BOISDALELIFE.COM WINTER 2019 ISSUE 18 ISSUE 2019 WINTER HISTORY 44

include judgment. include not did they because impaired, were talents formidable his that colleagues his convince – helped exaggerated often but absent – never drinking his plus cause, a worthless in loyalty blind Churchill’s Simpson. Mrs for goodness thank so monarch, unsuitable a wholly been have would VIII Edward wrong. totally Abdication the get did he But wrong. was he that sure less becoming were of Churchill critics Previous Europe. over darkening were clouds the time which by sophistication. towards advanced not had views his India, in a subaltern been had he after years Forty government. self- towards move to India allow to attempts any denounced 1930s, Churchill the In India. on stance his by put off were Office, Whips’ of the pieties knee-jerk the above rise to ready been have might who Then there was the Abdication in 1936, in Abdication the was there Then

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Left: Hitler and Hermann Goering lead a parade through the city of Eger in the Sudetenland on October 10 1938.

Below: Chamberlain and Churchill at a medal ceremony attended in 1939, while the former was still Prime Minister

That brings us to a man whose he arguments are finely balanced. otherwise, because he had convinced judgment was widely respected for most The Russians, potential allies, had himself that he could do business with of his career. Neville Chamberlain was a Tno land frontier with Germany. Hitler, on the assumption that the Führer tragic figure, in the Shakespearian sense: Other nations would have been reluctant was ultimately rational. Post-Munich, as a man with great qualities, brought low by to allow Soviet troops passage. Once they evidence to the contrary mounted up, a fatal flaw. Chamberlain had been a good were in, how would you get them to leave? Chamberlain remained blinkered. He Health Secretary and a sound Chancellor The Czechs themselves had considerable also expressed increasing vindictiveness who had helped to steer the British military assets, on paper. But they would towards the critics of appeasement – a economy away from the rocks of recession. have faced sabotage from Sudeten very unattractive facet of his character. He had all the skills to be a considerable German fifth columnists. Then there Wholly committed to public service, Prime Minister – in peacetime. were the French, in no mood for war. a lover of the countryside and of field- He could have said with Hamlet: “The Perhaps if Britain had been resolute sports, there were so many admirable times are out of joint/O cursed spite, that at this point, the German generals might aspects to his personality. But it did end I was ever born to set them right.” But he have overthrown Hitler. One wonders. in tragedy. In Auden’s words, “History to lacked the self-knowledge to understand Some of them were mesmerised; few of the defeated/may say alas but cannot help his own limitations – the ones that them were natural rebels. There is also or pardon.” Even so, those who read this blocked him from understanding Hitler. the argument that Germany gained more book will see some grounds for leniency. At Munich, Chamberlain did a deal, at from the post-Munich delay than the UK And Bouverie’s balance, judgment and the expense of the Czechs, and returned did. We shall never know. On balance, lucid prose make a compelling case. home a hero. Tim Bouverie thinks that he after scrupulously reviewing all the “Appeasing Hitler: Chamberlain, should have stood by Czechoslovakia, evidence, Bouverie thinks that we should Churchill and the Road to War” by Tim even if that meant war with Hitler. have fought. Chamberlain concluded Bouverie is out now (Bodley Head, £20)

45 BOISDALELIFE.COM WINTER 2019 ISSUE 18 NEW KID ON THE

Launching a new champagne marque is an ambitious undertaking, but Giles MacDonogh discovers that the team at Brimoncourt has created a range that is winning the praises of connoisseurs

t isn’t easy to be new in the world of Champagne. It is the one wine that really is mostly about brands, and Champagne brands aren’t built in a day. The simple, still wines of Champagne are as old as many in France, and planted by the IRomans, but they have largely fallen from grace. The bubbly wine that provides joy all over the world is a 350-year old stripling, but it has put down some mighty roots so it’s not exactly novel, either. Brimoncourt is not completely new. The name refers to a small family firm created in Reims at the end of the 19th century, but which dried up in the Fifties. Alexandre Cornot, a former naval officer from Reims and a notary- turned-art dealer, bought the name from the family in 2008. He worked latterly for Christie’s in New York before returning to Paris in 2006. Soon after his arrival, a family friend with a business on the verge of bankruptcy asked him for help. It was a 200-year-old label-printing business situated in the Grand Cru village of Aÿ – home to Bollinger, among others – in the Marne Valley, housed in a building designed by Gustave Eiffel of Tower fame. Cornot stepped in and bought it, and though he sold it two years later, he retained

46 BOISDALELIFE.COM WINTER 2019 ISSUE 18 BUBBLY

Left: Brimoncourt aims to create champagne for more relaxed, modern lifestyles. Inset: The village of Aÿ in the Marne Valley the premises. The pieces fitted together: in the dark”) and France’s first now he had a place to make and store enthusiasm for saute bouchon or it in Aÿ, he was going to make sparkling champagne. Fizzy champagne. He went on to acquire champagne, corked before the grandiose offices in Reims. fermentation had been fully achieved, Cornot was “to the manner” born. had been popular in England at the He was well versed in stuffy French Restoration, 50 years before, but it had receptions where Pinot Noir-based yet to come into fashion in France. The grande marque champagne was famous painting, Le Déjeuner d’huitres inevitable. But he preferred the more by Jean-François de Troy (1735) depicts down-to-earth way things were done in the sort of party you might have New York, where his hosts would pour expected to take place in Paris at the him a glass of wine in the kitchen while time. Cornot keeps a portrait of the cooking; something that might have from different villages. His eyes fell Regent in his tasting room. come from anywhere in the world. In upon François Huré, from the small but France, wine was forbiddingly French. respected family firm of Huré et Frères met Diogo at 67 Pall Mall, the wine Cornot wanted to make champagnes on the Montagne de Reims. trade’s posh club. They have already for a modern lifestyle, but he had to Brimoncourt’s maiden harvest was Iadopted Brimoncourt, pouring the secure the grapes first. The purchase of in 2009, just ten years ago, but no Régence upstairs in the bar and the the company had cleaned him out. He champagne was released until 2013, Extra Brut downstairs in the restaurant. had no land and no long-term contracts. when the first bottle of Régence With a membership brimming with (To give you an idea of price, 1 kilo of appeared. I asked Brimoncourt’s brand Masters of Wine and Master grand cru grapes cost €7.15 in 2019.) manager, Diogo Veiga, about the name. Sommeliers, that can only be a good However, he had acquired friends Cornot, he says, is a devotee of the omen. We tasted three wines: Régence, through the printing works, many of Regency period in French history that Extra Brut and Rosé. The only one whom possessed contacts who were followed the death of King Louis XIV missing was the Côte de Blancs. prepared to sell grapes. Very soon he in 1715. Louis had spent his last decade Cornot prefers elegance to power, had enough produce from Grand Cru old and ill, consoled only by the still says Diogo, and that means more Pinot Noir vineyards on the Montagne wines of Aÿ. When he died, his heir Chardonnay than Pinot Noir. Régence to the south of Reims and Grand Cru Louis XV was a boy of five and his is 80 per cent Chardonnay, but the Chardonnay plots in the Côte des nephew, the duc d’Orléans, was grapes come from the southern end of Blancs near Epernay. He now needed appointed Regent. His time was marked the Côte as well as from the Sézannais, a first-ratechef de caves, who could by sexual license (it was the Regent where they get that little bit riper. It create the wine by blending the grapes who coined the phrase “all cats are grey spends four years on its lees before 

47 BOISDALELIFE.COM WINTER 2019 ISSUE 18 SLUG HERE

disgorgement and has a relatively low dosage (added sugar) of six grams. Pure Chardonnay champagnes can be on the sharp side when they are young, but the riper Chardonnay together with 20 per cent Montagne Pinot Noir produces a champagne that may be consumed earlier. I liked the delicate little bubbles and the nose of baked apples and vanilla. The wine is long and elegant. It would make a fine aperitif, but Diogo tells me that it won an impressive Japanese award for Alexandre Cornot, the owner of Brimancourt pairing with sushi.

ade more in the traditional he last man to start a champagne “English taste”, the Extra Brut He makes 200,000 house from scratch (as opposed Mreverses the percentages of bottles a year. He T to bottling the wines from his Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. All the own vines) was Bruno Paillard, back in grapes come from Grand Cru vineyards could quadruple 1981. Since then Paillard has built an – the blacks from the Aÿ, Ambonnay that in the future, empire as some venerable houses have and the deliciously named Bouzy; and come under his sway. Cornot has no the greens from Cramant, Mesnil and but draws the line such ambitions. At present he makes Ogier. It spends five years on its lees at one million about 200,000 bottles a year. He could and with just two grams has hardly any triple or quadruple that in the future, added sweetness at all. It is rather more is an admirer of the Burgundy wines but draws the line at one million. golden than the Régence but with a of Givry, and likes to smell them in his Deep roots have their advantages: similarly fine bead and a proper Pinot rosé, which spends four years on its When your house is just a decade old, red-fruit nose. Its power and length lees and has seven to eight grams grapes can be hard to find as many suggests food. Diogo went Japanese dosage – light for a rosé. It has a lovely growers are already contracted again, but I rather imagined it with salmon-pink colour and the tiniest elsewhere. The best way to ensure stewed fowl, something more like a bubbles. Diogo found mangoes and oil supplies is to own land. Brimoncourt classic poule au pot. Returning to the of bergamot, while I was in the rather has recently bought just under a hectare 18th century, the label reproduces a more prosaic territory of raspberries. in Aÿ, which might be used for a luxury plan of the gardens at Versailles. I detected a smokiness that was not the cuvée one day. Ideally he would like The last of the trio was the Rosé, product of a barrel, as the wines see no three or four more hectares. made from 40 per cent Pinot Noir, of oak. What impressed me was a soft, Champagne producers also need to which 18 per cent was red wine. The lushness followed by a piercing acidity. build stocks of reserve wines to make rest was made up of Chardonnay (35 Diogo told me he liked to serve it with sure that the wine is consistent from per cent) and Pinot Meunier (25 per game – grouse, pheasant or pigeon; foie year to year, but Brimoncourt has made cent). The red was intended to give gras; or even soft local cheese such as a brilliant start and I predict it will only it some proper Pinot character: Cornot Chaource or Brie de Meaux. get better and better.

48 BOISDALELIFE.COM WINTER 2019 ISSUE 18 SETTING THE STANDARD IN MOUNTAIN WINEMAKING THE GLOSSY POSSE Britain’s magazine publishing supremo, Nicholas Coleridge, talks AND ME to Paddy Renouf about his new memoir and life amid the A-list PROFILE

e meet in the Ladies’ Bar at the Chelsea Arts Club, a short walk from Nicholas Coleridge’s London townhouse. Sprightly and full of bonhomie, and dressed in a well-cut suit with pocket square and open shirt, he declines a pint with a smile and settles for tea. WHaving hobnobbed with the most famous and influential people on the planet, travelled the world, made a fortune and got out at just the right time, some say Coleridge is extremely self-satisfied – in the best sense of the word. He always seems to be content, and might be the only person I know who’s done exactly what he wanted to in life, made money doing it, made it seem effortless, and made it fun. Shortly to retire from his position as president of Condé Nast International and chairman of the British wing of Condé Nast, the publisher of Vogue, GQ, Vanity Fair and many more, Nicholas Coleridge’s career in the glossies coincided with the glorious zenith of magazine publishing, from the Seventies to the Nineties and into the digital transformations of the 21st century. He cut his teeth as a journalist at the Evening Standard and Tatler, and was editor-in-chief of Harpers & Queen (now Harper’s Bazaar), before moving to Condé Nast and becoming the Mr Big of luxury publishing for three decades. With both hilarity and surprising candour, his new memoir, The Glossy Years, provides perceptive insight into the ever-changing and treacherous waters of journalism, fashion, and a whole sweep of British society figures who populate the pages of upmarket magazines – prime ministers, princesses, and performers; models, moguls, and maharajas. As we settle down to talk, I suggest that I should have started with Jeffrey Archer’s advice to the young Coleridge, who was sent to interview him: “I’ll send you 12 questions to ask me and you just publish them and my answers.” He Top: With the Duchess difficult question, isn’t it? Some aspects reassures me that, unlike Archer, he’s happy to engage. of Cornwall at Vogue of Meghan Sussex’s character the A legend in the publishing world, Coleridge is equally House in 2013 Princess of Wales ought to have well known for the ease with which he’s rubbed shoulders absolutely admired and would have with some of the most stylish, powerful and famous people Above: Flanked by the completely understood – the interest in model Erin O’Connor in the world. “They do tend to cluster around magazines,” he world issues, for example. I expect the (left) and fashion says, “and because our magazines are all in slightly different executive Averyl Oates Princess of Wales would herself have spheres, over time you get to meet a lot of different people.” in 2011 become a big climate-change person. Mostly, one imagines, this is a by-product of his personality As I’ve never met Meghan I can’t really as well as the impossibly glamorous parties at which he has comment. When she appeared on the tended to be a stalwart – but not always. He got to know scene I thought she had an adorable Princess Diana, for instance, because she’d pop into Vogue smile and I was rather pro the idea.” House, the London HQ of Condé Nast, to try on clothes. “She fell into a thing of getting Vogue to call in clothes she oleridge, educated at Eton was interested in, because she found it embarrassing to go (where his peers included Oliver into shops where everyone would get so excited,” he says. C Letwin and former Telegraph “They would go to so much trouble to show her everything editor Charles Moore) and Cambridge, they had and then if she didn’t buy anything she would sense was just 29 when he became editor of their disappointment.” Harpers & Queen, before joining Condé Nowadays he’s got to know the Duchess of Cambridge, Nast as editorial director and rising up who is the Royal Patron of the V&A, where Coleridge is the ranks. Did he always expect to chairman of the board of trustees. “She is much more attain such dizzying heights? grounded than Princess Diana and seems to have a lot of “It’s very kind of you to even say that common sense,” he says. “She is incredibly good with donors because I think working for a magazine and philanthropists, but like Diana she is also very, very good company is not that dizzy a height,” he with the more junior curators.” And what does he think laughs. “I didn’t know that it would be

OLIVIER YOAN; GETTY; OLIVIER YOAN; Diana would make of Meghan Markle? “Oh that’s such a so interesting, and had no idea that the 

51 BOISDALELIFE.COM WINTER 2019 ISSUE 18 D actually are” and whothey be, to the reader wouldlike editor “There’s whothe though, he’s donewellwithhiseditors: help ofHumanResources.Mostly – hehadtodragherbackin with the ledge ofhisoffice,threatening tojump an editorclimbingontothewindow George Osbornecadgingtaxi money;or Fiona Hague’s sexlife;aschoolboy anecdotes: BobGeldofonWilliam and brilliant raconteur, beltsoutthefunny meets-Dick Francis,Coleridge,a sort ofthingImighthavehallucinated.” invent it,’becauseitseemedlikethe kept saying,‘Hedidsayit,youdidn’t editors ofVogue andGQrespectively] Shulman andDylanJones[thenthe In thecaronwayback,Alexandra childhood god!Ithoughtwouldfaint. Coleridge”. “Thatwasamazing:My asked ifhewas“thewriterNicholas when, atareception,DavidBowie in thegardenatweekends.” existence. Iwrotethemalllonghand, that wasseparatefromtheCondéNast allowed metohaveaparallelexistence Klein. “Iwrotebooksbecausethey Lauren, Yves SaintLaurentandCalvin designer billionairessuchasRalph caused astirprobingtheworldsof The FashionConspiracy,inwhichhe penned adozenorsobooks,including a fewdecadestocome.” continue reasonablystronglyforquite upmarket magazinesandspecialswill magazines existed.ButIthinkthe who evenrememberssomeofthose years’ timetherewillbenobodyyoung market hascompletelygone.Infive now thereare23.” 140. ThereusedtobefiveVogues and around theworld.Andnowwepublish we werepublishing39magazines magazines. WhenIjoinedCondéNast last 30yearswouldbesofertilefor In hisbook,akindofEvelynWaugh- In fact,hewasrenderedspeechless Away fromthedayjob,Coleridgehas remains upbeat.“Themiddle traditional publishing,he espite thehugeproblemsfacing the Chelsea Club Arts Paddywith Renoufat the world torights Coleridge (right), puts Above: Nicholas BOISDALELIFE.COM WINTER 2019 ISSUE 18 ISSUE 2019 WINTER PROFILE 52 End exciting thatweareopeningtwonewmuseumsintheEast “I willcarryonwiththeV&Aforfourmoreyears.It’s “Well, I’mnotgoingtodoanythingnext,really,” headmits. but Ididn’t.Sodiscoveredallofthisformyself.” who workinjournalismhaveparentswho’vebeeneditors, family wasSamuelTaylor Coleridge.“Quitealotofpeople his fatherwaschairmanofLloyd’s, andthelastwriterinhis rather aninterestingeducation.” were farfewerwomenthantherearenow. Somycareerwas educated entirelyatall-boysschools,anduniversitythere little experienceofit.Igrewupwithtwobrothers,was like that,”Coleridgeadmits,“mainlybecauseI’dhadvery reading itforallkindsofvoyeuristicreasons.” people whowillneverappearinthemagazineandare copies amonthandappealingtotremendousnumberof designer]. Andindeedtheyare,butyou’reselling85,000 Hollywood actress,plusNickyHaslam[thesocialiteinterior readers arethethreeMannersgirlsplussomefabulous are. SoaneditorofTatler wouldliketothinkthattheir the editorwouldlikereadertobeandwhotheyactually “There areoftentwodifferentkindsofreader:There’s who and haveafullunderstandingofwhothereaderis,”hesays. or evengoodat.Theyneedtobecommercialandcreative Garden for20,andJonesisstillgoingstrongatGQafter19. Shulman wasatVogue for25years,SueCreweatHouse& Etonians inpoliticsalready.” politics? He’s emphatic.“No,no,no.Thereare quiteenough look verypresumptuous!”he protests.Andwhatabout uncomfortable answeringsuch aquestionbecauseitwould career, Isuggestperhapsapeerageisnext? “Iwouldfeelvery Prince ofWales topromotethenaturalfibre. role aschairmanoftheCampaignforWool, foundedbythe to

flytheflaginaslightlydifferentcapacity, inhisongoing And whatnow?Foronce,heintendstoputhisfeetup. It has,hesays,beenanadventureofhisownmaking: The CondéNastempireisoverwhelminglyfemale.“Idid “Choosing them[editors]isonethingI’vebeenquitelucky With connections likethose,andsuchadiversestellar

and weopenedinDundeelastyear.” He’llalsocontinue OLIVIER YOAN 0818_Boisdale Life_UK_01_Layout18/23/185:05PMPage © 2018 Jefferies LLC. In the United Kingdom, Jefferies International Limited is authorised and regulated bythe Financial Conduct

we’ve measuredsuccess an approachthathasstoodthetestoftime: ClientsFirst–Always. Our success proves there’s still room in the world for a firm that embraces and uncompromisinginyourvalues.Therestwilltakecareofitself. your clients;behardworkingandhumble;stayunconflictedinwork advisors to their clients. The goal was simple: relentlessly commit to There wasatimewheninvestment bankers weretrustedpartnersand eol i when win only We o vr5 years, over 55 For u let win. our clients utoeway: just one Authority. SM 0818_Boisdale Life_UK_01_Layout 1 8/23/18 5:05 PM Page 1

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SHUTTERSTOCK THOUGHT FOOD FOR as well as our palate change our perspective the cookbooks that William Sitwell Ea praises praises WITH SITWELL WITH t

we W of anewcookbookalwayspiquesmy flourishing genreonebit,forthearrival their nameonthecover. they havepublishedacookbookwith call themselvesatruefoodieunless around me.Noonewhoisanyonecan and withindaysafortresswouldgrow down, thenpilethenextoneontop, I wouldopenapackage,putthebook my deskofthelatestculinarytomes. the endofeveryweekIhadtoclear Not thatdiminishesthe BOISDALELIFE.COM WINTER 2019 ISSUE 18 ISSUE 2019 WINTER ll 55 I receivedthatat volume ofbooks such wasthe of afoodmagazine, hen Iwastheeditor winter withBoisdale. avoid atallcosts.You’re allsetfor definitive listofthewinesyoushould Tom Harrowhelpsusoutwitha with thoughtsofproperpuddings,and that. Meanwhile,BillKnottwarmsus prominent foodies, are much better than Emma Hughesonthenextpage,byfive print! Evenifit’s 50Ways With Sprouts. publishes afoodbook,buyit.Longlive key thingisthatifafriendofyours admired ordespised.Idon’tcare.The downstairs loo,wheretheshelfcanbe a singlebookofmine.It’s inthe culinary vanity. Ninetranslationsof there. Andthere’s myownshelfof never cookfrom,butIlikethatthey’re course Ihavefoodbooksthatwould design. Theycandecorateandfeed.Of wallpaper, interchangeableinterior shelves. Theyendupaspractical the onesIcovetandwanttogracemy talent forrecipeorfoodwriting. without everhavingdemonstratedany famous whoseemtogetbookdeals the ghostwriters.Andthereare do withtheirbookotherthanapprove close, andwhoyouknowhavelittleto more regularlythantheirrestaurants are thecelebchefswhosebooksappear interest. SometimesIharrumph.There Luckily, thebooksrecommendedto But sometimestherearetruegems; EAT YOUR

Cookbooks can be so much more than lists of recipes. Emma Hughes talks to five eminent foodies about the favourites in their collections

he novelist Anthony Powell maintained that books furnish a room; to which I’d add that cookbooks bring it to life. Whether they’re batter-splattered paperbacks or glossy coffee-table tomes, they’re Trepositories of memories, joy and laughter. And in the digital age, they’re proving resilient. In fact, in the “Cookbook Corner” section of her website, each week the supremely digitally savvy Nigella Lawson recommends an analogue volume. One of her recent picks was The Quality Chop House by Will Lander and Shaun Searley, which, she writes, is “a book you want to return to again and again, full of recipes that offer warmth, comfort, reassurance and – so very important, too – delight.” Well, quite. One reason that bricks-and-mortar recipe collections have an edge over online equivalents is their voice. All recipes speak, but the way a printed one instructs, nudges and gently encourages feels more substantial. They also tell a physical story, RAVINDER BHOGAL falling open at their owner’s favourite recipes like Chef-owner, Jikoni a school library’s heavily pawed copy of Lady Growing up, it wasn’t so much mother but Madhur Chatterley’s Lover. And, of course, they’re impervious Jaffrey who knew best – her tomes always held the to food trends. While an algorithm might prioritise answers. But for me, cookbooks aren’t just for culinary the shiny and new, your cookery books will continue inspiration – they can be a source of cultural insight, to suggest brilliant dishes from decades gone by that too. One favourite is Food In Vogue, a selection of might otherwise have got lost in the din. recipes that appeared in the magazine from the Forties Practically, they’re a more sensible choice than to Eighties. It was edited by the very flamboyant reading off your iPhone while you whisk and fry – Maxime de la Falaise, model and muse, and includes boiling water and hot oil are less catastrophic when a recipe for cake “iced” in gold leaf by Andy Warhol. mixed with paper than an £800 handset. And it The classic: Eastern Vegetarian Cooking by Madhur doesn’t matter if they never reach your kitchen. Rather Jaffrey (1990). The recipes span India, the Orient and than furiously scrolling through Twitter before putting the Middle East; it is so rich with wisdom. She was the light out, a cookbook at bedtime is the purest kind far ahead of her time, praising ingredients that the of escapism. (My favourite is Niki Segnit’s The West has only recently fallen in love with. Flavour Thesaurus, which helps you matchmake The new favourite: How to Eat a Peach by Diana ingredients.) At this time of year, they really come Henry (2018). A master of making you run to the into their own as reading matter: If there’s any nicer kitchen and having your way with whatever is postprandial activity than beaching yourself on the languishing in your fridge, Henry’s book is sofa with a sherry within arm’s reach and leafing stunning and full of atmospheric, transportive through a new cookbook, I’ve yet to experience it. menus and writing. It sits on my bedside table. But don’t just take it from me – here’s what five Jikoni, 19-21 Blandford Street, London W1U top-tier foodies have to say about their collections. 3DG (020 7034 1988; jikonilondon.com)

56 BOISDALELIFE.COM WINTER 2019 ISSUE 18 EAT WELL

ED SMITH Food writer My cookbook collection has, in theory, reached its limit, as my wife imposed a one-in-one-out policy some years ago, yet I’m still finding ways to grow it. I don’t know the numbers (hundreds, though), and while she sees the formal shelving in the kitchen and living room, I’ve found space under sofas and beds, too. At its core are two dozen well-thumbed and loved books, reflective of the period when I learnt to cook – mid-Nineties to early Noughties – with some classics to fill the gaps, and then a mass of more recent titles, most of which I’m fortunate to be given. These days they’re for reference and browsing, as I tend to be busy cooking and testing my own recipes. The classic: Week in, Week Out by Simon Hopkinson (2007) – a selection of his hits while recipe writer at The Independent. The new favourite: The Book of St John by Fergus Henderson and Trevor Gulliver (2019), in a toss-up with another restaurant-originated cookbook from his irreverent but brilliant disciple, Lee Tiernan – Black Axe Mangal (2019). Ed Smith is the author of “On the Side” (2017) and “The Borough Market Cookbook” (2018)

ROSE PRINCE Food writer I have a huge collection of perhaps 200 books, although I did need to cull at least 100 when I left London for Dorset four years ago. Those that I return to all the time have good prose, recipes that work and also a degree of originality. The design is important – not just the cover, but inside, because it’s so much harder to sell a physical book these days. I’ve noticed that books are becoming more and more beautiful as a result. I keep most of mine in the sitting room, where there’s a wall covered in shelves, but there is also a small shelf in the kitchen for the ones I regularly use. The classic: My Gastronomy by Nico Ladenis (1987). The writing is wonderfully authoritative; full of informed opinion. Every chef should study this book – we use Ladenis’ methods for classic sauces and other techniques daily in our kitchens as they are the very best. The new favourite: Dishoom by Shamil Thakrar et al (2019) has everything – wonderful passionate writing, stunning design and delicious ideas. Rose Prince is the author of “Dinner & Party: Gatherings. Suppers. Feasts” (2017) 

57 BOISDALELIFE.COM WINTER 2019 ISSUE 18 EAT WELL

TOM PARKER BOWLES Food writer and critic I’m a cookbook freak. I find it near impossible to walk past any charity shop without dropping in and hoping to find some pristine first edition of Dalí’s cookbook, Les Dîners de Gala, or anything by Eliza Acton. Or even a good copy of Michel Guérard’s Cuisine Minceur. I must have about 3,000 now, ranging from pamphlets about the Scottish lobster industry and self-published, ring- bound US Girl Scout recipe collections to signed first editions of Calvin Trillin, MFK Fisher, Elizabeth David and AJ Liebling. It’s both obsession and addiction, and AbeBooks is a dangerous place to be. Especially late at night, after a few cocktails. But everything about books makes me happy; the smell, the touch, the pure physical heft. The classic: A Book of Food by P Morton Shand MASHA RENER (1927), an architecture critic and botanist. Head chef, Lina Stores The new favourite: Thai Food by David Thompson A corner of my house is reserved just for my huge (2002), the top Australian chef. cookbook collection, which includes ingredient- and Tom Parker Bowles is the author of “Fortnum & produce-led books. Most of them have now spilled Mason: Christmas & Other Winter Feasts” (2018) over into my bedroom, which has become a library of sorts. A core collection of 21 cookbooks that each highlight a different region of Italy is a favourite. It always inspires me to learn more about the different gastronomic traditions. I go to antique markets for vintage cookbooks; I’m fascinated by how people used to cook and how these traditions impact us to this day. The classic: La Cucina Italiana: The Regional Cooking of Italy by the Italian Academy of Cuisine (2009) not only has regional recipes but also specific techniques and explains things like the different parts of meat, how to prepare fish, and the different types of pasta. The new favourite: Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain (2000). I’ve become quite fond of autobiographical cookery books, and this is a fascinating read by an incredibly interesting man. Lina Stores Kings Cross is now open at 20 Stable Street, London N1C 4DR (linastores.co.uk)

2019’s FINEST The best, hot-off-the-press food books, chosen by William Sitwell

THE CONSOLATION OF FOOD CALIFORNIA: LIVING AND EATING – YES VE-GAN! A BLUEPRINT FOR By Valentine Warner (Pavilion Books, £20) RECIPES INSPIRED BY THE GOLDEN STATE VEGAN LIVING This wonderful book has Valentine Warner’s By Eleanor Maidment (Hardie Grant, £22) By Selene Nelson (Octopus, £10) spirit seared across every page. His love of A food stylist and recipe writer, Maidment was This passionate tome from plant-based cooking, of seeking out good ingredients, and so interested in the ideas emerging from the obsessed writer Nelson will help you gen up of preparing dishes for people is a lesson in West Coast of the US that she upped sticks on one of today’s big farm and food subjects. how a vital interest in food can make for a and joined a cookery programme to learn at Whether you’re wondering what your niece is fulfilled life. His graceful prose, his musings, and the coalface, albeit a sunny one. This book banging on about; want to see what the enemy the recipes that emerge make this a book you beams with health and sunshine, is accessible, is planning; or are thinking of cutting down on want to cradle, cuddle, and learn from. and the recipes brighten the gloomiest of days.. meat, this is the well-argued book for you.

58 BOISDALELIFE.COM WINTER 2019 ISSUE 18 PROMOTED CONTENT

CRYSTAL CLEAR The Whitley Neill Handcrafted Gin range offers a palate of subtle and sophisticated flavours to help you create your #ginreality

volution. Some may embrace it, An added bonus is the ease of making whatever mixer they choose – and while tonic some may deny it, but the reality cocktails at home with Whitley Neill’s range of water may be the nation’s favourite, I’ll have is that on the most immensely gins. Having the correct shakers, cobblers and mine with lemonade, thank you!” macro and intimately micro levels, juicers isn’t necessary, meaning the highball Creative and unafraid to seize the moment. everything and everyone (with cocktails such as the Tom Collins have gone Perhaps this is the character of the gin drinker Ethe possible exception of Stonehenge and from being exhausting to effortless to make. after all. Did we get it all wrong when we Nicholas Parsons) is changing. “The beauty of the Whitley Neill Gin range defined a G&T (along with roast lamb, And when it comes to classic drinks, the is that it gives you the opportunity to create Radio 4 and the golf course) as a favourite British handcrafted gin brand, Whitley Neill, exciting drinks by simply adding citrus, juice of the conservative who feared change? founded by Johnny Neill and distilled in and a mixer,” Jamie says. “Now you can just add Jamie says Whitley Neill drinkers are not Liverpool, has been at the forefront of apple juice to Whitley Neill Rhubarb & Ginger, shy to show their imagination when it comes developments to complement our changing top up with ginger ale and a squeeze of lime, to unique pairings. palates over the last decade. and you are good to go. A gin and tonic “Fans are constantly telling me their Experimental botanicals such as blood drinker can enjoy a similar experience with favourite pairings. One popular suggestion was orange, raspberry, rhubarb and ginger are all a Tom Collins by adding lemon juice, sugar for quince with elderflower tonic, which I tried part of our gin equation, bringing subtle depth and soda water.” and was delicious! We also find that Whitley of flavour to the base notes of juniper. As Jamie So far, so easy. But Whitley Neill doesn’t Neill drinkers are incredibly keen to Rowe, brand ambassador for Whitley Neill, intend to cause a gin revolution. Rather, it experiment with new flavours that we create. explains: “We were pioneering the use of simply wants to broaden the choices out there. Though of course we also have our Whitley innovative botanicals 15 years ago by using It’s all part of its #ginreality campaign, Neill Original drinker, who enjoys more of the Cape gooseberry and baobab. The number encouraging drinkers who are keen to traditional, London Dry style of gin.” of botanicals and flavours now available in the experiment with flavour profiles to pair gin Inclusive, imaginative and brimful of ideas, food and drink world has meant that people with ginger ale, lemonade and even prosecco. Whitley Neill is a gin distiller that knows just have the opportunity to explore their palate “Our campaign, #ginreality, shows people how to embrace the past while remembering preferences more than ever before.” that they can enjoy gin their own way with to raise a glass to the present. IN PRAISE OF STODGE, PODGE AND CUSTARD Forget the delicate morsel. For Bill Knott, when it comes to dessert, only a proper full-fat, treacly sweet, and winter-warming English pudding can satisfy ALAMY I Admittedly, spotted dick,treaclesponge,andtheirilkarenot shows, thehumblesuetpudding rarelyenterstheirmind. by winsomeInstagramsofpretty platesandpopularcookery ceaseless attemptstocreatebeautiful platesoffood,eggedon steamed pudding.Chefsmust bearsomeblame.Intheir sugar, fatorcarbohydrates,whicharetheingredients fora the last50years,whichhaven’thelped;dietsthatdemonise decline. We havesufferedallmanneroffaddishdietsover food manufacturershadstartedputtingpuddingsintins. common thanpuddingcloths,whileHeinzandotherbig custard. Bythe20thcentury, puddingbasinsbecame more slabs ofsuet,sugar, driedfruit,andjam,withlashingsof pudding” reachitszenith.Generationswereweanedon vast good measure–apinteachofbrandyandmadeira. suet, 5lbsoffruit,2½lbs“fineLisbonsugar”,and–for for PrivateFamilies(1845)contains1lbofoxtongue,2lbs sugar, andalcohol.ElizaActon’s recipeinModernCookery mid-19th century, recipesformincemeatfavouredfruit, was wrappedinpastry, baked,andservedasamaindish. as saffron,cloves,nutmeg,mace,andcinnamon.Thefilling – wereadded,aswellvinegar, beefsuet,andspicessuch mutton orbeef,towhichdriedfruits–prunes,dates,raisins Medieval recipesformincepiescommonlycallminced of amealhademerged.Take mincemeat,forexample. but, bythe17thcentury, clearerdistinctionsinthestructure between sweetandsavoury(manypopulardisheswereboth) and sweeter. CookeryintheMiddleAgesrarelydistinguished availability ofdriedfruits,puddingsbecamemorepopular, puddings couldbemadethroughouttheyear. were usuallyslaughteredseasonally, thisalsomeantthat without theneedforintestines.Importantly, sinceanimals filling, apuddingcouldbeboiled and gatheringthecornerstoencase linen, perhapsfromanoldbedsheet, wrapping apuddinginsquareof cooks begantousepuddingcloths.By hog’s puddingandthemightyhaggis. include blackpudding,white or boiled.Examplesthatsurvivetoday stomach liningofarecently-slaughteredanimal,thenbaked meat, blood,fat,offal,andgrain,packedintheintestinesor history. IntheMiddleAges,puddingswereamixtureof inventions inournationalcuisine,withalongandglorious foraged, theyshouldbesteamedandservedwithcustard. sponge, jamroly-poly, spotteddick:Puddingsshouldnotbe next tattooedhipster, butthiswasnotpudding.Treacle on alengthylist,this,apparently, waspudding. rosemary granita,”readthemenu.Sinceitwaslastitem Now, sadly, theclassicpudding is inpossiblyterminal The Victorian andEdwardianerassawthe“nursery Gradually, theproportionofmeattofruitchanged.By With thesteadyfallinsugarpricesandwidespread In theearly17thcentury, however, The steamedpuddingisoneofthefewexclusivelyBritish Well, I’masbigafanoftheScandinaviankitchen arrived. “Spruceshoots,ryecrumbs,pickledblueberries, to accompanymy17thcanapé(sorry, “course”),it why hehadchosenathimblefulofcloudyorangewine the tastingmenu.Asearnestsommelierexplained was inanewNordicrestauranttheotherday, sampling and madeira pint each of brandy mincemeat hasa for Acton’s recipe BOISDALELIFE.COM WINTER 2019 ISSUE 18 ISSUE 2019 WINTER 61 rye crumbsandrosemarygranita. faces. You don’t getthatreactionfrom of gratitudewillstreamdown their pour thecustard,Iguarantee thattears of treaclesponge.Asguestsdreamily basin andservingmagnificent wedges pudding –beforeupendingthe beef, say, withmoundsofYorkshire a tokenmaincourse–roastribof gramophone. Precedethepuddingwith up warmly)andbungsomeElgaronthe few friendsover(besttellthemtowrap steam itfortwoorthreehours.Invitea with greaseproofpaperandfoil,then and treacle,pileitoverthesyrup,cover whisk togetherflour, eggs,butter, sugar, golden syrupintoapuddingbowl, and rollupyoursleeves.Spoonsome on asweater, chuckoutthedietbooks, nostalgia. So,turnofftheheating,pull Müller Corners.Itistimetoindulgein heritage. TheEmpirewasn’tbuilton some ofthehappierhighlightsour Brexit, perhapsitistimetorecover custard, andyouwillseewhatImean. limeflower teawithasteamingjugof madeleine about50times,replacethe hall. ScaleupProust’s rathereffetelittle security ofthenurseryorschooldining Proustian emotion,regressingtothe pudding beforeaBrit,andweexhibit a sweettoothisunsophisticated. told, arefrivolousandunnecessary, and for dessert.Properpuddings,weare Continental habits,likeeatingyoghurt central heating,wehaveslippedinto gusto, notphotographedandadmired. point: Puddingshouldbeeatenwith hugely photogenic,butthatisnotthe As weenterthebravenewworldof But weareindenial.Setaproper At home,meanwhile,enfeebledby FOOD THE GOLDEN STATE OF WINE As Boisdale restaurants embrace E&J Gallo wines from the Golden State, Michael Karam explores the winemaking heritage of this great terroir

ast year, Boisdale Life told the number of wineries reduced from and Sonoma are warmer as they are the story of the famous 800 to just 140. It wasn’t until the 1960s surrounded by mountains, but the ‘Judgment of Paris’, when, that the region began to recover, as the morning fog, which dissipates at around in 1976, the Paris-based Judgment of Paris confirmed. 11am, plays a major role in cooling the British wine merchant Since then, it hasn’t looked back. grapes, ensuring they retain acidity and Steven Spurrier held a blind Today California is home to some 1,200 develop complexity. tasting that would change the wine wineries, covering nearly 200,000 One of the biggest names in Llandscape forever. Spurrier pitted the hectares in 107 American Viticultural California wine – indeed in the world best Californian Cabernet Sauvignons Areas (AVAs). It makes 80 per cent of of wine – is E&J Gallo Winery. Founded and Chardonnays against the finest US wine and is the world’s fourth after the end of Prohibition in 1933, E&J wines from Bordeaux and Burgundy, largest wine producer, at roughly the Gallo is now California’s largest and the Americans swept the board, equivalent of 3.6 billion bottles a year. exporter, with a portfolio of more than in one morning destroying the hitherto The wine nerds will tell you that 80 wineries that represent a thrilling unchallenged authority of French wine. California winemaking is highly snapshot of the diverse terroirs. In It was, Spurrier says, just a matter affected by the presence of mountains September, Boisdale, in collaboration of time, though only a few knew the and coastal influences. The state is with Gallo, launched its California quality the Golden State was producing. geologically diverse, possessing both Collection Terrace, listing several wines Back then, Californian wine had a Mediterranean and Continental from a blue-chip quartet of North Coast patchy history and struggled to achieve climates, while the numerous bays and producers. momentum. It started with Spanish the Pacific Ocean provide cooling Thirty miles long with 17,401 monks in the 18th century, and things winds and fog to temper the heat. Napa hectares of vineyards, Napa Valley is picked up following the Gold Rush. one of the premium wine growing areas The first commercial winery opened in the world, even if it only represents in 1857, but California’s trajectory was Today California is five per cent of California’s total wine interrupted by the double whammy home to some production. Nearly all the wineries are of Phylloxera, the vine-destroying family-owned, and the predominant parasite, and Prohibition. Phylloxera 1,200 wineries that philosophy is to produce high-quality was eventually overcome, but not wines – notably made with Cabernet before many vineyards were decimated; produce 3.6 billion Sauvignon and Chardonnay, but also while the 14 years of Prohibition saw bottles a year Merlot, Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc

62 BOISDALELIFE.COM AUTUMN 2019 ISSUE 18 ALAMY F diverse aboutthisregion. represent allthatiswonderfuland Napa duofromtheGalloportfolio – fromlow-yieldharvests.Boisdale’s wineries, wherethenighttemperature Valley AVA, hometojustunder100 months inFrenchoak. Syrah andGrenache,agedfor 10 Machete, madeagainwithPetit Sirah, in FrenchandAmericanoak, and PetitSyrah,agedforeightmonths Abstract, ablendofGrenache,Syrah Boisdale haschosentheRhone-inspired are alsonotablefortheiredgylabels. Napa andacrossthestate.Thewines blends madewithgrapessourcedin Burgundy andRhonevarietals an eclecticrangeofdynamicBordeaux, runs theOrinSwiftwinery, producing sold thecultwine,ThePrisoner, now American andFrenchoak. and thewineisagedfor21monthsin Cabernet FrancandMerlotintheblend powerful. Thereisasmallamountof youthful 2016vintageisboldand features oldervintage‘Cabs’butthe and SageCanyon.Boisdale’s winelist vineyards inCypressRanch,SunLake terroir expressioninthewinery’s Climate iskeyintheRussianRiver Climate Dave Phinney, whocreatedandthen wonderful bodybytheprofound Cabernet Sauvignonsaregiven ounded in1933,LouisMMartini T Winemakers” is out now A CompleteGuidetoitsHistory and Michael Karam’s “LebaneseWine: years ago.Vive ladifférence,dude! the Frenchfoundouttotheir cost43 lists. NothinginCaliforniaisstatic,as currently gracingtheBoisdalewine perfectly inthefourGalloproducers future –aphilosophythatiscaptured a respectforthepastwithaneyeto endurance, dynamismandinnovation; sparkling winesintheUStoday. some ofthecreamiest,mostdelicious hand-harvested inlowyieldstomake Wine Awards. AllJudy’s grapesare 96 pointsattherecentDecanterWorld Noir andPinotMeunier, whichscored Brut, madewithChardonnay, Pinot 100 percentPinotNoir, andCuvée20 sparkling wines:BrutRosémadewith selected twoofJudy’s traditional & Winery in1986andBoisdalehas on theirjourneysinland). would passthroughforluck that theMiwukandPomopeople Vineyard (namedafterthetworocks from grapesgrownattheTwo Rock Kate’s PinotGrisandNoir, made and PinotGris.Boisdalehaschosen outstanding PinotNoir, Chardonnays Russian RiverValley winery, producing bought thewineryin1941,isaclassic longer growingseason. due tothearea’s coolerclimesand prized foritscrisperprofile,achieved though Chardonnayisthemaingrape, climate grapessuchasPinotNoir, its abilitytoproducehigh-quality, cool from thedaytimehigh.Itisfamedfor can dropbyupto20degreesCelsius Californian wineisallabout Judy JordanfoundedJVineyards of theactorFredMacMurraywho Kate MacMurray, thedaughter he MacMurrayRanch,runby BOISDALELIFE.COM WINTER 2019 ISSUE 18 ISSUE 2019 WINTER 63 grape harvests producing exceptional Continental climates, Mediterranean and California hasboth Opposite page: his daughter now runby the winery MacMurray founded Fred Left: Actor TASTING NOTES tones, softtanninsandgreat acidity. and bellpeppers, withrounded fruit Bulging withbrooding blackfruit, spice CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2016 LOUIS MMARTINI NAPA VALLEY integrated withexceptionalacidity. pork meatandherbs. Balancedand Aromas andred ofcherry plumwith ORIN SWIFT ABSTRACT 2016 integrated tannins. liquorice andspice, withbeautifully red fruit, by ably notesof supported A plushsymphony ofblackandfresh ORIN SWIFT MACHETE 2016 meringue withasavoury nutty twist. strawberries andcherries –and Creamy red fruit–primarily fresh J VINEYARDS ROSÉ NV citrus, apples, briocheandalmonds profile defined bynotesofwhite flowers, Wonderfully balancedwithacreamy J VINEYARDS CUVÉE20BRUT NV best incoolclimates and whitepepper. A winethatshows its Seismic acidity, withnotes of citrus, acacia GRIS 2016 MACMURRAY RANCHPINOT and excellentlength. sweet spice. It possessessofttannins hint ofgarrigue (shrubland), vanillaand Gaminess, darkred fruitandapleasing NOIR 2015 MACMURRAY RANCHPINOT WINES .

CONTENTS DRINK WELL

RUM OLD FASHIONED INGREDIENTS: METHOD: • 60ml Foursquare Stir ingredients Dominus Rum gently with • 5ml sugar syrup cubed ice for (optional) 25 seconds. • 1 dash Angostura Garnish with Bitters the twist and • 1 dash The Bitter serve. Truth Orange Bitters GLASS: • Orange twist to Rocks garnish

COCKTAILS WITH ALICE LASCELLES RUM OLD FASHIONED Our resident drinks columnist enjoys the simplicity of the Old Fashioned, elevated and modernised by the new generation of impressive boutique rums

um is ‘having a moment’ names including Diplomatico, Mount professional. Instead of using the spoon these days, and it’s now Gay, and Appleton have lately made end, flip the spoon over and slip the flat possible to find small-batch, some excellent special-editions too. end under the ice. Flick your wrist and vintage, cask-strength and It would be a waste to pour rum this the ice will spin around very easily. single-estate ones with all good into a punch, although you could I like a dash of orange bitters in Rthe complexity and quality of fine add it to a Daiquiri at a push. Far better there: The Bitter Truth Orange Bitters Scotch whisky or cognac. to savour its qualities in a slow-stirred are more zesty; Angostura Orange A pioneer in this area has been the Old Fashioned. Bitters a bit more spicy. But they’re not Foursquare rum distillery in Barbados. The first step is to find the right glass essential. The orange twist is, however. Its Exceptional Cask Selection is a – an elegant, heavy rocks glass will So be sure to use a fresh ripe orange for fantastic range of limited-edition encourage you to take your time. Good, maximum fragrance. The sugar syrup vintage and cask-strength rums finished fresh ice is essential too. An Old is optional, depending on the sweetness in a variety of different casks. Here I’ve Fashioned looks particularly striking of your rum. used Foursquare Dominus – 10-year-old over a single large ice block (you can Do savour the preparation, as well rum aged in a mix of ex-bourbon and easily find silicone ice moulds for as the drink itself. That ritual is all part ex-cognac casks that’s full of dried spheres and cubes online). A long- of the fun. fruit and gingery spice notes. Another handled barspoon with a flat end Alice Lascelles is a contributing editor

connoisseur’s favourite is the (officially there for muddling fruit) will to the Financial Times, and writes ‘The JAMIE LAU independent bottler Velier. But big also make your stirring much more Goblet’ for How to Spend It magazine

64 BOISDALELIFE.COM WINTER 2019 ISSUE 18 SHUTTERSTOCK W toddler withablunt,bile-coloured grape –asignaturescrawled bya Torrontés isArgentina’s signaturewhite Torrontés down andwalkaway. generals outofHitler’s bunker, putit of aFokkerTriplane oroneofthelast contains grapesthatsoundlikethepilot rule ofthumb,ifyourchoicebottle more nascentEnglishredwines.Asa Likewise withDunkelfelderforeven experiences includedthisnastygrape. be agreatshameifyourfirst wines arestartingtoimprove,itwould Chardonnay. AsEnglishstillwhite gleefully ripitupandplantmore England’s vineyardsasviticulturists warming isitsincreasingscarcityin one ofthetremendousupsidesglobal grown andconsumedinGermany, and This insipidTeutonic hybridismostly Reichensteiner even Brexit–andbestleftontheshelf. unaffected byseasonality, vintage,or read thisyearisbelow, eachentry than discreetlypourintotheplantpots. wine thatguestswouldratherdrink primary concernistoservethecheapest to interestthedrinkingpublic,whose sensitive winewritersarelesslikely differences betweenbottlesthatexcite St James’merchants.Thenuanced supermarkets, andonline–notjust place –inwinewarehouses,budget plenty ofdrinkablewinesalloverthe challenge nowadaysisthatthereare as leavesandgamebirdsfall.Our spicier winesforSeptemberonwards, So themostusefulwineguideyou’ll offers arare and honest guide as which to Recommending what drink to is easy enough. Instead, expert Tom Harrow wines should avoided be at all costs THE GRAPES January tobolder, options foradetox from low-alcohol follow acalendar, ine writerstendto OF WRATH run thefullrangefrombland tosickly are theroséorblushversions, which raspberry jam.Rathermoreoffensive – butmosttastelikeliquidised anise, pepper, sandalwoodandsoforth complex fruitandspicecharacters – overly sweetgraperedwineswithmore who canteaseoutofthisalcoholicand handful ofproducerswitholdvines Tribidrag. (Whoknew?)Therearea as Puglia’s PrimitivoandCroatia’s – provenlatterlytobethesamevariety California’s Zinfandelisitsfamilytree The mostinterestingthingabout Zinfandel (Rosé) equally bafflingcombination. seabass cevicheandmangosalsa–an grape isapparentlywellmatchedto of weakvintageChablis,thisladyboy of semi-sweet Muscat and undercarriage confused. With itsdubiousinitialallure quite austerelyso–leavingyouterribly turns outtobeunexpectedlydry–often carbolic soapandtinnedapricots,it for acorrespondingmouthfulof then, justafteryou’vebracedyourself into aGladeair-freshener factory, but like atruckoflycheeshasploughed unoaked, barrelaged,whatever–smell crayon. Mostexamples–young,old, BOISDALELIFE.COM WINTER 2019 ISSUE 18 ISSUE 2019 WINTER 65

to rememberandavoid. creditors, thesearethemost important can’t stand?Likepotholesand buy abottleforsomeoneyou really why taketherisk,unlessyou haveto Reichensteiner andcreamsherry), but the ruleforallwinesabove(except Of coursetheremaybeexceptionsto primer overhismasterpiece. final flourishwastolobacanofDulux create TheNightWatch, Rembrandt’s applying layersofoilsontocanvasto after threeyearsofpainstakingly sultanas mashedinsyrup.Imagineif, must toobliterateallflavoursexceptfor enough sickly-sweetrectifiedgrape and Amontilladosherries,thenadd richly complex,andveryoldOloroso carefully blendnumeroussubtlynutty, The methodofproductionisto who boughtherhitsonoriginalvinyl. the chartsandisonlyenjoyedbythose on-trend sinceDorisDaywasNo.1in different, however. Ithasnotbeen for anotherdecade.CreamSherryis lists beforesinkingbackintoobscurity across drinkscolumnsandwine-bar re-animated corpses,bottleslurch by someoneintheirtwentiesand,like Every fewyears,sherryisdiscovered (Pale) CreamSherry sign theApocalypseisnigh. is ontherise,whichjanothersure someone else.Apparentlyitspopularity best enjoyedwithhyaenabiltong.By the Brundleflyofgrapeworld,is then setonfireinanoldtyre,Pinotage, Allsorts coatedinemulsionpaintand by overripebananasandLiquorice Lebanon’s BekaaValley. Characterised Provençal roséandonlyimpressesin that propsupmostoverpriced sans soul)–asouthernFrenchblender with Cinsault(pronounced,fittingly, Pinot Noir, thenoblestofredgrapes, 1920s, probablyforadare,bycrossing at theUniversityofStellenboschin Pinotage wasspawnedinalaboratory Pinotage Zinfandel firmlyoffthelist. foul of,butyoucanatleastcross plenty ofothercheap,grimroséstofall cook orsullyasangriawith.Thereare that Icanneverquitebringmyselfto a village-fêtetombolainthemid-90s I stillhaveabottleofSutterHomefrom depending ontheproductionmethod. DRINK WELL 140 years have passed since Charles Jones and Sir James Crockett joined forces to create what is now regarded as one of the finest shoemakers in the world - Crockett & Jones. The story of a shoemaker (Jones) and a businessman (Crockett) unfolded, resulting in an incredibly successful shoe manufacturing ‘firm’ that has remained in the careful hands of a Jones ever since.

140th Anniversary

BY APPOINTMENT TO HRH THE PRINCE OF WALES MADE IN ENGLAND | SINCE 1879 Collection MANUFACTURER AND SUPPLIER OF FOOTWEAR CROCKETT & JONES LIMITED, NORTHAMPTON

CROCKETTANDJONES.COM BOISDALE

PursuitsLUXURY / MOTORING / WATCHES / TRAVEL / CULTURE / CIGARS /

68 70 74 76 THE WRITE TIME ON THE BACK TO ISLAND STUFF COURSE BERLIN LIVING

The English firm that's The luxury watches to Thirty years after the Stanley Johnson discovers been silversmithing wear when you're out Berlin Wall fell, Jeffrey an eco haven on the tiny writing instruments for on the golf greens Mills returns to island nation of São Tomé two centuries the German capital and Príncipe

66 IN THE 140 years have passed since Charles Jones and Sir James Crockett joined forces to create what is now regarded as one of the finest shoemakers in the world - Crockett & Jones. The story of a shoemaker (Jones) and a businessman (Crockett) unfolded, SWING AT resulting in an incredibly successful shoe manufacturing ‘firm’ that has remained in the careful hands of a Jones ever since. GLENEAGLES Colin Cameron gives his old wooden clubs an outing amid splendid surroundings

140th Anniversary

BY APPOINTMENT TO HRH THE PRINCE OF WALES MADE IN ENGLAND | SINCE 1879 Collection MANUFACTURER AND SUPPLIER OF FOOTWEAR CROCKETT & JONES LIMITED, NORTHAMPTON

67 BOISDALELIFE.COM CROCKETTANDJONES.COM WINTER 2019 ISSUE 18 Craft THE WRITE STUFF Based in Birmingham’s jewellery quarter, Yard-O-Led has been hand-making silver-cased writing instruments for generations. Timothy Barber meets its new owner, an entrepreneur bent on bringing back the joy of handwriting

ext time you find yourself reaching for a propelling pencil, consider this: In your hand is a piece of 200-year-old English Ntechnology. In 1816, Sampson Mordan, a London silversmith, filed the first patent for an “Eversharp” metal pencil with an internal mechanism that could propel a thin shaft of lead forwards; and a later expansion of his concept by a Hatton Garden-based German, Ludwig Brenner, introduced a pencil holding multiple shafts of lead at once. Brenner named his company Yard-O-Led, since his pencils’ 12 three-inch leads amounted to a yard in total. What the name didn’t reference was the fact that the business was rooted in exquisite silversmithing. And it still is. Today, Birmingham’s historic Jewellery Quarter, a buzzing nexus of near-extinct artisanal crafts, is home to Yard-O-Led’s workshops. Here, a little cabal of makers continues crafting exquisite silver writing instruments – pens as well as pencils – that have been treasured as collector’s items for decades. Found in the likes of Harrods and Selfridges, it also exclusively supplies the luxury stationer Smythson. “We’ve got guys working for us who’ve been with Yard-O-Led 20 or 30 years, and when older pieces come back for servicing, they know instantly from looking at it who created it,” says the company’s boss, Emma Field. “There’s really no manual for this – it’s learned from one silversmith to another, generation to generation.” Prices for Yard-O-Led’s In Field’s case that applies to sterling silver writing instruments range from management as well, having taken over £295 to £1,250 running Yard-O-Led from her father, Robin. He oversaw it when he ran the Right, CEO Emma Field

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firm’s previous owner, Filofax, from BOISDALE APPROVES whom he eventually bought it in 2014. A few years later his daughter ditched Hackett goes fully a successful career in the digital luxury bespoke on Savile Row sector to take on a fundamentally grittier challenge – raising a heritage craft name in a world that’s almost forgotten the value of the objects such firms make, and of the firms themselves. “A few years ago we were fighting for survival,” admits Field, who turned things around and finally bought out her Pa’s majority shareholding earlier this year. The market for fine writing instruments, Field points out, has yet to see the boom enjoyed by other analogue items of value, like Swiss watches and vinyl records, but she is convinced it’s coming, including among millennials. “You’re not just owning a Swiss watch to tell the time, it’s to understand and enjoy a piece of craft, and this is the same,” she says. “Pull out a Parker pen and no one will care, but produce a Yard-O-Led in a meeting, or when The shuttering of the Hardy Amies you’re signing something special, and fashion label earlier this year brought it’s a thing of real worth. It tells a story.” with it the closure of 14 Savile Row, home to the Amies business since the hat story goes all the way back to couturier bought it in 1946. Happily, Sampson Mordan’s invention, another great name in British outfitting, Twhose patent Yard-O-Led still Hackett London, which Jeremy Hackett owns, and takes in decades of making established from a market stall in 1983, fine silver goods besides pencils, such has now moved in, in considerable style. as some particularly dinky cocktail 14 Savile Row, built in the 1730s, will swizzlers from the pre-War heyday. Now be a flagship for all things bespoke, under it’s strictly writing instruments, which the JP Hackett marque. Overseen by are all made from fine sterling silver. a head cutter and a team of specialists, Either round or hexagonal, these are bespoke suits will be created in traditional decorated with engine-turned patterns Savile Row methods, priced from £4,500. or, for something truly grand, with Made-to-Measure is also offered in the elaborate hammered engravings – or shop, whose lavish interiors have been “chasing” – in a Victorian floral style. created by renowned architect and From start to final polishing, it’s a interior designer Ben Pentreath. Go for 12-stage process entirely carried out in the tailoring, stay for the cocktail bar, the Birmingham workshop. The appeal magnificent period details and Farrow may be bound up in craft and heritage & Ball colours. Visit hackett.com – the pencils still contain exactly a yard of lead refills – but Field says something more fundamental underlies all that. “There is still a joy to writing, even if you’re just making notes at your desk. We’re all addicted to texts, but if you A little cabal of write someone a love note or a thank- you letter, it’s generous, it shows you’ve makers continues put something of yourself into it. It’s crafting writing personal – and that’s really what we’re instruments that trying to sell – that gift of writing.” are collector’s items Visit yardoled.com

69 BOISDALELIFE.COM WINTER 2017 ISSUE 10 Golf

or all golf’s showcase occasions and competitive edge, the game’s essence is THE CLASSIC internal. You versus the course, seeking safe passage for balls, 1.6 ounces or less, APPROACH into little sunken cups, many yards away. FIt was ever thus, and in playing a sport so On the fairways at Gleneagles in Perthshire, Colin Cameron entrenched in ancient tradition, I’ve decided to use sets aside modern clubs for his trusty old persimmons clubs that are similarly archaic. Mine are from the 1970s, and were second-hand then. It’s a pure approach, and means I have only myself to beat. Today, the “woods” used for driving are all made of steel or titanium or other high-tech materials. My own? Classic persimmons celebrating a bygone age. As for irons, my Pings were, in their day, state-of- the-art, but now enjoy heritage status amid today’s hybrid gimmicks. Taking these out on the PGA Centenary course at Gleneagles, the lavish Perthshire estate that hosted the 2014 Ryder Cup and September’s epic Solheim Cup showdown, was therefore a mismatch of biblical proportions. Lying amid 850 acres of land, Gleneagles bills itself as “the Glorious Playground”. My bludgeons and blades predate the creation of this modern monster, designed by Jack Nicklaus to test long-hitting professionals. But golf, as seasoned players will know, really takes place on the fairway between the ears. “On the tee, Colin Cameron.” As a guest of the watchmaker Audemars Piguet, you get a starter to announce you at the first hole. Already my clubs were turning heads and drawing purrs of appreciation – perhaps it was the encouragement they offered anyone viewing and handling them to revisit past exploits. Those within earshot were able to notice the difference when my ball left the clubface: the historic, unmistakable thud of a persimmon wood briefly resonated, while I enjoyed the special light, effortless feel of a club that seems rooted in nature. The contrast to the manufactured, industrial, man-made snap of a contemporary metal driver couldn’t have been clearer. My subsequent four-iron to the green yielded the kind of divot that greenkeepers haven’t seen this millennium. My four-iron arlier, Paul Lawrie, Open Champion of 1999 to the green and someone whose career dates back to when yielded the kind Ewoods were exactly that, declined my offer of a nostalgic swing, amid doubts he’d even get the of divot that ball airborne. My playing partner Calum Hill, a greenkeepers young Scottish pro, gamely parked etiquette forbidding club sharing, and leathered a persimmon. haven’t seen this He drilled the ball splitting the fairway – only the millenium stiffness of the shaft, far from bespoke for him, prevented a text-book position for his approach to the green. He joined the former cricketer Andrew

70 BOISDALELIFE.COM WINTER 2019 ISSUE 18 PURSUITS

Strauss and footballer Jamie GOLF WATCHES Redknapp, who both showed prowess using my relics. (Strauss, Chris Hall recommends the impressively, found the sweet timepieces to take on the greens spot even as a left-hander.)

aiting at the par three 17th was Tyrrell WHatton, tour professional and Ryder Cup hopeful. Like Calum, he’s much younger than my clubs. We broke protocol again, so that Tyrrell could swing an old iron. His ball came to rest feet from the hole, and the birdie was a given. By the standards of Gleneagles’ alternative courses, the King’s and Queen’s, the latter dating back to 1917, my clubs are newfangled. Neither is a monster like the Centenary, a course that TAG Heuer is taking a reflects how today’s equipment high-tech approach to its ‘golf adds yards to everyone’s game. edition’ timepieces. Its The playing field was Connected smartwatch correspondingly more level, (pictured top) comes with though from the tee I still found a white perforated strap myself behind my modern-kitted and black ceramic bezel with playing partners. 18 “hole markings”, but the real While I was always an also-ran appeal comes from its course- in the longest drive competition, tracking software, which uses the courses of yesteryear, from GPS to plot your position to Augusta to St Andrews, are within a metre on any one of the 39,000-plus cunning challenges where the courses loaded onto it. It can display 2D best seek to craft a way round. course maps, with 3D versions available on There are undoubtedly easier your linked phone, through the TAG Heuer ways to play the Centenary’s 18 Golf app. It also has the capability to record head spinners than to use your every shot, sending stats back to the veritable antiques, but they aren’t phone for in-depth analysis of your round, and as fun. My drive, four-iron, and your overall game. two putts for a par four were The Big Bang Unico Golf by Hublot (inset almost as nature intended; and above), worn by former world number one along with a few other triumphs Dustin Johnson, includes a counting mechanism that day, immensely satisfying. integrated into the chronograph movement, Colin Cameron was a guest of capable of recording your score for the full 18 Audemars Piguet watches holes, with a running total (up to a maximum of 99) displayed on a window in the dial. Omega has turned to lightweighting STAYING AT GLENEAGLES processes to create a watch fit for its star golf ambassador, Rory Gleneagles is offering an exclusive “Three Day Swing” package from spring McIlroy. The Seamaster Aqua to late-autumn 2020, with three nights in a beautiful twin or double room Terra Ultra Light (left) weighs (at 20% off the best available room rate and a discounted round of golf each just 55 grams including its day) in the glamorously revamped The Strathearn, and three rounds of golf fabric strap, thanks to the use per person on any of the three championship courses. Guests can follow in of a new-to-watchmaking the footsteps of Ryder Cup legends on The PGA Centenary course or enjoy aerospace-grade titanium that the Braid-designed masterpieces, The King’s and The Queen’s courses – the Omega calls “gamma titanium”. As a perfect golfer’s getaway. Rates for this offer start from £1,755 B&B for three final flourish, the crown of the watch nights, based on two people sharing a Classic Room. (Visit gleneagles.com) retracts, so that it doesn’t dig into the back of your wrist while you play.

71 BOISDALELIFE.COM WINTER 2019 ISSUE 18 Travel BACK TO BERLIN Revisiting Berlin as it celebrates 30 years since the collapse of the Wall, Jeffrey Mills finds a vibrant city to fascinate all walks of life

hen I first visited Berlin back in the late 1970s, I thought it was one of the most exciting cities WI had ever seen. It still is. At the time, years before its infamous Wall was breached in 1989 and then demolished a year later, the city’s centre was firmly in the west, in the area around the Kurfürstendamm – or “Ku’Dam”, as it’s known. This was where everyone went to shop, eat, drink and enjoy life. The restaurant food may have been underwhelming, but the bars become known as our “Atrocity Tours”. vibrant, the Stalinist-era wedding-cake- were fun to visit and there were still And Berlin has seen plenty of those. style blocks having been converted into plenty of cabaret clubs to be found – Today Berlin’s hub has moved to the fashionable apartments. A thriving bar as well as more exotic entertainments. eastern part of the central Mitte district, and restaurant scene has inevitably Fast-forward to the present, and a zone that once languished behind the followed, in streets where once the only Berlin was top of the list when two Wall. We stayed there, near where the life was in the queues at the food shops. friends – one a journalist and restaurant western extremity of Unter den Linden, critic, one a military historian – and Berlin’s grandest boulevard, once ancying something a bit more I were choosing the location for our marked the end of the road for East distinguished, we enjoyed a annual trip to visit scenes of significant Berliners, who could do no more than Fparticularly extravagant lunch military action. Essentially an excuse gaze longingly across the border. at the Adlon, Berlin’s grandest hotel for the three of us to spend a few days This area has not only become the (now part of the Kempinski group), eating and drinking, with some history commercial and governmental heart of whose guests, back in the day, included and sightseeing thrown in, these have Berlin, but is now also one of the most Greta Garbo, TE Lawrence, Charlie Chaplin, and Kaiser Wilhelm II. The food and wine is matched only by the spectacular views of the Brandenburg Gate. It was a suitable setting for us to muse upon Berlin’s dramatic history. The city has been described as an “accidental capital”. Once a mere blip on the map, it was an obscure and modest settlement until it was turned into the capital of Prussia in 1740 by Frederick the Great. By 1871 it stood Top: View of as the proud centre of the new German centra Berlin Reich created by Bismarck; but in 1945 along the River it lay in ruins, with 125,000 Berliners Spree, with Berlin killed, after the defeat the Third Reich. Cathedral in the distance. Left: The differences in architecture and Remains of the atmosphere between the shiny, rebuilt

Berlin Wall capitalist West Berlin and the then- ALAMY UNSPLASH, SHUTTERSTOCK,

72 BOISDALELIFE.COM WINTER 2019 ISSUE 18 IMAGE CREDIT T McCrystal andTony Torrance Additional reportingbyDamien Biedermeir period–isalsoessential. collections fromantiquityto the – fivemuseumshousingbreath-taking for someofthebestculturein thecity spectacular MuseumIslandcomplex Norman Foster. Spendingtimeinthe glass-topped domedesignedbySir before thetrekuptoadmire it maymeanwaitinginalongqueue parliament since1999,eventhough Brandenburg Gate,seatofGermany’s at verycheappricesalloverthecity. and ColdWar, whichwereonceoffered cameras, andotherrelicsoftheNaziera the Russianbinoculars,EastGerman masonry wentyearsago–togetherwith of itasasouvenir. Mostofthegenuine avoiding thetemptationtobuyapiece along whatremainsoftheBerlinWall, – butdon’tlinger. Instead,takeawalk crossing betweenEastandWest Berlin Checkpoint Charlie,thenotorious can bravethetouristsforaquicklookat an anonymouscarpark.However, you the bunkercomplexisnowcoveredby demolished bytheSovietsin1947and will bedisappointed:Bothsiteswere Hitler’s ChancelleryandFührerbunker devastation thiscityoncesustained. made itdifficulttomakeoutthetotal refurbishments intheGDRerahave ancient residentialareawhoseseamless You’ll alsopassNikolaiviertel,the Victory ColumnfromthePrussianera. the civilservice;andSiegessaule Bellevue; Beamtenschlange,hometo city’s riversandcanals. illustrated fromaboattouralongthe dreary SovietEastBerlinisbest Do visittheReichstag,closeto History buffshopingforatourof you pasttheReichstag;Schloss Berlin’s heart,andtheboattakes he RiverSpreethreadsthrough BOISDALELIFE.COM WINTER 2019 ISSUE 18 2019ISSUE WINTER 73 Populaire La Soupe Cathedral den Linden; Berlin Berlin, theUnter boulevard in most renowned signposting the in OldBerlin; Nikolai Quarter Wall;Berlin the A fragment ofthe fromLeft, top: Right:

starred restaurant.starred £££ yes, ithasaMichelin- Gate. And Brandenburg moments fromthe Unter denLinden, onthe landmark Berlin Hotel Adlon: An opulentfive-star Bardot and Alain Delononcestayed. ££ area, where Vladimir Nabokov, Brigitte Charlottenburg gem intheupmarket Hotel amSteinplatz performed.Fitzgerald £ Ellington, Louis andElla Armstrong city’s mostfamousjazzhall, whereDuke area (hometoKaDeWe), wasoncethe in Kurfürstendamm, Berlin’s shopping Ellington Hotel STAYWHERE TO too. restaurants) (kadewe.de/en/food- you nameit–fromtheothercounters, caviar, ham, veggie options, fish’n’ chips, feasting. dishes–lobster,Waiters bring the oysters), andsitallafternoon (gofor choose fromoneofmany bars onthe6thfloorwhere you can market storehasasensationalfood department KaDeWe: TheKaufhausdes Westens reasonably priced. (lasoupepopulaire.de) pudding andschnitzel –allexcellentand We hadcabbage saladwithlard, black ‘steampunk’ brewery. settingofahistoric dishesinthedramatic of classicBerlin La SoupePopulaire: Newversions young. (hofbraeu-wirtshaus.de). bestlefttothe experience traditional food beer. anddrinkable An inexpensive Bavarian ofhearty generous portions hall onthe Alexanderplatz, goodfor Hofbräu Wirtshaus: BERLIN BITES : ThisBauhausbuilding : An Art Nouveau : AnArt A vast, noisybeer PURSUITS PURSUITS

74 BOISDALELIFE.COM SUMMER 2019 ISSUE 16 PURSUITS

Travel ISLANDS IN THE SUN Stanley Johnson discovers birds, turtles and sustainable tourism thriving on the remote islands of São Tomé and Principe, off the coast of West Africa

The Principe coastline, 160 miles off the coast of Gabon

must admit, I thought long and hard Years of stagnation under a hardline Marxist before booking the trip to São Tomé and There were times, government followed a peaceful independence Príncipe – a republic of two small, at dawn and dusk, in 1975. But today, São Tomé and Príncipe’s remote islands that lies off the coast of relative obscurity is one of its main attractions. West Africa and was once part of the when the birdsong The islands seem to be in a state of almost Portuguese Empire. eclipsed the sound permanent slumber. Abandoned cocoa The calls from Extinction Rebellion and plantations; whitewashed Portuguese I others to change our lifestyles, and our patterns of lapping waves churches; thick, tropical forest and winding, of production and consumption, have been single-track roads combine to create a sense of growing ever more resonant. Increasingly, that work with the natural environment, rather peace, if not prosperity, uncommonly seen in people like me, who’ve spent our lives jetting than destroying it. His developments include modern West Africa. off to far-flung corners, are going to have to the magnificent Praia Sundy, Roça Sundy and The whole territory has been designated question the necessities of our journeys. Yes, the Bom Bom Island Resort on Príncipe, as well a World Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO. there are schemes for carbon offsetting and as Omali Lodge in São Tomé. Príncipe’s forests alone shelter no fewer than some of them may work. But, realistically, we With Shuttleworth’s help, the future for São eight endemic bird species, and it shares need to make more of an effort than we usually Tomé and Príncipe, constituting Africa’s another three endemic species with São Tomé. do to weigh the pros and cons of our next flight second smallest country, certainly appears Staying at the Praia Sundy Lodge on the island, to some remote destination. brighter than its bleak past. Uninhabited until we were, quite literally, situated between the Something that swung it for me in this its discovery by the Portuguese in the 15th forest and the ocean, and there were times, at instance was the effort being made to create a century, the islands served as victualling dawn and dusk, when the birdsong almost truly responsible form of tourism on São Tomé stations supplying slave ships well into the eclipsed the rhythmic sound of lapping waves. and Príncipe. This initiative is led by Mark 19th century, while sugar and cocoa Shuttleworth, a South African tech plantations sprung up that were themselves entrepreneur (and sometime space tourist), reliant on slavery. The current population of who has ploughed millions into developing a just under 200,000 is mainly descended from

HENRIQUE SERUCAHENRIQUE handful of small, sustainable eco-residencies those enslaved or indentured workers. 

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ome sunset on one evening we saw the last amber streaks of sunlight slowly C fading from the sable-coloured sands as the palm trees swayed like green metronomes beyond. Our guide broke the quiet with a rapid- fire instruction: “Look there!” he exclaimed. “Can you see there’s one over there?” A sea turtle, having just laid its eggs, was retreating back into the ocean, using her flippers to make headway on the sand before hurling herself into the blue. Green turtles and leatherback turtles (plus many more of the solitary hawksbill turtle we saw) all call Príncipe home, with more than 2,000 green turtle nests having been counted by local conservation groups around Praia Grande. While eggs were being laid on one part of the beach, hatchlings were making tracks elsewhere. I saw hundreds of miniscule babies clumsily claw and hack their way out of their nests, with no small degree of haste and a precision sense of timing and direction. They scuttled towards the cerulean waters, leaving nothing but broken shells and some Lilliputian track marks as a trace that they were ever here at all. Perhaps their alacrity is because they’re entering a particularly harsh Darwinian lottery. “Only one in a thousand will survive,” Orfeo tells us. “And if they do, they won’t come back to mate or lay eggs for a quarter of a century.” Leaving Príncipe for more rambunctious climes back home poses a complex question. Given the relative poverty of the populations on both islands; given the pressure on the Above: Driftwood on the beach native forests and wildlife; is there still a need at Praia Grande on Principe for the revenue that ‘high-value sustainable Right: A beachfront suite at the tourism’ can bring? Praia Sundy hotel with a private Personally, I think so, though I could be pool Below: Turtle hatchlings on wrong. Others will take a different view. There Príncipe head for the ocean are no easy answers to these kinds of questions. But if there is one thing that Extinction Rebellion and similar movements have taught us, it is that we have to come up with some answers soon.

Far and Wild offers seven nights at São Tomé and Príncipe, combining three nights at Omali Lodge with four at Sundy Praia from £2,699 per person, including flights. Visit farandwild. travel for more information HENRIQUE SERUCA; MAIQUEMADEIRA.COM SERUCA; HENRIQUE

76 BOISDALELIFE.COM WINTER 2019 ISSUE 18 PROMOTED CONTENT

BUILT TO LAST Crockett & Jones, one of the country’s most lauded shoemakers, is celebrating its 140th with a new collection drawn from its peerless archive of perfectly-made footwear

a gold embossed 140th Collection logo – a nod to the very early days of branded produc- tion. The shoes are complemented with a pair of lasted shoe trees that are handmade by the very same last maker of the 140 Last. There are three styles. The Perry, inspired by a 1920s design, is a pin-punch cap English Oxford with exquisite swan neck facing details. Made from black calf with a notion of black willow grain. The Magee is a Cambridge Gusset Casual, a design thought to originate on Jermyn Street in London, where Crockett & Jones’ flagship re- sides. This very ‘London’ style combines antique calf uppers with expertly stitched willow grain gusset sides and quarter inserts. Finally comes the Turner, the dandy of the three: a demi-boot with a pin-punched short- wing cap, often found on early 19th century spectators. It’s also available as a combination of antique calf and willow grain, with just the strap and ‘fishtail’ back strap both in the grain, giving a t’s 140 years since Charles Jones and Sir slight contrast from the hand polished calf. James Crockett joined forces to create what is now regarded as one of the Find out more about the skills inher- finest shoemakers in the world: Crockett ent to Crockett & Jones’ shoemaking at & Jones. Jones was the shoemaker and crockettandjones.com/the-article ICrockett the businessman, and together they formed a shoe manufacturing ‘firm’ that has re- mained in the careful hands of the Jones family ever since, and become a benchmark of quality. At the Northampton factory – the same one the company built in 1890 – you will still Clockwise from top: The six bottles in the find Crockett & Jones working to the hum of spanish themed in this skilled craftsmen and women. From clickers issue's Boisdale Life and stitchers to leather buyers and the master Wine Club offer; pattern cutter, Crockett & Jones is a hive of Interior of the famous shop on St James; The rare traditional skills that imbue every shoe Berry Bros. & Rudd's with craft and finesse. shop on Pall Mall In honour of the firm’s heritage, the 140th Collection breaks away from the norm and takes inspiration from the extensive archives. A specially developed last for the collection, Last 140, features a hollowed out neck, narrow waist, soft outside wall and an elegantly English round toe profile. It took months of model making, sampling and test fitting for a form fit for the collection to be created. Each style features an elevated Hand Grade specification with British racing green linings, black sole finishing, hand polished uppers, and DIARY HIGHLIGHTS AT BOISDALE

FOR TICKETS AND FULL NIGHTLY LISTINGS, VISIT BOISDALE.CO.UK

BLUE THE BEAR 03, 04 JANUARY Boisdale of Belgravia A band of under-24s plays rhythm and blues of the 1960s and 70s

LUCY MERRILYN 03, 09, 16 JANUARY Boisdale of Mayfair The singer’s refined mellow sound evokes the great ladies of jazz

GEORGIA VAN ETTEN 04, 10, 31 JANUARY Boisdale of Mayfair Georgia’s refreshing creativity and rich vocal tones have wowed audiences across the globe

TRIO MANOUCHE 06, 07, 08 JANUARY Boisdale of Belgravia A gypsy swing ensemble playing with infectious energy and joy

MOONIS MACDONALD 07, 08, 14, 15, 21, 22, 28, 29 JANUARY Boisdale of Bishopsgate The singer-pianist plays jazz’n’blues

ORIANA CURLS 08, 15, 22, 29 JANUARY Boisdale of Mayfair Timeless American jazz standards

DUST ME DOWN 09 JANUARY Boisdale of Bishopsgate Genuine Chicago blues, 70s funk, old gospel, and jazz

BROWN SUGAR BAND 10, 11 JANUARY THE BRAND NEW HEAVIES Boisdale of Belgravia 06 FEBRUARY 2020 Soul, pop, R’n’B, and Motown Boisdale of Canary Wharf Pioneers of London’s acid jazz scene, The Brand New Heavies translated their love of 1970s ERROL LINTON funk grooves and classic soul into sixteen Top 40 singles and sales of two million albums. Their 10, 17, 24 JANUARY acclaimed new album, TBNH, was released in September and features guest appearances from Boisdale of Bishopsgate Beverley Knight, N’Dea Davenport and Angie Stone, while the lead single is a cover of the Three-times-winner of the Best Kendrick Lamar song, “These Walls”, lovingly produced by Mark Ronson. Harmonica Player of the Year at the Blues Awards

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LOUISE MESSENGER THE GIN TRAP HOUSE 11, 17, 23 JANUARY BAND Boisdale of Mayfair 27, 28, 29, 30 JANUARY The singer performs gems from Boisdale of Belgravia Tin Pan Alley, the Great American R’n’B, jump-blues and jazz from Songbook and rareties from the the 40s, 50s, and 60s jazz canon MICA PARIS RICHARD HADFIELD 29, 30 JANUARY 13, 14, 15, 16 JANUARY Boisdale of Canary Wharf Boisdale of Belgravia One of the UK’s most respected Jazz standards by Ella Fitzgerald female singers, with a career that and Nat King Cole is full of Top Ten hit singles and best-selling albums ODYSSEY 16, 17 JANUARY DUNCAN HEMPSTOCK Boisdale of Canary Wharf 30 JANUARY Chart-topping disco soul from the Boisdale of Bishopsgate trio who brought you the Top Ten Authentic swing sounds of the hits “Native New Yorker”, “Use It 30s and 40s, delivered with Up & Wear It Out”, “Looking For inventive musicality and breezy FRANK & DEAN’S VEGAS SHOW A Way Out”, and “Don’t Tell Me, Aussie charm THROUGHOUT DECEMBER Tell Her.” Old school meets new Boisdale of Canary Wharf school as the journey continues GIULIA MARELLI At this very best Christmas party in London, Boisdale 30 JANUARY revellers are transported back to the glamourous heyday CHRISTIAN PRIOR Boisdale of Mayfair of Las Vegas through classic songs of the Rat Pack, including 16, 23, 31 JANUARY Jazz standards performed by a “Fly Me To The Moon”, “The Lady Is A Tramp”, “Volare” Boisdale of Bishopsgate versatile and powerful vocalist “That’s Amore” and “New York, New York”. A versatile pianist, organist, and vocalist specialising in jazz, blues RICHARD HADFIELD and early rock’n’roll 03, 04, 05, 06 FEBRUARY KATIE MCHARDY Boisdale of Belgravia 18 JANUARY The top vocalist performs jazz Boisdale of Mayfair standards by Ella Fitzgerald and Rich and sultry tones infused Nat King Cole with influences of jazz, blues, soul and R’n’B TOPLOADER 05 FEBRUARY JO HARROP Boisdale of Canary Wharf 20, 21, 22, 23 JANUARY This British alternative rock band, Boisdale of Belgravia hailing from Eastbourne, East A night of swinging jazz and classic Sussex, formed in 1997 and songs accompanied by the Alex enjoyed more than two million Webb Trio album sales and a string of Top Twenty hits at home and abroad WAYNE HERNANDEZ 24, 25, 31 JANUARY TOM SEALS FIRST FLOOR DJ NIGHTS Boisdale of Belgravia 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 Boisdale of Canary Wharf A charismatic soul singer who FEBRUARY SAXON SOUND SYSTEM DJs: SOUL FUNK & REGGAE always gets the audience going Boisdale of Belgravia Saturdays 9pm to 2am with his infectious energy and One of the UK’s finest boogie- MI SOUL RADIO DJs: UK HOME OF SOULFUL MUSIC amazingly powerful voice woogie blues pianists and vocalists Fridays 7pm to 1am CARWASH: 70s & 80s SOUL & DISCO LIZ FLETCHER SOUL IMMIGRANTS Thursdays 7pm to 1am 25 JANUARY 21, 22 FEBRUARY CARWASH: 70s & 80s SOUL & DISCO Boisdale of Mayfair Boisdale of Belgravia Wednesdays 7pm to 1am “One of the UK’s top jazz singers” This band keeps the flames DJ ROZ: FUNKY DISCO says Ronnie Scott’s Magazine, and of funk continuously fuelled and Tuesdays 7pm to 11pm we agree permanently alight!

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FOR TICKETS AND FULL NIGHTLY LISTINGS, VISIT BOISDALE.CO.UK

BURNS CELEBRATIONS 25 JANUARY All Boisdale restaurants Annandale Distillery presents the 2020 Burns celebrations at Boisdale – a ritual that has remained unchanged for more than 200 years and is one of the strongest symbols of Scotland’s national identity. Accompanying the traditional feast of the finest Scottish ingredients are Annandale Distillery’s non-chill filtered single cask, single malt Scotch whiskies, which arrive at the table straight from the barrel and bottled at cask strength. Historically, Annandale Distillery has produced smoky- peated whisky and continues this tradition with its highly acclaimed Man O’Sword, as well as its fruity, unpeated, Man O’Words. Needless to say, this is whisky at its absolute purest and most natural.

SANDRA-MAE THE REAL THING 02, 03, 04, 05 MARCH 06, 07, 08 MAY Boisdale of Belgravia Boisdale of Canary Wharf A talented singer and multi- One of the UK’s most successful instrumentalist, playing saxophone, soul acts in concert, original guitar, piano and percussion vocalists Chris Amoo and Dave Smith perform a string of hit MISSISSIPPI SWAMP singles with their five-piece band DOGS 13, 14 MARCH ALBERT LEE Boisdale of Belgravia 03 JUNE A musical journey that includes Boisdale of Canary Wharf hits by artists such as the Neville Grammy Award-winning British Brothers and Louis Armstrong guitarist and multiple recipient of Guitar Player magazine’s Best THE THREE DEGREES Country Guitarist takes to the 17, 18 MARCH Boisdale stage for one night only Boisdale of Canary Wharf DINNER WITH SAM WALEY-COHEN The super stars perform When THE MANFREDS 25 FEBRUARY Will I See You Again, Dirty Ol’ Man, 09 JULY Boisdale of Bishopsgate Take Good Care Of Yourself Boisdale of Canary Wharf Sam Waley-Cohen’s win in the 2011 Cheltenham Gold Restaurant Cup on Long Run was the first success for an amateur ALEXANDER O’NEAL Paul Jones, with his unique rider in 40 years. Now, he is one of only nine jockeys riding 28, 29, 30 APRIL & harmonica sound, is joined by to have won jumps racing’s blue riband, as well as three 01 MAY Mike Hugg on keyboards, Tom other successes at the winter game’s showcase meeting Boisdale of Canary Wharf McGuinness on guitar, Rob and three top-five finishes, including second, in the Grand An R’n’B legend with a sound that Townsend on drums, Marcus Cliffe National. On 25 February, just before the 2020 has transcended generations, on bass, and Simon Currie on Cheltenham Festival, Sam is our guest of honour for the Alexander O’Neal is one of the saxophone / flute to perform as latest Starter’s Orders supper, in partnership with Fitzdares. genre’s most iconic names The Manfreds

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MUSIC

THE LOWDOWN How has the music industry changed while you’ve been a part ALEXANDER O’NEAL of it? Music is constantly changing and For more than four decades, Alexander O’Neal has technology also plays a good part been one of the world’s finest purveyors of R&B and these days, but it’s still our job to soul music. The singer shot to fame in the 1980s with perform music the best way we hits like Criticize, If You Were Here Tonight and Saturday can –that hasn’t changed, and that’s Love, and remains the only performer to have sold what people still love. out six nights at Wembley Arena. A firm Boisdale Which artists would you call your favourite, he returns to Boisdale of Canary Wharf musical heroes and why? from 29 April to 1 May Otis Redding and Sam Cooke amongst many others. Their voices were just incredible – so pure – and with unrivalled delivery. Plus they were the trend setters of their day What can we expect from an breaking down racial barriers and Alexander O’Neal live show right all that now? An intimate and energetic What three records would you pick performance from an incredibly that inspire you? tight nine piece band that will just What’s Going On by Marvin Gaye light the place up Respect by Aretha Franklin Amen by The Impressions What’s your favourite song to perform, and why? Which current musicians do you Crying Overtime – one of my admire? own songs that I recorded on the H.E.R., Jill Scott and Yolanda Hearsay album – it’s always been Adams my personal favourite to sing. Also What A Wonderful World by my old What talent would you love to friend Louis Armstrong have? To be able to fly What are your plans for 2020? Touring and working on new What’s the ideal drink to enjoy material for my new album. People with an Alexander O’Neal show? will have to wait to hear the new Chivas Regal whisky sound but all I can say it’s not a R&B album like I’m known for! What’s your idea of perfect happiness? What would you say has been the Taking it easy with family and R&B singer Alexander O’Neal high point of your career? friends whilst enjoying some good It hasn’t come yet but eight sold out southern home cooking nights at Wembley ain’t bad. It was just incredible. At the time no artist Alexander O’Neal takes to the stage had ever sold out Wembley for at Boisdale of Canary Wharf on that amount of time so it was kind 29, 30 April and 01 May 2020. For of historic and the crowds were more information and tickets, visit unbelievable Boisdale.co.uk

What’s your earliest musical memory? Listening to the records my mother would play around the house

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