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Experience is everything
APRIL 2024
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In the frame
GARY OLDMAN
making masterpieces at 66
EXPERIENCE IS...
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SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
T R AV E L
Wish you
were here?
GAMLA STAN
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN
A city spread across 14 islands, Stockholm sits
where Lake Mälaren flows into the Baltic Sea. One
island contains the old town, Gamla Stan, which
stretches to the water’s edge. Home to medieval
architecture, cobbled alleyways and the baroque
Royal Palace, Gamla Stan fell into disrepair in
the mid-19th century and was considered
a slum until it was restored in the 1960s.
For more travel inspiration, see p87
Find out more at travel.saga.co.uk
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
5
Contents
16
Lorraine
Kelly
26
Flying high
APRIL 2024
Home & style
9
11
12
49 Pot luck Top ways to grow
houseplants successfully
53 Gardens This month’s jobs
54 Interiors Getting creative
with pattern and prints
58 Recipes Hollywood star
Stanley Tucci rustles up
two family favourite pies
61 Tried & tasted Spaghetti
carbonara in the spotlight
63 Wine New grape varieties
65 Beauty How to get Victoria
Beckham’s chic look for less
67 Technology Car gadgets
69 Generation games Mark
Palmer on being a bad loser
15
16
21
CEO letter
Editor’s letter
Shopping list
Bold, bright spring buys
Jenni Murray
In my experience
Lorraine Kelly
Saga Voices
Let’s talk… smoking
Features
53
Garden
jobs
6
22 Gary Oldman talks finding
happiness, the success of
Slow Horses and winning
an Oscar for his mum
26 Reaching for the sky Meet
the hobbyists who fly, crew
and build hot air balloons
32 Not giving up the day job
The later-lifers rebelling
against retirement
36 A new chapter Browse
inside the bookshop giving
‘forgotten’ authors a voice
40 Clever companion Are
smart meters an intelligent
way to manage energy bills?
45 It’s never too late to…
be a stand-up comedian
Health & wellbeing
71
Ask Dr Mark Our GP
answers your questions
40
Get smart
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
74
76
81
Turning up the heat…
Saunas are having a revival
– but are they good for you?
Unexpected diagnosis
‘I had bowel cancer – but a
routine test failed to spot it’
Older love Hunter Davies
Money matters
83 Paul Lewis explains how
much money you really
need for your retirement
85 Money news Finance latest
Travel
87 Baltic cruise A father and
daughter take to the seas
90 Spa attractions Relaxing
getaways to bliss you out
95 Letter from America Simon
Marks’ stateside views
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
Louise Robinson
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Kirsty Tyler
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
Rachel Carlyle
MANAGING EDITOR
Jennie Buist Brown
CHIEF SUB-EDITOR
Tracey Nightingale
FEATURES ASSISTANT
Rebecca Norris
87
97
Baltic bliss
COVER : ©JAY L. CLENDENIN/LOS ANGELES TIMES/CONTOUR . ALAMY, SHUTTERSTOCK, ELIOT WYATT, AWL IMAGES
CAMERA PRESS /MATT MONFREDI , GERALD MANKIEVIC, GERED MANKOWITZ
The Rolling Stones
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What’s on
97 It’s only rock’n’roll Rare
and unseen photographs
of The Rolling Stones
100 Going out Must-see film,
theatre, music and events
104 Staying in Latest TV, radio
and podcast highlights
109 Books April’s new arrivals
Your letters
Puzzles
Quiz
The world according to…
John Lydon
130 Word to the wise
Susie Dent
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12
Spring
shopping
Saga Magazine is published by Saga Publishing Ltd. Available through personal subscription. April 2024 issue. Publication date 28 March 2024. Printed by Walstead Bicester. Colour reproduction by
Rhapsody Media. Care is taken to ensure that advertisers adhere to advertising codes of practice and are of good standing, but no guarantee can be given by Saga Magazine. The fact that an advertisement
has been accepted in good faith does not imply that the advertiser has the magazine’s endorsement. The publisher accepts no responsibility for any statement, error or omission in any advertisement.
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SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
7
FROM THE CEO
Welcome to April
A
s I write, I’m just recovering my
land legs after spending a busy
couple of days on board Saga’s
beautiful boutique cruise ship,
Spirit of Adventure. It was my first
ever cruise and I’m happy to say it more than
lived up to my expectations. I’d heard so much
about our enthusiastic guests, exceptional crew,
fascinating guest speakers and thoughtfully
designed ships, but it’s only after experiencing
it for myself that I now fully appreciate the
quality of the operation run by our cruise
team. Well done to all of them.
I spent many of my 48 hours on board
chatting to guests and hosted a lively Q&A
session in the theatre. A lot of the questions
were about our recent announcement that we
are exploring partnership opportunities for
the ocean cruise business. I’m delighted at how
much demand there is for our fantastic ocean
cruise experience, but it does mean that
with only two ships, there is a limit to how
many customers we can share it with. It is
a determination to meet this demand and deliver
growth that lies behind our thinking. We are
at very early stages, but we believe a partnership
would be a great way to bring our unique
cruises to more customers. Importantly, this
would not mean compromising on the quality
that our guests have come to expect from us.
I was quite taken aback by how curious
everyone was about me and my background
– and what made me the right person to be at
the helm of a business they clearly hold very
dear. It was a salutary reminder of the trust that
has been placed in me, and the responsibility
I have to grow this great brand, while staying
true to its original principles: to create innovative
reader
offer
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Shipshape
Mike on board
Spirit of
Adventure
with fitness
guru Derrick
Evans, aka
Mr Motivator
Mike Hazell
Group Chief
Executive
Officer
TMAcustomers
@saga.co.uk
products and services to make older people’s
lives better. That applies across the board – to
our cruises, our wider travel offer, our insurance
policies, our personal finance products and, of
course, to this magazine.
Now that I have sampled ocean cruising,
I am looking forward to sampling our other
travel offers – river cruises, hosted stays,
escorted touring and private jet tours. And,
although it lacked the Madeira sunshine,
I thoroughly enjoyed my recent time spent at
our insurance call centres in Kent, picking up
insights into our customers’ priorities and what
matters to our colleagues.
It’s been a busy month, and I’m looking
forward to spending time with the family,
helping my daughter as she begins the
countdown to GCSEs and watching my son eat
us out of house and home before he heads back
to university. I’m also hoping to squeeze in
some exercise so I can get rid of the couple
of pounds I put on ‘testing out’ the delicious
food on the ship. No wonder Mr Motivator’s
onboard workouts are so well attended.
Dear
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SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
9
e new heartwarming read from
the beloved saga writer
Selected stores and online. Excludes Express. While stocks last.
EDITOR’ S LET TER
Hello everyone
A
s a magazine editor, I need my
playing Jackson Lamb (below with co-star
finger on the pulse, but sometimes
Kristin Scott Thomas).
my best efforts to keep up to
The show is even better than One Day, the
date with modern culture are
recent Netflix adaptation of the David Nicholls
scuppered by my Luddite
love story that spans 20 years. If you watch it,
tendencies. So it was with Slow Horses, the
expect lots of tears and waves of nostalgia as the
brilliant spy series featuring a tour-de-force
lovers discuss shoes from Saxone, pay phones,
performance from our cover star Gary Oldman
and the Vivaldi CDs they got free in The Sunday
(p22). Everyone I knew was raving about it,
Times. I think I still have my copy of The Four
but it was on Apple TV+, which I wasn’t
Seasons somewhere in a drawer.
tech savvy enough to subscribe to on our
There have been a fair few tears shed in our
smarter-than-me TV. There
house this month as my
was no point asking
91-year-old mum has
‘If you haven’t seen
my husband as he was
been very unwell. Apart
Slow Horses yet, I can’t
already lobbying hard for
from my frustration at
cutbacks to our numerous
recommend it more highly’ the way hospital wards
TV subscriptions.
seem to stop functioning
But the prospect of an interview with
at weekends, with the honourable exceptions
Oldman made this a work matter, and he
of the nursing and catering staff, I cannot fault
reluctantly got busy with registration. Within
the care she has received. No expense has been
minutes of the opening credits, we were both
spared, and – in our experience anyway – there
hooked and devoured all three series in
hasn’t been a trace of age discrimination.
record time. If you haven’t seen Slow Horses
Unfortunately, that is not something you can
yet, I can’t recommend it more highly, and
say about far too many of our institutions.
it’s great to read how much Oldman loves
I hope you enjoy this issue. Sadly, we are
without Jeremy Paxman again, and I am sure
you will join me in wishing him well.
We had a bumper crop of letters this month
(p110) – please keep them coming.
Subscribe to
the app to read
Saga Magazine
on your phone
or tablet
Editorial Director Saga Magazine
JASON INGRAM, GETTY
This month’s C O N T R I B U T O R S
Stanley Tucci
John Lydon
Rose Shepherd
Peter Bryant
Recipes, p58
Hollywood
actor Stanley
is now as famous
for his cooking as his acting.
But despite his bestselling
cookbooks and Emmy-winning
food show, his Italian mother
wears the trousers when they
are in the kitchen together.
World According
To… p129
The punk legend
fronted the Sex
Pistols before forming his
band Public Image Ltd.
Known for his dislike of the
monarchy as an institution,
he nonetheless says the late
Queen was a ‘lovely person’.
Neglected
authors, p36
Our literary
editor is the author of books
on Henry VIII, Sherlock
Holmes’s London, and three
long-forgotten novels.
She lives in Kent with her
American husband and the
stray cat who rescued them.
Travel, p87
Peter spent his
career in the
Civil Service. He
has travelled the world
often with his beloved wife,
who passed away in 2023.
He is donating the fee for
his Saga cruise report to
the Alzheimer’s Society.
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
11
SHOPPING LIST
Our
April
picks
12
PIPPIN SIDE TABLE
£119, Dunelm (dunelm.com)
RUAN ROUND MIRROR
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STACKED PLANT POT
£42, Rose & Grey
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SHOPPING
STRIPED MULTI-COLOURED
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SHORTY LOCKER
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JUMBO POM POM
TASSEL
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HAPPY CUSHION
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DULCE DESK LAMP
£45, Oliver Bonas
HOPS STONEWARE SIDE
TABLE GREEN
£101, Co. Interiors
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RETRO PINK CHAIR
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VIEWPOINT
Jenni Murray
With many of us seemingly glued to our phones, our columnist
suggests a more satisfying alternative to scrolling: socialising
I
exclusion of everything and everybody else.
t was my lovely, attentive sons who issued
I look on aghast at mothers picking up their kids
me advice on the ownership of a mobile
from school, a buggy with a little one inside
phone. ‘Come on, Mum, it’s time you
being pushed with one hand, a phone in the
entered the 21st century. Dump that old
other. What does she think she’s doing? Why
Blackberry. You need an iPhone – slim,
isn’t she talking to her children and making
elegant, superfast, anything you’ve ever
them feel they matter more than the phone?
wanted right there at your command.’
I sit in cafés watching couples, families, friends
So it was their intention I should join the
saying nothing to each other. Maybe they’re
97% of people over the age of 12 for whom the
speaking on their phone loudly enough for all
smart phone is so much more than a means of
to hear; sometimes they’re scrolling or playing
communication. One could almost say it’s an
a game. What has happened to the joy of faceaddiction. I had no desire to dump my old
to-face human communication where we talk
Blackberry. OK, it was a bit chunkier than the
to each other? Who’d have thought we could’ve
slender gadgets with which they appeared to
become addicted to a tiny whim of technology
be somewhat obsessed, but theirs were intensely
that promises so much but fails to deliver.
irritating. Every few seconds an annoying ping.
It’s an addiction I have taken steps to avoid.
And the pings were never ignored. How many
At night, the phone is on ‘Do not disturb’. No
times had I to say, ‘No phones at the table’?
pings or rings to disrupt my
I knew, though, they were
sleep. I pick it up soon after
hiding them under the
‘We’ve become addicted I wake in the morning,
table. Those wretched
all unwanted
machines were never left
to a whim of technology eliminate
emails, make a note of
in another room; they’d
that promises so much
those that need dealing
always attract attention.
with later and check texts.
My Blackberry was
but fails to deliver’
Rarely does anything need
a marvel. I could receive
my immediate attention.
emails and texts, always
When I’m ready to go out, it stays in my bag.
ensuring I checked them only at certain times
It won’t be answered if I’m driving the car. After
of the day. Nothing could be so urgent that it
parking I’ll check for urgency, respond where
had to be seen and replied to right now. But its
necessary and, during meetings – social or
true beauty was the keyboard: a familiar Qwerty
professional – it stays in the car. I don’t need it
design, the keys stood up slightly, separated, like
to disturb serious or pleasant conversation. I will
they are on a computer. I wrote endless articles
not allow it to dominate and destroy my life.
on my phone, making no mistakes as the little
I left all social media. No more Instagram or
keyboard had no difficulties with my long nails.
X. Why expose yourself to nasty trolls? Too
Then the company let me down. Blackberry,
depressing. Facebook is boring so why bother?
that perfect means of communication, was
My phone is for true communication with real
no more. Into the 21st century I was forced
people and the search for information. I’d be lost
to march, and I have yet to learn why so many
if I couldn’t ask where to find my nearest Italian
people seem to be obsessed with their phones.
restaurant or which train for Glasgow. It’s useful.
My typing, on the rare occasions I attempt it
This, one can only hope, will be the result
on my phone, is appalling. The keyboard will not
of banning mobile phones from schools.
accept an instruction from my pride and joy – my
Perhaps the generation so damaged by trolls,
nails. I have to type using the flesh to the side of
wrongful advice on health, friends who prove
the nail on my little finger. Such gobbledegook
to be anything but and sexual abuse online
emerges as ones become twos, gs are fs, ns are
will learn something. That a smartphone’s not
ms – my name is often Hemmi. Everything takes
so smart after all and that chatting with your
time; speedy communication is non-existent.
mates over lunch – no phones allowed – is
Yet it’s clear the majority of the population
safer and so much more satisfying.
is completely addicted to their mobiles, to the
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
15
IN MY EXPERIENCE…
Lorraine Kelly
by
Your parents were teenagers when you were
I knitted him. He was a present from Steve for
PA M
born in Glasgow in the late Fifties. Did
my 50th birthday. I love it more than any
FRANCIS
you like having such young parents?
amount of diamonds – it’s much more romantic.
They were both 18, and the advantage of having
such a young mum and dad is that I’ve still
You’ve been married to cameraman Steve for
got them living up in Scotland. Everybody else
31 years. What role does he play in your life?
at school had conservatively dressed parents,
Oh huge. I couldn’t do what I do without him.
but my mum was super cool and
When I was writing my novel,
wore make-up and miniskirts.
were a lot of times when I was
‘Don’t keep anything for there
My parents were trendy – they
writing and he would just go out
listened to the Rolling Stones and
best. If someone gives you and get the shopping or make us tea
or take the dogs, Angus and Ruby,
The Beatles – and everyone loved
perfume, spray it on.
coming to our house.
for a walk enabling me to do what
If someone gives you posh I needed to do, and that’s always
been the case through our
What kind of a child were you
underwear, wear it!’
marriage. We’re not a showy,
growing up?
It was a very happy childhood. Then
lovey-dovey couple. I like him,
my wee brother Graham came along when
as well as love him, and he makes me laugh.
I was six and my nose was well out of joint.
Mother love
Tell us more about The Island Swimmer,
He was the perfect child from central casting.
Lorraine and
Blond curls, big blue eyes, he was quite fat,
her daughter
your first novel…
like an angel cherub. I was ghastly to him.
Rosie have
I’ve been writing it at night and most
I used to nip his arms.
their own
weekends. It was a challenge but I loved it. It’s
podcast
about being forced to leave the place that you
What was the best advice your mum gave you?
love against your will and then trying to go
The same advice as her mother gave to her:
back and rebuild bridges with friends and
don’t keep anything for best. If someone
family. My main character, Evie, goes back
gives you perfume, spray it on. My granny
after 20 years. It’s about complicated and
would spray herself with perfume to take
complex relationships and how one tragedy
the bins out. If someone gives you posh
can cause so many ripples and affect
underwear, wear it!
so many lives. At the heart of the book is
the wise woman Freya. She is a trans
Home for you and your husband Steve
woman but that’s by the by. It doesn’t define
is on the banks of the Thames in
her, which I think is important in these
Buckinghamshire. You’ve described
days. We are a lot more than the labels
it as eccentric…
people put on us.
It’s an old boathouse where boats
were stored in winter and then it was
Why is it set on the island of Orkney?
turned into a house and wee bits have
It’s one of my favourite places in the world.
been added over the years. So it’s very
I first went as Scottish correspondent
higgledy-piggledy, but I love it. There are
for TV-am and just fell in love with it.
ornamental penguins everywhere. I love
I do believe there are some places you go to
penguins. There’s a giant 6ft emperor
where there is magic in the air and you feel at
penguin statue that sits in the garden
home. Steve and I have gone back every single
facing south. In the summer, he wears giant
year. I’ve often been cold water swimming
sunglasses and in the winter, a wee scarf
there, which makes you feel very zingy.
16
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
CAMERA PRESS/MATT MONFREDI, ALPHA/EDWARD LLOYD
With her debut novel hitting the shelves, TV presenter
Lorraine Kelly, 64, discusses her happy marriage,
love of penguins and her favourite place
SAGA MAGAZI N E • MARCH 2024
17
INTERVIEW
Fun times
Lorraine with
her husband
Steve (left);
and meeting
penguins in
Antarctica
(below)
I do remember vividly the time when someone
said, ‘Oh this is very common’. They were
trying to make me feel better, which made me
feel worse. I thought, ‘Oh my God, so many
people feel like this.’ And I was also very aware
that it didn’t just happen to me, it happened to
Steve, to my mum. It has a ripple effect. I think
it’s good that we are talking about things like
this a lot more. We are more open, and you
should be. You should be allowed to grieve and
go through that whole process the way it suits
you. Some people don’t want to talk about it,
and some do. It’s whatever suits you best.
What was the most painful, life-changing
moment you’ve experienced?
When I was covering the school shooting
in Dunblane [in 1996] and saw one of the
little girls, Joanna, in an open coffin in
her little Pocahontas nightie. It is something
you never forget. That was when I realised
there is real evil in the world.
If you were Minister for the Saga
generation what would you lobby for?
Good, all-inclusive healthcare that
includes free dentistry and eyesight care.
What’s the best thing about being 64?
I really do feel in my prime. I’ve
earned the right to speak my mind
‘I feel in my prime. I’ve
and also I don’t get bruised by unkind
earned the right to speak
comments because I refuse to give
them my energy and attention.
my mind and also I don’t
What was the best day of your life?
Apart from having my baby girl,
it was toasting Ernest Shackleton,
‘The Boss’, with a massive glass
of whisky at his grave in South
Georgia – I’m a massive fan of
his. Steve and I were on our 25th
wedding anniversary trip. We went
to Antarctica and also got to meet
thousands of real penguins –
they are the funniest creatures.
GETTY
get bruised by unkind
Have you enjoyed making your
podcast series What if? with your
comments – I refuse to
daughter, Rosie Smith, 29, and
give them my energy’
interviewing celebrity
guests together?
Yes, we’ve just been to Mary Berry’s house, which
What is the most important life lesson
was lovely. I don’t think Rosie is following in my
you’ve learned?
footsteps. She does radio, some TV, writing and
Life goes past so quickly. Take time to stop
producing and also podcasts with other people.
and take it all in. Live in the moment.
It’s different from my day when you had one
job. These days, it’s great young people can try
The Island Swimmer (Orion, £20) by
their hand at lots of different things.
Lorraine Kelly is out now
Would you have liked to have more children?
It didn’t happen for us. We weren’t doing
anything to stop it from happening. But we never
went down the road of doing anything about it,
like IVF or tests. And by the time you realise
it’s not happening… I was in my early forties,
and just thought our time had passed. But we
were very lucky to have Rosie, a happy, healthy
kid. It would have been nice, but equally there
are a lot of positives with just having the one.
You’ve always been open about the miscarriage
you suffered more than 20 years ago. Is
that grief something that ever leaves you?
Sometimes I wonder what might have been.
You’ve got this parallel life that didn’t happen.
18
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
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SAGA VOICES
This month
we talk…
smoking
Each month our insight team conducts a poll
of Saga customers to find out what you’re
thinking. This month: who still smokes?
by R A C H E L C A R L Y L E
BBC
G
iven we’re of an age to have spent
the majority of our working and
social lives squinting through
billowing clouds of tobacco smoke,
it seems scarcely believable we’ve
come to this: only 4% of Saga customers smoke.
In 1974, when my grandmother was lighting
one cigarette off the other and you had to watch
out for ash in your salad, 46% of adults smoked.
In our survey of almost 3,000 over-50s, 36% of
respondents used to smoke but gave up, while
another 25% tried it but didn’t like it, and 33%
claimed never to have smoked, not even once.
‘It’s an enormous generational change and
Saga customers have lived through it,’ says
Hazel Cheeseman, deputy chief executive at
Ash, the anti-smoking group set up by doctors
in 1971. ‘My parents didn’t smoke but we had
an ashtray in our house for visitors. Nobody
would walk into someone else’s house today
and expect to light up a cigarette.’
National smoking rates are now just below
13% – and 8.3% among the over-65s. So even by
today’s standards, Saga customers are a healthy
bunch. It’s probably explained by their higher
socio-economic backgrounds, says Cheeseman.
After early studies linked smoking to lung cancer
in the mid-1950s and 60s, more educated people
began giving up. That divide has intensified:
now 8% in professional occupations smoke,
compared with 23% in manual/routine jobs.
57%
of smokers
are men
82%
are glad
smoking
is now less
acceptable
13
cigarettes
smoked a day
on average
40
is the average
age to give up
The 2007 ban on smoking in public indoor
spaces and workplaces was a crucial turning
point, she says. ‘There was a shift in the
narrative from the rights of smokers – who were
20% of the population in 2007 – to non-smokers,
who have a right not to breathe in other people’s
toxic smoke. Today, the expectation, even among
smokers, is that people are not exposed to harm.’
If anything, public opinion is ahead of
politicians, she says, and that was reflected in
our survey: across our age groups, 57% wanted
to see smoking banned in outdoor hospitality,
and 61% supported government ambitions for
a ‘Smokefree’ future in 2030. Plans are already
underway to ban cigarette sales to those born
after 1 January 2009. In our survey, 23% wanted
to go further, with an immediate ban on all sales.
However, there’s a hard core of smokers who
enjoy it and don’t want to stop – in Saga’s survey,
just over half (57%). Of the others, 20% want to
give up and 24% are on the fence.
How people quit reveals a gender divide. Men
are far more likely to use solely willpower in their
attempts (63%), whereas women have tried all
kinds of methods including hypnotism (31%),
counselling (19%), distractions (13%) and talking
to successful quitters (6%). The most popular aid
for both sexes is nicotine replacement therapy
(NRT) used by 55%, followed by e-cigarettes
(vaping) at 42% – though more women use both.
‘Vaping is the best evidence-backed way to
stop,’ says Cheeseman. That’s confirmed by
research, including an influential Cochrane
study in 2021. ‘For every 100 people using
nicotine e-cigarettes to stop smoking, nine to
14 might successfully stop, compared with only
six of 100 using NRT, or four of 100 having no
support or behavioural support only,’ says
lead author Professor Jamie Hartmann-Boyce.
Smokers, it seems, are well on their way to
becoming extinct. Ash now wants anti-smoking
messages printed on individual cigarettes plus a
levy on the tobacco industry to provide funding
to stub out the habit for good. They’d like to see
a consultation on a pavement café ban, too. ‘It’s
not about punishing smokers, but when less
than 13% smoke it’s annoying for others sitting
outside, particularly when they’re eating,’ says
Cheeseman. ‘For those with asthma or lung
conditions, it compromises their ability to enjoy
those spaces. It’s an achievable vision to have
a country where smoking is extremely rare.’
That’s something no one could have
envisaged through the fug of smoke in 1974.
?
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
What do you think?
Join the conversation by emailing your
thoughts to us at editor@saga.co.uk
21
Actor Gary Oldman, 66, has won widespread praise for his portrayal
of spy Jackson Lamb in the acclaimed drama Slow Horses. Now, with
season four due for release later this year, he tells us about finding
happiness with fifth wife Gisele and winning an Oscar for his mum
22
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
©JAY L. CLENDENIN , LOS ANGELES TIMES/CONTOUR
T
spies but we recognise them as human beings.
he prospect of playing
I thought it was just wonderful stuff.’
a character who revels
And, it seems, so do viewers and critics
in a distinct lack
alike. Since its premier in April 2022, the
of personal hygiene
five-time Bafta-nominated series has become
– not to mention
a massive critical and commercial success,
a huge flatulence
hastily recommissioned with the third series
problem – would
released at the end of 2023, a fourth coming
surely be an affront
later this year and a fifth being filmed.
to the vanity of many
No one could be more delighted than
Hollywood A-listers.
the south London-born Oldman, who was
Not Gary Oldman.
nominated for a Golden Globe this year for
His latest screen outing as the surly anti-hero
his portrayal of Lamb. The actor, who stars
Jackson Lamb may require having greasy hair,
alongside a cast including Kristin Scott
broken veins and sallow skin – all rendered via
Thomas, Saskia Reeves, Jonathan Pryce and
a 30-minute ‘make-under’ – but the actor, who
Jack Lowden in the series, confides he’s
has just celebrated his 66th birthday, insists
pleasantly surprised by the way television is at
that despite these indignities, the role was
the forefront of some of the most celebrated
‘everything I was looking for’.
writing and performances.
Even so, Oldman could little
‘This incredible seismic shift
have envisaged how his turn
as Lamb in the hit Apple TV+
‘I feel really lucky has happened with television,’
he says. ‘At one time, there
spy series Slow Horses
and privileged to
was a sort of snobbery, you
would become so celebrated
know, one was a film actor
– no mean feat for a serial
be in work – and
and you looked down on the
award-winner who has garnered
also, to be doing a people who did television.
plaudits for representations
of historical giants such as
series and earning That doesn’t exist any more.
And I personally think that
Winston Churchill in the 2017
a living at 66’
some of the best acting,
war flick Darkest Hour and
writing and cinematography
renowned fictional spymaster
is on your TV. So I would
George Smiley in 2011’s
occasionally watch with envy, thinking I’d
Tinker Tailor Solider Spy.
really love to do something other than have
For while Lamb is also a spy, he’s cut from
that one shot to develop a character or
a rather different cloth than the diffident,
play a character over an extended period of
stylish Smiley. Brought to life in a series of
time. And this series fell from the sky.’
books by author Mick Herron (Slow Horses
And while the irascible and troubled Lamb
is the name of the first), Lamb oversees a team
could not be more distinct from the elegantly
of spies who have been demoted from MI5
aloof Smiley, Oldman points out they have
for making catastrophic errors on the job.
more in common than you may think.
While the ragtag bunch still work for the
‘They’re similar in that they’ve got – I think
service, they are treated with lofty disdain
– a great moral compass,’ he reflects. ‘For all
by their peers, viewed as misfits who must be
his flatulence, which is all part of
tolerated rather than helped.
the act in a way, Lamb gives you
‘He turns a genre that we’re all very
the impression that he doesn’t
familiar with, but it’s sort of anarchic,’ as
care, but he probably cares
Oldman puts it, admitting that he thought
more than most. He’s in and
the author’s writing was ‘just fabulous’ when
he’s out. He’s burnt by it but
he read Herron’s first book. ‘And he gives
can’t quite let go of it. And all of
you characters that are relatable. They are
INTERVIEW
Happy
as
Gary
24
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
SPORTSPHOTO LTD/ALLSTAR
ANTHONY HARVEY/SHUTTERSTOCK, ALLSTAR/WORKING TITLE FILMS, GETTY,
Happy
together
Oldman has
finally found
contentment
with Gisele
Schmidt
that is his distraction. So he is very, very
smart and very clever. And you can
underestimate him – I think that’s his trick.’
Oldman admits to having other reasons
for feeling delighted to don one of Lamb’s
two ‘costumes’ – ‘If it’s summer, I have the
mac and if it’s winter, I have the coat,’ he grins
– for despite a 45-year-long career and a CV
littered with plaudits, he is fully aware that
his profession is not always kind to those
who are eligible for their free bus pass.
‘At 60-whatever-I-was when the show started,
careers can often wane, they peak and then…’
he tails off, for it needs no spelling out. ‘So
I feel really lucky and privileged to be in work
and also to be doing a series and earning
a living at 66 with a bunch of people who are the
nicest bunch of people you could ever hope to
meet. I feel very blessed and very lucky.’
He certainly seems to have a newfound
serenity. A once notorious hellraiser and
self-confessed former alcoholic who has now
been sober for 27 years, he has been candid
about how his chosen profession wreaked havoc
on a personal life that has included four
broken marriages, among them to fellow actors
Lesley Manville – with whom he has a son,
35-year-old Alfie – and Uma Thurman.
That candour remains today: Oldman
admits that being an actor requires a level of
selfishness that can be hard to reconcile with
the needs of daily life.
‘If you want to be good at something you
have to really dedicate yourself to it, to the
life now with someone who understands, who is
exclusion of everything else,’ he says. ‘And
creative in her own right, but has been around
I found there have been
creative people for a long
relationships and all
time, and gets me,’ Oldman
‘I’m at a place in
sorts of things that have
says of his newfound
gone by the way.’
domestic contentment.
my
life
now
with
His third marriage – to
‘When I start working on
someone who
ex-model Donya Fiorentino,
a role, she tells me I become
with whom he has his other
remote; I’m there, but I’m
understands, who
two sons, Gulliver, 26, and
not really there. I sleep a
is creative in her own
25-year-old Charlie – ended
lot. I procrastinate. I do all
particularly bitterly.
these things. So you have to
right, and gets me’
It was followed by
be with someone who, if
a seven-year union
you are focusing on your
with English actor and singer
work, or you’re closing off, or shutting down
Alexandra Edenborough, which
because you have to focus, has to understand
continued until 2015.
that it’s not personal.’
Latterly, however, Oldman
Yet for all his career may have impacted his
has found happiness with art
personal life, there are times when he admits
curator and photographer
that he has reason to be grateful for it too. Last
Gisele Schmidt. The couple
year, while on Drew Barrymore’s eponymous talk
married in 2017 in a quiet
show, he confided that his Noughties roles in
ceremony in California
the Batman trilogy of films The Dark Knight
with close friends and
(he played Gotham City detective James Gordon)
family. ‘I’m at a place in my
and as Sirius Black in four of the Harry Potter
INTERVIEW
A lick of luck
As irascible
Jackson Lamb
in Slow Horses
and showing
off his Oscar
alongside wife
Gisele and his
sons Gulliver
(left) and
Charlie, in 2018
Role call
As Winston
Churchill and
(left) starring
as Sirius Black
movies, had ‘saved’ him following his messy
split with Fiorentino, which had left him as
a 42-year-old single dad with full custody
of Gulliver and Charlie.
‘I could do the least amount of work for the
most amount of money and then be home with
the kids,’ he confided.
He could certainly afford some pragmatism
in a career already dotted at the time with
a liberal scattering of Bafta nominations.
His first came in 1988 for Prick Up Your Ears,
the comedy thriller in which Oldman starred
as playwright Joe Orton. A decade later
he won two, including Best Screenplay, for
his self-penned drama – and the first he had
directed – Nil By Mouth.
It would be several more years before he
got to clutch an Oscar, finally winning the
gong in 2018 for his mesmerising turn
as Churchill.
He sweetly dedicated his win to his then
98-year-old mum Kathleen, who passed away
four months later and who today he remains
convinced ‘held on’ for his big moment.
‘She would always say to me, “Oh, you’re
going to win an Oscar one day, darling,
I know you’re going to win an Oscar’’. And
I’d never really played the game, you know,
so I’d just say, “Yeah, you never know. One
day, Mum”. And I think she held on. I really
do,’ he confides. ‘I won the Oscar and she
died. She let go. Her mission accomplished.’
His role as Jackson Lamb aside, Oldman
has continued to rack up other notable
performances since his win, including
a central cameo as President Harry Truman
in last year’s blockbuster Oppenheimer,
a one-day gig which saw him reunited
with his Batman co-star Cillian Murphy,
who he today describes as ‘the sweetest
guy on Earth’. ‘He’s such a lovely man,’
Oldman says with a smile.
As to the future, Slow Horses fans can
be reassured that further treats lie in store.
‘Season four is going to be dynamite,’
Oldman avows, who hints at challenging
times for his character. With season five
already being filmed, it’s impossible not
to wonder if Apple will go the whole hog and
film all eight books in the series. If so, there
would be no complaints from Oldman.
‘I love the show,’ he grins. ‘And I’m very,
very happy to be doing it for as long as
Apple writes the cheques and keeps us
on the air.’
Slow Horses seasons 1-3 are streaming on
Apple TV+ now
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
25
SLUG
away
up
Up
26
SAGA .CO.U K • MARCH 2022
&
Ballooning is a pastime that’s
inflating among the over-50s.
Meet the late-life adventurers
who are flying, crewing and even
hand-building hot air balloons
by R E B E C C A N O R R I S
H
SHUTTERSTOCK
ave you ever fantasised about
escaping to the clouds, away
from all the hustle and bustle
of the world below? The
owners of the around 1,500
hot air balloons registered
in the UK get to do just that,
revelling in the peacefulness of wafting through
the sky. And 60% of those who hold a Balloon
Pilot’s Licence are over the age of 50.
Britain’s first modern hot air balloon, the
Bristol Belle, was created in 1967. Throughout
the Seventies and Eighties, ballooning became
a popular pastime, creating familiar polka dots
in our skies. Now, the pilots who trained during
this boom are late lifers. And those who grew up
admiring them from the ground have time to get
involved as they embrace, or approach, retirement.
‘We are definitely an older age group,’ admits
Don Cameron, 84, a celebrated aeronaut who
helped develop the Bristol Belle. He is director
of Cameron Balloons, the world’s leading
manufacturer, established in 1971. Around
60% of his direct sales are to pilots over 50.
‘There’s an indefinable magic to rising into
the sky and defying gravity,’ says Don, who
still flies today. ‘Curiously, you don’t feel
high up – you feel that the world is small.’
Hot air balloons offer one of the safest
forms of aviation, and balloonists prize the
sweeping views, stillness, and sense of
adventure. We speak to the enthusiasts
who are riding high.
SAGA MAGAZI N E • MARCH 2022
27
The pilot
Sue Kidd, 74, has been a balloon pilot for almost
25 years. Since qualifying at the age of 50, she
has clocked up nearly 300 hours in a basket. ‘It’s
exhilarating,’ she says. ‘It gives me an enormous
amount of pleasure to introduce people to the
wonderful world of hot air balloons.’
She booked her first ride in 1989, at the age
of 40. ‘When I was younger, I would see a balloon
in the air and think how fabulous it must be to
be up there,’ says Sue. But as the flight took off,
she suddenly remembered she wasn’t too fond
of heights. Still, she built up the courage to look
over the side and fell in love with gliding through
the sky. She discovered there were balloon clubs
all over the country, like the London Region
Balloon Club, her local group. She joined in
Frequent flyer
Sue Kidd
(above) – a
balloon pilot
for 25 years
– takes to the
skies once
again (top)
‘When I was younger, I would see a balloon
in the air and think how fabulous it must be
to be up there. Ballooning changed my life’
1993. Today, the group has around 15 members
and two thirds are over 50.
After five years spent helping existing pilots,
occasionally wangling a flight, Sue decided to
go for her pilot’s licence. This required at least
16 hours of flight instruction and written exams.
Once qualified, pilots can fly whenever the
weather is on their side, with clear visibility,
light wind, and no rain. ‘For it to rise, the
air inside the balloon has to be hotter
than that on the outside,’ says Sue.
In the summer, this means an early
start (‘you want to be taking off by
6am’) or waiting for the heat to
subside in the evening. In the winter,
she doesn’t often fly as the ground
needs to be solid – muddy fields are
no good for taking off and landing.
Governed by the elements, then,
Sue manages anything from ten to
28
25 flights a year. Some are at balloon festivals,
where pilots come together to create a spectacle
– the UK’s largest is held in Bristol in August and
attracts 100 balloons and 500,000 spectators.
A crew of three to five is usually required to lift
a balloon off the ground. ‘If it’s a beautiful day
and everyone knows what they’re doing, we can
be ready to take off in about 20 minutes,’ she says.
The effort is richly rewarded. ‘You see patterns
of the countryside,’ says Sue. ‘By spring, all
the lovely greens are back after winter. In the
summer, you’ve got the yellow rapeseed fields,
then you’ve got the golds and reds of autumn.’
From the air she has seen large flocks of deer
and, her most prized sighting, boxing hares.
But while enjoying the scenery, there is much
to think about, such as steering (by moving the
balloon up and down to catch wind directions)
and navigating (Sue uses both paper and digital
maps). Early in her ballooning journey, she roped
in a friend, Edward, now 79. After hiring the
club’s two balloons for a couple of years, they
bought their own second-hand one. Large
enough to carry four to five passengers in the
basket, it cost them £12,500.
Sue, who now owns a smaller balloon, has
shared her love for the sport via talks delivered
to organisations such as the u3a and Women’s
Institute. ‘Ballooning changed my life,’ she says.
‘Now at almost 75, I hope I have at least another
five years flying in me – with a little luck.’
The crew member
You don’t need to be a pilot to
call yourself a balloonist. Mike
Brown, 65, is chairman of the
Nottingham and Derby Hot Air
Balloon Club, which has around
20 active members. Of these,
two thirds are over 50.
Members work as part of
the ground crew – preparing
a balloon for flight, chasing it
as it flies, then packing it away.
In exchange they take it in turns
to fly in the basket with the pilot.
‘You see a lot from the air when
travelling at three or four miles
per hour,’ says Mike, a retired
hotelier from Leicestershire. He
was first enchanted by hot air
balloons aged eight when he
watched the 1956 film Around
The World In 80 Days. But only
in his fifties did he indulge this
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
To find your
local hot air
ballooning
club and get
involved, visit
bbac.org
Helping hand
Mike Brown
(right) helps
prepare a
balloon for
flight, ably
assisted by his
grandchildren,
Jack and
Sophia
H OT AI R BALLO O N I N G
The builder
Jo Scott celebrated turning 50 by taking to the
skies in a balloon she built herself. An education
manager from Suffolk, now 51, she had secured
her pilot’s licence ten years before. ‘The magic
draws you in,’ she says. ‘There’s nothing like it.’
In August 2021, a friend asked if she wanted
to see the balloon he had built in his spare room.
Baffled, Jo watched as he pulled it out, telling her
to not look too closely at his stitching. ‘It was
beautiful,’ says Jo. ‘All pink and blue.’ He said
he had been to Sackville Airfield in Bedfordshire,
where there is a community of amateur balloon
builders led by Tim Wilkinson, 72, who has
built – or helped build – 30 balloons since 2010.
‘I’m a nutter about flying,’ says Tim, whose
grandfather founded the airfield in 1946. ‘I’m
interest and sign up to the group.
Three years later he convinced his
wife, Hilary, 69, to look past her
fear of heights and join as well.
It’s the job of the ground crew
to help set up and inflate the
balloon. ‘There’s real camaraderie
to it,’ says Mike. When it is up and
away, the crew hop in a truck
for what they call the retrieve –
pursuing the balloon on its travels.
‘There’s a driver, navigator and
someone communicating with
the pilot via walkie-talkies or
mobile phones. It’s all good fun.’
The balloon will have around
two hours’ worth of gas. In that
time, it can fly between three and
seven miles an hour. Once they
happiest when I’m in the air.’ Having spent
18 years as a commercial airline pilot, he began
flying balloons in his late fifties. The desire to
build one came five years later. ‘It’s a hobby
that got out of control,’ he says.
Now, Tim has templates for other budding
builders. Jo explains, ‘You buy the fabric [ripstop
nylon], cut it out by hand, then stitch it together
Sky’s the limit
with a sewing machine.’ Her balloon, which has
Jo Scott (above)
room for two people and features blue, black and
made her own
purple stripes, was insured and ready to fly by
balloon from
her 50th birthday. Her basket is homemade too
scratch (below)
– by Tim – but it’s not
the bulky wicker type
‘You have to be a certain
may well expect.
kind of mad to fly a balloon you
It’s lightweight and
collapsible, made from
you’ve sewn together’
heavy duty cloth on
a steel frame. In total her balloon cost about
£6,000, so was significantly cheaper than
buying from a manufacturer. The whole process
took about eight months from start to finish.
‘I don’t think I’ve ever been as scared as I was
when I took off in the balloon I’d made myself,’
says Jo. ‘I looked up at it and thought, “Is this
going to hold?” I knew it would as it had been
inspected – I was being completely irrational.’
But she soon relaxed. ‘I loved learning its little
quirks – it was like learning to fly all over again.
‘You have to be a certain kind of mad to
build then fly a balloon you’ve sewn together.’
find where the balloon has come
to rest, they must first locate the
landowner to get permission to
drive onto the field. Then it’s
time to pack the equipment – the
envelope, the basket, the burner,
the fuel tanks – into the truck.
Members of the group pay an
annual fee of £300, plus around
£20 extra each time they fly, to
cover the cost of the gas. ‘It’s a
cheap way to fly,’ says Mike
(a ride from a commercial operator
will usually cost around £150).
But while he loves crewing, for
Mike nothing can beat flying. ‘It’s
that feeling of weightlessness,’
he says. ‘You’re up in the air and
there’s nothing stopping you.’
‘There’s a driver, navigator and someone
communicating with the pilot. It’s good fun’
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
29
ADVERTORIAL
MALTESE TREASURES
This pocket-sized archipelago punches above
its weight when it comes to history. Peel
back the layers on a sight-packed (but still
wonderfully laid-back) holiday.
They say good things come in small packages, and that’s definitely true of Malta. Inhabited since around 5900
BC, these islands boast Megalithic monuments, baroque buildings and temples more than 1,000 years older
than the Egyptian pyramids.
Malta’s small size makes it a breeze to see the sights at a leisurely pace. Mix mornings or afternoons of
exploration with time soaking up the sun on a poolside terrace. Your Saga Host can help you whittle down what
to see and how, but to get you started, here’s a look at what you might like to add to your Maltese itinerary.
Vibrant Valletta
The butterscotch buildings of Valletta,
Malta’s capital city, seem to glow in the
Mediterranean sunshine. Built from soft,
golden limestone, these mansions, churches
and palaces squeeze together in an area half
the size of Hyde Park to form one of the most
concentrated historic areas in the world.
You can walk end-to-end in around half an
hour, a little longer if you stop for a flaky,
pea or ricotta-filled pastizzi along the way.
Begin your sightseeing with the big hitters:
St John’s Co-Cathedral and the Palace
of the Grand Masters. At the former, you
can admire the only signed Caravaggio in
existence and a spectacular floor of baroque
marble tombstones. The latter is a collection
of richly decorated state rooms, plus an
incredible Armoury.
From here, perhaps venture up to the Upper
Barrakka Gardens. Gaze across the azure
waters of the Grand Harbour to the historic
‘Three Cities’, a trio of fortified harbour inlets
(you can catch a boat across to them if you’d
like to explore more). For a taste of Malta’s
more recent history, there’s the National War
Museum at St Elmo’s Fort – it tells the story
of Valletta’s involvement in WWII.
Malta’s Megalithic temples
Seven prehistoric temples feature on Malta’s
UNESCO World Heritage Site entry – five are
on Malta itself, while the remaining two are
across the water on Gozo. UNESCO describes
each complex as being ‘a unique architectural
masterpiece’, so it’s worth seeing more than
one if you can. There are plenty of organised
excursions, or your Saga Host can help you
with bus or taxi bookings if you’d rather make
your own way there.
Where to stay
AX ODYCY is the perfect base for a stay in Malta.
It’s recently had a makeover, and now boasts a
collection of fantastic restaurants, two adults-only
pools (including an infinity-edge one that seems
to melt into the waters of the Med), a smart spa
and a roof terrace that looks out over Salina Bay.
Your dedicated Saga Host will be on hand to help
with anything from restaurant recommendations
to excursions.
7 nights all-inclusive from £695pp
4 weeks for the price of 3 from £1,825pp
Prices are per person based on two people sharing, 7 nights
lead price based on selected departures in December 2024.
Other dates available. 4 weeks for the price of 3 offer available
on departures between 5-26 November 2024 and 7 January-25
February 2025.
Deeper underground
Step 6,000 years back in time as you descend
to Ħal-Saflieni Hypogeum. This subterranean
sanctuary is a multi-storey cemetery dating back
to 4000 BC, with an intricate network of halls,
passages and chambers hewn from the limestone.
Only a handful of people are allowed in at a time, so
you’ll need to pre-book your tickets.
Going to Gozo
As well as its Megalithic temples, Gozo is home
to the Citadella, a honey-hued fortified town that
crowns a hilltop in the centre of the island. Built
in the Middle Ages, its chunky walls hide Gozo’s
cathedral, the Bishop’s Palace and a handful of craft
shops and restaurants. A walkway follows the walls
around the citadel, revealing spectacular views over
the island.
Discover our range of holidays
and tours in Malta
0808 189 3864
saga.co.uk/malta
by A N N A
MOORE
‘The growing army of people who remain
economically active well into the later
decades are usually there by choice’
On the ball
At 93, Derek
Price is still
working
full time in
his family
business
32
doubled in the past 25 years, with more than
one in nine of us now working beyond our
65th birthday. Analysis by Rest Less, the digital
community and job site for the over-50s,
shows that the number of men and women
over 70 working has increased by 58% and 66%
respectively over the past decade. There are
now 35,488 people working beyond 80.
Dr Karen Hancock, research and policy
officer for work at the Centre for Ageing Better,
who is 68 herself, points to many reasons.
Inadequate pensions and rising living costs
play a part, but the growing army of people who
remain economically active well into the later
decades are, she says, usually there by choice.
‘The most important factor, and I can’t stress
this enough, is purpose in life.’ After accepting
voluntary redundancy in her former job,
Dr Hancock didn’t fancy early retirement, so she
studied for a PhD on what makes life worthwhile
in older age, which led to her current job.
‘Plenty of research shows that having a
purpose in life is so important for healthy ageing.
You live longer, and more independently. Work
also brings daily routines, the sense that life is
proceeding in an orderly fashion. You’re expected
to be in a certain place or do a certain thing by
a certain time. It brings social connections, the
sense of mattering to other people and being
able to use your knowledge and skills.’
Of course, you can get all that from retirement
if you find something that gives you purpose, but
it doesn’t work for everyone. George Jerjian, 69,
has built a second career as a retirement
consultant after hating his own early retirement;
he likens it to being a ship in the doldrums.
‘You’re in the middle of the ocean, there’s no
wind and you’re going nowhere, just drifting,’
he says. ‘I took some courses, studied things
I’d always wanted to learn,’ he says. ‘I tried to
enjoy lunch with friends, but not everyone’s
available when you want them. I found myself
sapped of energy, dejected and quite miserable
because I didn’t have anything to strive for.’
He now runs courses for those approaching
retirement age or already retired but who wish
to get back to being economically active. Jerjian
often recommends a mini gap year – perhaps
between three and six months – spent somewhere
new, abroad or in the UK. ‘Try new things, see
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
JASON INGRAM
E
ach morning at 8.45, Derek Price,
93, leaves his house near Bath,
and walks the 500 yards to his
rubber moulding and sports
ball factory for a full day’s work.
With him are pages of notes
he has written the night before.
‘There’s 101 things,’ says Derek. ‘We’ve just
moved production to a new site, so I’m working
on layout and size of sheds. I’m rebuilding and
engineering a tennis ball steaming machine.
I’m looking at ways to save oil consumption.
I want to improve our website...’
He’s usually home by 7pm. ‘I’ll have a large
G&T, fall asleep, then my wife wakes me and we
have dinner.’ At weekends, Derek’s working hours
are slightly reduced – he clocks off at 2 or 3pm.
Derek had once planned to retire at 50. He
even bought a field as he hoped to ride horses
in his retirement. He still has the field, but
no horses in it. Somehow, there was just never
a good time. His business, Price of Bath, was
founded by his father and Derek began working
in it aged ten. Competition from the Far East
has demanded constant reinvention to stay
afloat – and to keep on his staff, whom he sees
as ‘extended family’. Many have been with him all
their working life. His PA stayed until she was 93.
As the years have passed, Derek has realised
that retirement is simply not for him. ‘I’ve seen
friends retire,’ he says. ‘They spend an hour
drinking a cup of tea, fritter the day away and
fall asleep. Some are bored out of their minds.
I haven’t been bored since I left school.’
A growing number of ‘retirement rebels’ must
feel the same. Research by the Centre for Ageing
Better based on government figures has found
the employment rate of those aged 65-plus has
WORK
The
retirement
S
L
E
B
RE
Record numbers of over-65s
are in the workplace – and
more than 35,000 over-80s,
too. Why do they do it?
It’s not all about the money,
as we discover…
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
33
WORK
what you enjoy – whether it’s volunteering,
gardening, rock climbing. It’s about finding
what you love, your new identity and purpose.’
His clients always amaze him. A retired nurse
has reinvented herself as a personal trainer for
older people. Someone else left a long corporate
career to teach English as a foreign language.
A former occupational therapist is teaching
business skills to Chinese businesspeople.
‘No one works like Boomers,’ says Jerjian.
‘This generation have such dedication and
discipline. It’s how we were raised.’
Retirement coach Sarah Robinson
recommends carefully evaluating the skills
you’ve gained over your working life. How can
you use them? You probably won’t have the
answer immediately. ‘The path you choose will
probably evolve over time,’ she says. ‘Embrace
new opportunities and be willing to adjust
your plan for reinventing yourself.’
Others, like Derek, have felt no need for
reinvention, and he is now passing his knowledge
on to his daughter, Louise, 50. ‘Hopefully, I’ll
keep going for another year or two,’ he says.
‘There’s just no good reason to stop.’
In the
driving seat
James
Weatherup
has become
a chauffeur
‘Try new things, see what you enjoy – whether
it’s volunteering, gardening. It’s about finding
what you love, your new identity and purpose’
‘I�LL KEEP GOING�
Hilary Stirling, 79, a former
head teacher from West
Sussex, has filled the past
20 years with a career built
around her passions –
education and pottery.
‘The idea of retirement is
hard to understand. Why
would anyone step down from
an interesting, busy life?
I was in my late fifties when
I left my job as head teacher.
I live alone and had an empty
diary so the first thing I did
was a
two-month
trip to
Australia,
New
Zealand,
Japan and
Singapore
34
based around my interest
in ceramics.
I now have a ceramics
business. I’ve set up an art
collective, established open
house events, where artists
show and sell their work, and
organised craft fairs.
I also couldn’t leave my
former career behind, so I sent
my CV to my local authority
and that led to contracts as a
special education consultant.
I board weekly wherever the
work is and drive home at
weekends. Recently, my
children have asked, “Why
are you still doing this? You’re
nearly 80.” But as long as
my brain can continue to
work, I’ll keep going – and as
long as I’m strong enough,
I’ll keep throwing.’
‘I COULDN�T “DO NOTHING”�
When James Weatherup, from Brentwood,
Essex, lost his job in 2020, he wasn’t ready
to retire. Now 68, he has reinvented himself
as a wedding chauffeur.
‘I was working for a PR agency when the
pandemic hit, the clients disappeared and I was
made redundant. I was 65 but had never thought
of retiring – I’d just been merrily going along
when everything came to a shuddering halt.
I couldn’t “do nothing” but maybe this was an
opportunity to find something completely
different that didn’t involve trundling up to
London five days a week.
It was around this time that my daughter was
getting married. I’ve always been into cars and
I thought how lovely it would be to chauffeur her. I
decided secretly to buy a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow
as a post-redundancy treat to myself. As it turned
out, my daughter got married in Paris but I collected
her and her husband from the airport in this
beautiful car, with all the ribbons and bows, and it
was such a lovely surprise. I started thinking about
building a business out of it. I bought the uniform,
launched a website (prestige-wedding-cars.co.uk)
and began going to wedding fairs.
I will never forget my first wedding. I was so
nervous, I cleaned the car four times, I polished
the wood, I wanted it to look immaculate. The
bride didn’t know that I was coming – she thought
she was just getting a lift with a friend – so when
I turned up, she was speechless. When she got
in the car, she burst into tears. That has happened
a few times.
This job is a pleasure and privilege – at weddings,
everyone’s happy, everyone’s smiling. I think age
can be an advantage, too. No one wants a boy
racer driving them to church!’
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NEGLECTED AUTHORS
Back on the shelf
A
ged 54, and with a small
inheritance from her father,
the writer Nicola Beauman
decided to launch a business.
It would be called Persephone,
after the daughter of Zeus and
Demeter, symbol of female
creativity. She would republish books by neglected
authors, mainly women, from the mid-20th
century, packaged in elegant, understated, dovegrey dust jackets, and sell them by mail order.
Unfashionable authors? Understated dust
jackets? Books to covet and cherish in an
increasingly throwaway society? How could she
possibly succeed? If I’d been her friend, I’d have
counselled against it. I would have been so wrong.
Now 25 years old, Persephone Books is
thriving. It operates from a Grade II-listed
Georgian terrace in Bath, having relocated
from London three years ago. A doorbell tinkles
as I step into the shop, and Gilbert the fluffy
white Havanese office dog trots up to greet me.
The ambience is refreshingly informal: cut
flowers, rugs, posters, the iconic books stacked
on pale blond shelves alongside some tasteful
merchandise. At the rear, Nicola occupies
a cramped corner, hemmed in by boxes.
Asked how she came to launch Persephone,
she says, ‘I was fed up with suggesting books to
people and them saying, “No, we don’t think
these are good”, so one morning I thought, “I’m
going to do it myself”.’ By ‘people’ she means,
I guess, Virago, who published her first book,
written while she brought up her five children
from her marriages to architect Nicholas Lacey
and later economist Christopher Beauman.
‘I started having children young, as you did
in those days, and at the age of about 25, I had
by R O S E
SHEPHERD
Grey matters
The curated
display of
novels inside
Persephone’s
shop in Bath
(right) has
a matching
grey exterior
(below right).
Nicola (below)
set up the
company
25 years ago
a contract to write A Very Great Profession: The
Woman’s Novel 1914-1939. It took about ten years,’
Nicola says. ‘And I wrote one or two prefaces for
Virago, though we had different tastes because
they’re much more Feminist with a capital F.’
Persephone began life in the basement of
a factory in Clerkenwell, London. Upstairs, they
made pleated skirts. Down below, Nicola and one
staff member revived names and fortunes. ‘My
husband did say, “Why don’t you do it round the
kitchen table?” But I’d had 25 years at home with
the children, so I said, “I’m going to go out”.’
Several of the authors on Persephone’s list
are discussed in A Very Great Profession. They
include Enid Bagnold, Mollie Panter-Downes,
EM Delafield, and 14 works by its bestseller,
Dorothy Whipple, with a memoir to come.
Although many Persephone novels reflect
a preoccupation with domesticity, they also
range around the big subjects of war, love, sex,
adultery and divorce, and are rarely simply cosy.
Whipple’s Someone at a Distance is about
a disastrous love triangle; her They Were Sisters
explores domestic violence. Marghanita Laski’s
The Victorian Chaise-Longue (1953) is the stuff
of nightmares; and in Consequences (1919),
EM Delafield rails against the Victorian family.
At the outset it was all a bit sink-or-swim for
Nicola. ‘Basically, I published too many books to
start with, but then we had a huge bit of luck
in which we got a bestseller,’ she says. Whether
it was luck or genius, Nicola had picked up
the phone one day and called Winifred Watson
to ask if she might republish her 1938 novel,
‘With unfashionable authors,
understated dust jackets and
books to covet and cherish,
how could she possibly succeed?’
36
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
SUZY SLEMEN, TODD HARVEY
Nicola Beauman has been rescuing and
republishing ‘lost’ books from forgotten
authors for 25 years and has now acquired
a list of 149 titles – and a cult following, too
SLUG
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, about 24 hours
spent by a middle-aged governess in the
company of a glamorous nightclub singer.
‘She was quite hard to track down – she was
then living in Newcastle, and was 93,’ Nicola
recalls. ‘I said, “I’d like to speak to Winifred
Watson”, and she said, “This is I”. She was really
excited.’ How much more excited might she have
been had she known the book would be made
into a 2008 film starring Frances McDormand?
With that success, Persephone emerged from
the Clerkenwell underworld and relocated to
Lamb’s Conduit Street in Bloomsbury, before
another move, in April 2021, to Bath.
I mention to Nicola a recent report that
independent bookshops in the UK are thriving.
‘I read that too,’ she says, ‘and we’re doing fine,
but we always have.’ I’d bet many are succeeding
by doing things more the Persephone way. This
is far more than just a bookshop. Quiet piano
music creates ‘a little barrier, like a curtain’, she
says, for drop-ins who don’t want to be disturbed
‘I was fed up with suggesting books to people
and them saying, “No, we don’t think these
are good”, so I thought, “I will do it myself”’
as they browse the curated displays. On the floor
above, the Persephone Parlour hosts book groups,
lunches, concerts, seminars and screenings.
‘It’s called trust, which I’m afraid some people
then called “brand”,’ says Nicola. Such is that
trust that Persephone Biannually, her online
magazine with articles on the latest publications,
goes out to 20,000 readers. Persephone has more
than 76,000 Instagram followers and sells
50,000 books a year – from a list of 149 titles
– 90% by mail order or in the shop.
Nicola’s daughter Francesca (writer, historian
and the author of five books, including The
Literary Almanac: A Year of Seasonal Reading),
is very much involved. She and Nicola will only
publish books they really love, but if someone
brings something to them, they do consider
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
37
NEGLECTED AUTHORS
‘The main thing I’m happy about is that
people are reading these wonderful writers,
and because we’re in profit, we can keep on’
it. The Casino by Margaret Bonham is a good
example. Her daughter, Cary Bazalgette, came
into the shop one day saying, ‘My mother wrote
stories’. First published in 1948, the Persephone
edition has a preface by Cary and endpapers
taken from a 1948 screen-printed Henry Moore
rayon design titled Piano. All Persephone books
feature colourful, era-appropriate endpapers.
‘The most recent book we’ve done is a novella,
Sofia Petrovna, by Lydia Chukovskaya, about
Stalin’s Russia,’ Nicola adds. Written in secret
in 1939-40 during Stalin’s purges, it was first
published in English in 1967. ‘It was brought into
the shop by Dr Helen Tilly, who did her PhD on
Lydia. She then wrote the preface.’ The endpapers
are from a 1920s cotton print, Construction Site.
Along with novels, on Persephone’s list are
books of short stories, memoirs and poetry, and
those on gardening and cookery, such as Good
Things in England (1932) by Florence White
Making
its mark
Persephone
is helping
the works
of forgotten
authors to be
discovered
and Kitchen Essays by Agnes Jekyll. There’s
also Flush, Virginia Woolf’s biography of
Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s spaniel, and Two
Cheers for Democracy – essays by EM Forster.
Before I leave, I’m keen to know, why the grey
covers? ‘Just because I love grey,’ says Nicola,
producing a grey paper cup. ‘It was inspired
by this, from Dean & Deluca, a chain of coffee
shops in New York, which has now folded.
I thought, “Why can’t a book look like that?”’
She seems wholly in her element, keeping
busy as Gilbert snuffles around her feet and
piano music drifts around us, and yet, as 80
approaches, her thoughts are turning to some
sort of retirement. ‘I don’t look forward to the
day ahead when I don’t come in,’ she says. ‘But
I’m not getting any younger, and I very much
deplore people who hang on too long. After
next year I plan to step back. I’ll get involved, I’ll
come in, and I hope they don’t think, “Oh, God!”’
Nicola must be proud of what she’s created?
‘I’m very happy that it happened,’ she says. ‘The
main thing I’m happy about is that people are
reading these wonderful writers, and because
we’re in profit, we can keep on.’ Although not
yet decided, it’s likely that when Nicola does take
that step back, Francesca will step up. ‘She’s so
marvellous, and writes this Diary of a Provincial
Bookshop on Instagram. Her daughter Maddie,
who’s 16, works in the shop on Saturdays too.’
Whatever happens, Nicola will continue to
write a newsletter and Persephone Biannually.
‘I’ll keep busy,’ she says. ‘I might learn the cello.’
I think she’s joking, but you never know.
5 UNDERRATED AUTHORS WORTH CHECKING OUT
1 Josephine Tey
(1896-1952)
The Daughter of Time
(1951) – her last novel
– has Scotland Yard’s
Alan Grant applying
modern methods to
the alleged crimes of
Richard III. In 1990,
the Crime Writers’
Association chose it
as the greatest crime
novel ever.
38
2 Mollie PanterDownes (1906-97)
Her 1947 novel, One
Fine Day, is one of the
most enduring of the
20th century. Good
Evening, Mrs Craven
features short stories
that appeared in The
New Yorker. Published
by Persephone with
a companion volume,
Minnie’s Room.
3 Nevil Shute
(1899-1960)
A trained pilot and
aeronautical engineer,
he enjoyed success
as a writer but is
underrated today.
He wrote mostly
on WWII. Postapocalyptic On the
Beach (1957), set just
six years in the future,
shows him at his best.
4 Elizabeth von
Arnim (1866-1941)
Her bestselling
debut, the semiautobiographical
Elizabeth and Her
German Garden,
was published
anonymously. What
may be her best work,
Expiation (1929),
has been reprinted
by Persephone.
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
5 May Sinclair
(1863-1946)
An interwar novelist,
she is credited with
the first use of the
term ‘stream of
consciousness’.
Agatha Christie
rated her 1913
work The Combined
Maze as one of the
greatest English
novels of all time.
SUZY SLEMEN
Here, we introduce some of Nicola Beauman�s favourite under-appreciated writers
by
J O N AT H A N
MARGOLIS
illustration
ANTON IO
SORTINO
S
pike Milligan used to tell
friends a story about his
electricity meter. Back in
the 1950s, he received
a higher than usual bill.
The electricity board told
him the reason for this was
that his meter – the old
rusty spinning wheel type, obviously – was
running backwards. ‘Aha,’ said the Goon, ‘that
must mean I’m supplying you with electricity.
I shall send you my bill forthwith.’
The point is that energy usage meters have
been a ticklish subject ever since they became
commonplace 90 or so years ago – especially
because the utility companies allowed most
people to use energy on credit rather than
making pay-as-you-go coin meters universal.
This meant the bills that ensued were often as
welcome as an electric shock. The resentment
at being charged in retrospect for an invisible
product we had already used was widespread.
Spin forward to 2008, when smart energy
meters – the very phrase still rankles many
– were first proposed by the government. The
benefits of modernising the old system were
seen as huge; homes and businesses would have
better control over their energy use, the scourge
of estimated bills could be a thing of the past.
Energy efficiency would be improved too,
driving down our bills and benefitting the
environment. The antiquated and expensive
practice of employing meter readers would no
longer be needed. Yet, the giant, moonshot
project of changing all meters in UK premises
to a highly complex technological setup with
three separate gadgets took years of planning
before the full rollout could begin in 2016.
From the start, the government pushed the
energy companies to make it their priority with
the original plan being to have smart meters in
all homes and businesses by 2019. This caused
the companies to panic to avoid getting fined
– hence the aggressive marketing calls for
smart meters many of us remember. The
government has since adjusted its deadlines
three times, most recently saying that the
37 energy suppliers in the UK must ensure
smart meters are in at least 74.5% of homes
by 2025. Currently around 57% have them.
So, how is the smart meter rollout going?
‘It’s been a massive, massive shambles,’
says consumer rights expert Martyn James.
‘Smart meters are a good idea when they
work. But the first generation of systems in
homes barely worked at all. The second works
for most households. But a large chunk of the
UK population is stuck with a smart meter that
doesn’t work. There’s a huge delay replacing the
early ones, a huge delay for people waiting for
their first smart meter, and many of the benefits
touted have turned out to be moonshine. Years
into the rollout, there are still stories about
this fiasco in the press almost every week.’
He’s right. Among the recent reports,
we’ve heard of artist Sir Grayson Perry being
They were supposed to revolutionise our way of tracking
energy use, but with almost three million failing to work
properly, what does the future hold for smart meters?
State of the
SMART
40
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
SMART METERS
direct debit system, all as a result of his brush
charged £39,000 in arrears by EDF when his
with a not-so-smart electricity meter.
bill is typically £300 a month, and of former
Furthermore, according to the Department
BBC presenter Jon Sopel being notified that
for Energy Security and Net Zero, 2.7 million
his bill from the same supplier was increasing
of the 33 million smart meters so far installed
from £152 a month to £18,000.
are not working. This followed a report from
Then there was Patrick Langmaid, a caravan
the House of Commons Committee of Public
park owner in Cornwall, who saw a direct debit
Accounts saying that 7 million smart meters will
taken by his supplier for £244,000 – about 100
be unable to send data to
times the normal amount.
energy companies when the
Unfortunately, Patrick’s
2G and 3G mobile phone
business had enough in its
‘Smart meters are
networks are switched off
account at that moment to
– but that’s a process already
cover the amount, so the
a good idea when
under way and planned to be
errant bill was paid and he
they work. But the
completed by 2033.
had to claw back the cash.
So, the big question for
The whole process took
first generation of
the 43% of householders who
nine days, but Patrick had
systems in homes
haven’t yet had smart meters
to involve his MP before
barely worked at all’
installed: is it worth having
TotalEnergies – the Frenchone, bearing in mind if you
based supplier – would even
don’t want one, you’re under
let him speak to a manager.
no obligation to sign up?
‘It is a smart meter but
Full disclosure. I had EDF’s smart metering
clearly not the smartest,’ he says. ‘It was
put in 18 months ago to monitor my electricity.
outrageous, though when it was finally
British Gas later added its sensor unit so its
all sorted out, TotalEnergies did give me
data for my gas use appears on the same meter.
£1,000 compensation, which I donated to
The setup I have works superbly and I keep the
a local food bank. However, my lawyer said
display on my home office desk. The rather
they weren’t obliged to compensate us.
old-fashioned in-home display I was given is
‘My son is in IT, and he says it would be easy
really simple, with a clear cost per hour readout
to write an algorithm which would stop direct
for electric and gas use, and three helpful
debits from being paid automatically when
coloured lights on top – green, amber and red
they go a certain level over the norm.’ Patrick
– to indicate when you’re being profligate
is now campaigning hard for changes to the
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
41
SMART METERS
cars and heat pumps – early adopters get the
and when you’re being angelic. The
rough end of the deal.
navigation on the display is rubbish, but
As EDF – the company involved in both the
I downloaded a little-known but brilliant
Grayson Perry and Jon Sopel cases – points
free phone app, Hugo, which drills into the
out, we all have the option to have our smart
monitoring so comprehensively that you
meter made less smart meaning you can ask
could make a full-time hobby (I don’t) of
your supplier to put it into ‘dumb’ mode so
studying your energy use.
that it operates as a traditional meter would.
I am also much happier and better off
‘We take the successful operation of our
paying promptly for the energy I’ve actually
smart meters very seriously and have a number
used and not getting into the nonsense
of robust processes to ensure
of estimated readings.
they are operating as expected,’
The idea of allowing energy
a spokesman says, ‘unless, of
companies to extract whatever
‘I had a direct
course, a customer has explicitly
they fancy by direct debit
opted for a non-functional
makes me positively queasy.
debit taken for
smart meter.’
Direct debits are the pain
£244,000. It is
But, here’s the rub. If the
point for most of these
a smart meter
past is anything to go by (and
anti-smart-meter stories.
it almost always is), as early as
Even though they reduce your
but clearly not
30 or 40 years from now, new
bill a little, I personally prefer
the smartest’
energy sources such as wind
the peace of mind of being
and solar, but also hydrogen
invoiced by both the gas and
and even fission, may mean
electricity supplier for
all the metering and wrangling
precisely what’s been used,
over charges may be as obsolete as the 1950s
and then paying – so long as the bill
clean air legislation to clear up coal smoke.
makes sense.
It’s likely that power will be so plentiful and
So, overall, I say smart meters are a wonderful
clean that it will be barely worth charging for.
idea. If you install the technology now, it will
Now that would be smart.
most likely work fine, and you may find it
Yet I’m sure that by then there will be
extremely helpful in keeping your energy bills
plenty more emerging technologies for us
down. But like with almost all new technology
all to all get heated about instead.
– from the internet when it started to electric
GET SMARTER
tool at smartmetercheck.
citizensadvice.org.uk
What are good sources
of information on smart
meters? For a guide, see
Uswitch (uswitch.com/
gas-electricity/guides/
smart-meters-explained)
and Age UK (ageuk.org.uk),
which provides a leaflet.
The Energy Saving Trust
also has information at
energysavingtrust.org.uk/
advice/guide-to-smart-meter,
but it is very much
an advocate for
the technology.
Can you check if
yours is working?
Yes, Citizens Advice
has an online
42
Can you refuse to get one
installed? Yes, absolutely.
Can you switch energy
provider if you have a smart
meter? Yes. It was hard with
the first generation of smart
meters, but if you’re patient,
the newer meters will let you.
Are you entitled to any form
of compensation if your smart
meter overcharges you? No, not
for the cost or for the hours of
valuable time you spend on the
phone trying to sort out the
utility company’s mistake.
Do they save money? They seem
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
WHAT
DO YOU
THINK?
Email us at
editor@saga.
co.uk or send
us a letter to
the address
on page 7
to on the whole. Smart meters
have been found to save an
average of 3.4% of electricity
consumption and 3.0% for
gas, according to a study by
the Behavioural Insights Team,
which says the money is saved
through consumers learning
‘how their actions around the
house associate with energy
use’ via their in-home display.
Do they cost money to run?
The smart meter itself does
not use your energy supply,
while the display uses a little
electricity – between 70p
and £1 a year. The actual
installation and equipment you
theoretically pay for, but it’s
absorbed into your bills, which
will hopefully be slightly lower.
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Your order is covered by
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MAJESTIC SPIRES TO CREATE A
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AS TOLD TO REBECCA NORRIS
be a stand-up comedian
It’s never too late to…
EXPERIENCE
When Marie Cross, 55, from Newport, retired from
the RAF, a stand-up comedy course gave her the
chance to fulfil a lifelong dream of performing on stage
I
spent 36 years in the RAF as an aircraft
means I can’t really deliver when people put me
on the spot and say, ‘Tell us a joke’. I’d describe
engineer, retiring in 2022. It’s a big
my comedy as a cross between Joan Rivers,
transition from working all the time to
doing nothing. Within three months, I was
Sarah Millican and Victoria Wood.
itching for something new. I saw the Royal
We were steered towards a public performance
British Legion (RBL) was offering a course
in Knowle in the West Midlands at the end of the
for veterans, ‘recovery through comedy’, and I
week. When we got to the venue, the RBL Club,
applied. I didn’t think I’d be accepted because
it was revealed that Jasper Carrott had
I wasn’t recovering from major trauma as such,
volunteered as our warm-up act. I suppose they
but I was still in a vulnerable position, adjusting
knew we were already terrified, so forewarning us
that a legendary comedian was going to be there
to life outside the RAF. The course marked the
might have tipped us over the edge. Before the
beginning of my stand-up journey.
When I arrived at the week-long residential
performance, I couldn’t touch the buffet. I felt
in Shropshire, I realised I was exactly where
like if I ate anything I’d vomit. But the show
went well, thanks to Janice, who had made us
I should be. I was loving it. We were taught by
rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. Seeing an audience
Janice Connolly – a legend best known for her
stand-up persona Mrs Barbara Nice. There were
laugh at your jokes is pure magic.
14 veterans, including me. Some had physical
After the course, we performed at Falmouth
RBL Conference for Armed Forces Week, and
injuries; some were PTSD sufferers. We were
did an online show too.
told that if we were on the
course, we already knew
I also did a gig by myself
‘Friends and family are
what we wanted to say. She
at my old workplace, RAF
Cosford in Shropshire, which
wasn’t going to teach us how
very difficult to test
has an annual comedy night.
to be funny, she was going
new material on, as they The headliner was comedian
to develop how to best
Josh Pugh, who has
communicate that funny
suddenly think they’re
appeared on TV – he told
side of us to an audience.
comedy critics’
me that he couldn’t believe
We were there to develop
it was one of my first shows.
our own style, and we all had
Then we did a run at the Edinburgh Fringe
something different to offer.
Festival in August, performing at Lady Haig’s
I talked about my turbulent relationship with
Poppy Factory. It was a little out of town, so we
my mother and coming out as gay in the Nineties.
were worried that not many people would go,
I use a story structure with a beginning, middle
but all four of our shows were fully booked –
and end, rather than quick, tight jokes. This
70 people each night. We nailed it. Everybody
enjoyed the humour because it wasn’t offensive.
At the end of the show, we lined up by the exit
to speak to the audience on their way out. An
elderly lady said she almost didn’t come because
she was having a bad day. But she had dragged
herself there and said she hadn’t laughed so
much in years. That was special.
As a group, we’re going to keep the momentum
going, even if that’s only one gig every month.
A few of us are also branching out on our own.
I was long-listed for the Funny Woman awards,
and plan to give it another shot this year.
Friends and family are very difficult to test
new material on, as they suddenly think
they’re all comedy critics. But they are all
proud of me, especially my partner Michaela.
Everybody acknowledges that you need huge
cojones to do stand-up – it’s a leap of faith.
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
45
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How to grow
By L U C Y H A L L
happy houseplants
With the right care, houseplants can live for decades, but when the
internet is awash with contradictory advice, whose guidance should
you follow? Our gardening expert finds out
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
49
‘A bit of time spent finding out about your
plant and where it comes from in
the wild can help keep it happy at home’
need low-level outdoor light but that’s much
more intense than inside our homes. So for most
houseplants, position them one to two metres
from a window with an uninterrupted view of the
sky. Do this, and you pretty much can’t go wrong.’
The clues to what your houseplants need lie in
nature, says houseplant addict, author and RHS
exhibitor Sarah Gerrard-Jones – dubbed ‘The
Plant Rescuer’ after years of obsessively saving
neglected plants from DIY retailers. ‘A bit of time
spent finding out about your plant and where it
comes from in the wild can help keep it happy at
home,’ she explains. ‘Try to mimic their natural
environment when it comes to how much light
they like, how much they need to be watered and
choosing their potting medium.’
Many of the houseplants we grow hail from the
tropics – Southeast Asia, the South American
rainforests or the forest floors of Central America
and West Africa – where year-round, dappled
light and high humidity nurture the development
of lush, vibrant foliage. These include Swiss
cheese plants, leafy palms and ferns, peace lilies
50
Keep it simple
Expert Tony
Le-Britton
(above) says
houseplants
will thrive with
the right light
and aspidistra, fiddle-leaf figs, elephant’s ears and
moth orchids, which all deliver the jungle in our
homes. If you are happy actively caring for your
plants, responsive to their light and water needs,
these plants will thrive. But if you’re slightly more
(ahem...) forgetful – or away a lot – look instead
to the plants that originate in the higher, arid
mountain or coastal conditions of the Americas.
These are more tolerant of dry conditions, and
include agaves, yucca, sedum, oxalis and cacti.
In between, lie the southern African natives –
including pelargonium, streptocarpus, African
violets, clivia and strelitzia – which
are more seasonal, so demand
care when in full flowering flow
but tolerate a bit of neglect that
mimics their dormant spell.
Alongside light, the energy
source of photosynthesis, water is
also essential – the right amount
at the right time. Most of us either
over- or under-water houseplants.
Tony says, ‘It’s pretty simple –
99% of plants just need to dry out
before you water them again.’
So get into a routine of checking
your houseplants, perhaps as
a Friday morning wind-down, but
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
PREVIOUS PAGE: GAP PHOTOS/CHRIS TUBBS – STEINAR BERG-OLSEN. THIS PAGE: GAP PHOTOS, JASON INGRAM, © IMAGE PROFESSIONALS/NARRATIVES/PEIRSON, BRIDGET, SHUTTERSTOCK
B
anana skins and human hair,
mayonnaise, distilled water and
milk are just some of the
unusual aids that social media
‘influencers’ promote as
essential for healthy and happy
houseplants. But like the homemade banana
skin feed or mayonnaise leaf shine that you’ll
find advocated on YouTube, TikTok and beyond,
advice from the internet can be a toxic brew that
does more harm than good, believes houseplant
expert Tony Le-Britton. He’s on a mission to
simplify plant care, working with the Royal
Horticultural Society to spread good practice.
‘Going online for houseplant advice is like
a minefield,’ he warns, adding that quirky
‘solutions’ are often promoted because they look
good in videos. ‘They’re so far from the reality of
good care, and generally make things worse. I base
my advice on science and years of observation.’
The number one way to ensure your plants
thrive is to give them the light they need, he says.
Our northern European homes, built to retain
heat more than let in light, give houseplants
a fraction of the daily rays experienced in their
natural settings, even on a tropical jungle floor.
‘If you see indirect sunlight on the plant label,
you think you can put it anywhere away from
a window – but that’s not true,’ says Tony. ‘It may
GARDENS
base your actions on observation
not the calendar. ‘Almost every
houseplant care label says water
once or twice a week, but this advice
doesn’t work because plants
photosynthesise at a different rate,
depending on the light you’re
giving it,’ explains Tony. ‘So first
I look at the top of the soil – is it
pale and dry? I pick the pot up
and if it needs water, it should
feel light and almost hollow.
When I water, I do it thoroughly,
taking it out of its display pot and
flooding it, then leaving it to drain
for a couple of hours before putting
it back into its display pot until it’s dry again.’
Exceptions that prefer slightly damp
feet include maidenhair and Boston ferns,
fittonias, African violets and streptocarpus.
Then there’s the question of the type of water
you use. Tony says, ‘I recommend tap water for all
but carnivorous plants, poured on from above, so
I know exactly how much is going in. If you’ve
easy access to rainwater, then great – use it on
carnivorous plants – but taking it from the tap
makes life simple. And there’s no noticeable
advantage in filtered or distilled water.’
Tony suggests washing your plants’ leaves,
followed by a wipe from a microfibre cloth to
remove dirt or pests – no need for artificial leaf
shine, which risks clogging the leaves’ pores and
TO THE RESCUE
‘Plant Rescuer’ Sarah Gerrard-Jones shares the
best solutions for common houseplant woes
1 Yellow leaves
commonly due to too much water
* Cause:
and lack of light.
before watering, test the soil.
* Solution:
Push your finger deep into the pot; if you
feel moisture, don’t water. Ensure the plant
is close to a window for photosynthesis.
2 Mottled, sticky leaves
patchy, sticky leaves can indicate
* Cause:
pests, such as thrips and mealybugs.
Soil check
Water plants
at the correct
time (below)
by checking
the soil (above)
diatomaceous earth (opt for Food
* Solution:
Grade) desiccates pests. Wear a mask and
Read: Tony
Le-Britton�s
Not Another
Jungle
(£16.99); Sarah
Gerrard-Jones�
The Plant
Rescuer
(£16.99)
consistently damp soil attracts fungus
* Cause:
gnats and is a sure sign of overwatering.
dust it on to the leaves with a paint brush.
It must be dry to work, so don’t wet the
leaves. After a few weeks, clean it off.
3 Fungus gnats
place yellow sticky traps
* Solution:
into affected plant pots and buy
fungus-gnat-killing nematodes for the soil.
stripping them of natural oils. ‘I feed every other
watering, which might seem a lot but if you’re
giving them enough light, most common
houseplants keep growing all year, so you’re
watering in line with how plants photosynthesise.’
Sarah agrees that we tend to be shy of fertiliser.
‘A regular feed, or top dressing, ensures a mature
houseplant remains healthy,’ she says. For Sarah,
plants deserve our care and attention, giving back
as much as we give them. ‘We live in a throwaway
society in which it’s easier to replace rather
than repair,’ she says. ‘But with just a bit
of TLC, houseplants can live for decades.’
MASTER LIGHT REQUIREMENTS
Low light can be close to a north-facing window or any
* area
no further than a few metres from a window facing any
other direction. Choose Zamioculcas zamiifolia (ZZ plant) and
Epipremnum aureum (Devil’s ivy).
or moderate light is most likely to be found close to an
* Medium
east- or west-facing window. Choose Monstera deliciosa (Swiss
Cheese Plant) or Phalaenopsis orchid (Moth Orchid, right).
Bright light coming through a south-facing window is the
* most intense and suits plants adapted to hot, arid environments.
Choose Crassula ovata (Jade Plant) or any cactus.
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
51
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GARDENS
The power of nature
Use the longer days and Easter weekend to bring your garden to
life and create a colourful and wildlife-friendly space for summer
Take… 5 steps to dahlia success
Snip… in time
Dahlias are this summer’s most desirable bloom,
thanks to a rich palette of colours and months of
flowering. But they can be tricky to get going, so
follow these five easy steps. Choose only plump,
firm tubers, avoiding shrivelled ones. Don’t start
too soon – no earlier than six weeks before last
frosts. Start in plastic pots, not the ground, using
a container 5-8cm wider than the roots. Use fresh
compost, as they’re hungry plants, water well
to rehydrate the tubers and keep in a sheltered
spot, above 5˚C. To prevent root rot, hold off
watering further until you see early shoots.
Increasing warmth and light in April power your
plants’ growth hormones, so it’s time to remove
protective top growth or seed heads from last
year. These will be on perennials such as thistles,
rudbeckia, peonies, echinacea and sedum, which
grow from the base, so snip old stems just above
this point. Cutting rather than pulling avoids
tearing off emerging buds. New growth on
penstemons and shrubby salvias, hydrangeas
and lavender unfurls along existing stems, so cut
spent flowers, damaged sections and up to a third
of overall growth back to emerging buds or leaves.
Make… growing
Show… your grass some love
vegetables easy
ALAMY, GETTY, GAP, JASON INGRAM
by L U C Y H A L L
April is a peak month for sowing
summer and winter veg – but
where to start? If you’re short on
time and want maximum crops
for minimum work, focus on
direct sowing seeds into garden
soil rather than fussing with
seed trays. These ‘sow and go’ crops include
potatoes, broad beans, peas, salad leaves,
spinach, spring onions, radish, leeks and roots.
Warm the ground with a sheet of clear plastic or
horticultural fleece, to trap the sun’s heat and
encourage weed seeds to germinate. After five to
ten days, remove the layer, hoe off and compost
the weedlings. Create rows to the depth on the
packet, sow very thinly (to avoid time spent
thinning out) and cover with soil. Water in, and
if frost is due, protect with fleece.
FLASH BULBS!
Cameras at the ready: tulip fever is breaking out. Hampton Court
Palace has 100,000 set to bloom from mid-April (hrp.org.uk), while
top grower Bloms supplies festivals at Pashley Manor, Constable
Burton Hall and Morton Hall (blomsbulbs.com). And Instagrammers
will flock to Norfolk’s tulip fields (norfolktulips.co.uk).
April is the traditional time to fertilise lawns,
but grass grows happily without chemical
supplements, making it kinder on the
environment – and your wallet – to simplify lawn
care. Overly vigorous growth is susceptible to
drought damage, while those who want a
wilder look should not feed. You can still show
your lawn some love with two
key tasks now: edging and
cutting. Shaping a new edge
with a flat spade or edging
iron creates a crisp outline
that’s the perfect foil for
borders. Regular cutting, little
but often – twice-weekly in
peak growing time, May to
July – encourages thicker
growth that’s resilient to temperature swings.
Put… paid to pests
The seasonal shift to warmer, damp weather
brings uninvited guests such as slugs and aphids,
but pesticides are not the answer. They’re proven
to be a blunt (and pricey) weapon that breaks
the natural food chain, risking long-term
damage. Your best defence is natural predators,
such as hedgehogs and thrushes, blue tits and
ladybirds, finding live food on demand. This
organic approach means there will be outbreaks,
but nature catches up. Lend a hand with
biological controls – such as lacewing larvae
or slug-eating nematodes – which you
simply water on (greengardener.co.uk
or nematodesdirect.co.uk).
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
53
Material girls
When Eloise Showering
visited mum Suki’s new
seaside pad, she soon put
her design skills to use
creating bold, patterned
wallpapers and fabrics
that turned a house
into a home…
Relaxing retreat
In the garden room: Climbing Clematis
wallpaper and cushions, all from a selection,
eloisehome.com. Sofa, from a selection,
sofa.com. Rattan coffee table, from a
selection, birdiefortescue.co.uk. Chair
and vintage flower painting sourced from
a local antiques shop. Lamp, from £199,
and shade, from £37, both pooky.com
by R A C H E L
C A R LY L E
INTERIORS
PHOTOGRAPHY: ANDREAS VON EINSIEDEL
S
uki Showering hadn’t been in
her new seaside house long
when her daughter Eloise came
to stay during the pandemic,
along with Stanley the Tibetan
terrier. Their long, windswept
walks on the beach weren’t just
good for bonding. Eloise, now 31, had just taken
a computer design course and before long began
using the shells, flowers, cones and birds she’d
spotted on their walks to create fabric designs.
As a seasoned house renovator and a lover of
pattern and colour, Suki could see her daughter
had talent. ‘The paper in the garden room (left)
was Eloise’s first-ever design. She did it with
stripes and without. When she put the flowers on
top of the stripes, we both thought, yes, that’s it!’
The pair (below) also put their heads together
on Eloise’s flowing ‘Pumpkins’ fabric that ended
up in Suki’s dining room (below, right). ‘She
started on it, messing around with colours
– trying autumn oranges and greens, even a bit
of black. Then she changed tack completely
and went paler and suddenly it worked, says
Suki, 61. ‘She had a roll printed and I put it
straight up in the dining room. She didn’t
want it there originally, but I put my foot down
and insisted. She’s come around to it now.’
Eloise now runs her own fabric design
company (eloisehome.com) and Suki is very
proud of her youngest daughter. Suki’s other
two children, and her three grandchildren,
are also regular visitors to the house in Hove,
East Sussex, across the road from the beach.
It’s a 1930s house, but has the beams, doors
and feel of the Arts and Crafts era, says Suki.
She knew it was the house for her as soon as she
walked through the door: ‘It was the light, airy
feel and the wide hall. I was sold even before
I went upstairs.’ As she looked round, she spotted
someone in photographs she recognised from
a university Master’s course she’d taken a few
‘The house has a light, airy feel and a wide
hall – I was sold before I even went upstairs’
Bright and
beautiful
Above:
Bamiyan
Blue Matt
Emulsion,
from £51.50
for 2.5L,
firedearth.
com.
Pinecones
cushions, from
a selection,
eloisehome.
com and
finecellwork.
co.uk. Other
cushions, from
a selection,
jocranston.
co.uk. Right:
Pumpkins
wallpaper and
Ikat Stripe
cushions, from
a selection, all
eloisehome.
com. Other
furniture from
local shops
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
55
‘If I buy something and it doesn’t fit, it has to
go. I fill my home with things I love. I play and
move things around – it’s like a jigsaw to me’
years back. ‘She was the owner, and that’s
how I knew it was definitely meant to be.’
When it comes to decorating, Suki loves using
colours and patterns inspired by nature, just
like Eloise, and mixing old and new. ‘My guide
for the sitting room was a beautiful Persian rug
from my mother, with blues and terracottas in
it. I’ve used modern cushions and furniture too.’
She’s also a big fan of trial and error, buying
things she loves in antique shops and galleries
and only afterwards working out where to put
them. ‘If it doesn’t fit anywhere, it has to go again.
It’s the way I fill my home with things I love. I play
and move things around – it’s like a jigsaw for me.
‘I go into so many houses that look like
hotels and don’t feel cosy or personal. Mine is
filled with things I’ve chosen – I absolutely love
this house more than any other I’ve lived in.’
56
Reading room
Bookshelves in
Oval Room Blue
Modern Eggshell,
from £34 for
750ml, farrowball.com. Sofa,
from a selection,
sofa.com.
Cushions, from a
selection, eloise
home.com. Tiger
cushion, £135,
libertylondon.
com. Blanket,
from a selection,
tartanblanket
co.com
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
*Saga Home Insurance is provided by selected insurers, just for people over 50
Make an entrance
Ceiling shade, from a
selection, coxandcox.
co.uk; chest of
drawers, from a
selection, habitat.co.uk
INTERIORS
1
2
3
FIND OUT MORE
To get a home insurance quote from Saga
call us on 0800 092 1193 quoting reference
SMAGHM or visit saga.co.uk/homemag*
Cosy chic
Above: walls
painted in Setting
Plaster Modern
Emulsion, from
£59 for 2.5L,
and cabinets in
School House
White Dead Flat,
from £31 for
750ml, both
farrow-ball.
com. Vase, from
a selection,
Pastorale
Antiques. Left:
king-size bed,
£1,495, loaf.
com. Cushions,
from a selection,
libertylondon.
com. Lamp, from
£125, shade,
from £29, both
pooky.com.
Armchair, from a
selection, george
smith.com. Desk,
from a selection,
jugsfurniture.
co.uk. Chair,
£642 for two,
kartell.com
4
5
Shop
the look
6
7
1) Bobboli table lamp, £142, with 45cm empire printed
linen ikat shade, £125, pooky.com 2) French oil painting
on board, 28.5cm x 33.5cm, £159, moodandhue.etsy.
com 3) Rive Droite bistro chairs, £110 for two, garden
trading.co.uk 4) Pinecones cushion, 50cm x 50cm, £140,
eloisehome.com 5) Piranesi Pink wall paint, £55.95 for
2.5L, anniesloan.com 6) Brook Pure Matt emulsion
from £29 for 1L, fenwickandtilbrook.com 7) Truffle Love
Seat in clever velvet Bobbing Buoy, £2,135, loaf.com
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
57
Easy as pie
Hollywood actor Stanley Tucci and his British wife,
Felicity Blunt, share two of their family’s favourite dishes
58
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
RECIPES
Shepherd’s pie
This was a Blunt family
favourite when I was growing
up. When I moved to the US,
it became a favourite British
import. I make the mashed
potatoes with olive oil, but
if you want a richer mash,
substitute with butter and
milk. Serve with peas on
the side, if you like
Recipe for
success
Stanley and
Felicity in
the kitchen
Serves 6-8
YOU WILL NEED
For the filling
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 medium red onions,
coarsely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, sliced
• 4 carrots, peeled
and chopped
• 3 celery stalks,
coarsely chopped
• 900g good quality
minced lamb
• 3 anchovies
• Leaves from 2 sprigs fresh
thyme, chopped
• Leaves from 1 sprig fresh
rosemary, chopped
• 240ml red wine
• 400g can chopped tomatoes
• 355ml chicken stock
• Sea salt and freshly ground
black pepper
For the mashed potatoes
• 900g floury potatoes, peeled
and cut into 1-2in chunks
• Sea salt and freshly ground
black pepper
• 120-240ml extra virgin
olive oil
• 15-30g butter (optional)
METHOD
1 Make the filling: in a large,
heavy-bottomed saucepan,
heat 2 tbsp of the olive oil
over medium heat. Add
the onions, garlic, carrots,
and celery and cook until
the vegetables have softened
(about 5-8 minutes). Remove
from the pan and set aside.
2 Heat the remaining 1 tbsp
olive oil in the pan. When
it is nice and hot, add
the minced lamb and
anchovies and cook until
the meat has browned.
You will probably need
to do this in batches.
If water comes out of the
meat, keep pouring it off
as it appears; otherwise,
your meat will boil and
start to become rubbery.
3 While the meat is browning,
place the cooked veg in a
food processor and pulse
so they are uniformly small.
4 Once the meat has
browned, reduce the heat
and return the vegetables
to the pan. Add the thyme
and rosemary.
5 Add the red wine and
cook until the liquid has
reduced by half. Add the
chopped tomatoes and
tip
If you can
only find
minced beef,
this recipe
still works
fine – though
technically
that changes
it to a
cottage pie
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
cook for 2 minutes more.
Add the chicken stock
and stir through the meat.
Season with salt and
pepper. Cook, stirring
occasionally, for about
20 minutes. Cover the pan,
leaving the lid slightly ajar,
reduce the heat to low, and
cook for 20 minutes more.
6 Taste the meat. If it hasn’t
softened sufficiently, add
120ml of chicken stock and
cook, with the lid ajar, for
20 minutes more.
7 Make the mashed potatoes:
place the potatoes in a large
saucepan with a pinch of
salt and add enough water
to cover. Bring the water
to a boil and cook until the
potatoes are cooked through,
approximately 15 minutes.
59
Drain and return the
potatoes to the saucepan,
setting them aside with
the lid on for a few minutes
to help them soften further.
Mash them well, season
with salt and pepper, then
add the olive oil, mashing
until silky smooth and
adding more oil as needed.
If you like, you can also add
butter for extra richness.
8 Now assemble the pie:
preheat the oven to
200ºC/fan 180ºC/gas 6.
9 Spread the meat over the
bottom of a baking dish.
Spoon the mashed potatoes
over the top and spread
evenly. Then take a fork
and run it across the top to
create little rivulets. Drizzle
with olive oil and bake for
35-40 minutes, until the
top is golden brown.
Blueberry pie
I prefer a very short and
buttery pastry for blueberry
pie, so it may be a little soft
when rolling out, but it’s flaky
and delicious when cooked.
Serves 6-8
YOU WILL NEED
For the pastry
• 280g plain flour
• 225g butter, chilled
• 25g caster sugar
• pinch of sea salt
• ice water
For the filling
• 800g fresh blueberries
• 1/2 tsp lemon zest
• 1 tbsp freshly squeezed
lemon juice
• 30g plain flour
• 100g caster sugar
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 30g butter, cut into
small pieces
Extracted from
The Tucci Table
by Stanley
Tucci and
Felicity Blunt
(Seven Dials,
£26)
To assemble
• butter, for the pan
• 1 egg, beaten
• 15ml milk
• 25g caster sugar
60
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
RECIPES
this
month
GETTY
Tried
& tasted
METHOD
1 Make the pastry: put the
flour in a large bowl, add
the butter and rub it in
using your fingertips until
you have a breadcrumb-like
texture. Stir in the sugar
and salt. Add ice water 1 tsp
at a time until the pastry
comes together. Form it
into a ball, wrap it in
plastic wrap and chill in
the fridge for 30 minutes.
2 Make the filling: in a large
bowl, mix all the filling
ingredients with your hands.
3 Assemble the pie: preheat
oven to 180ºC/fan 160ºC/
gas 4. Butter a 9in pie dish.
4 Divide the pastry dough in
two, making one piece a bit
bigger than the other, as the
larger piece will be your
base. Roll out the pastry for
the base until it’s wide
enough to overhang the pie
dish by 1/2 in. Lay it into the
dish and put in the filling.
Roll out the second piece of
pastry, place it over the top,
and crimp the two sections
together. Place the pie in the
fridge for 20 minutes to rest.
5 When you’re ready to bake,
remove the pie from the
fridge. Mix the egg and milk
in a bowl and brush a light
coating of this egg wash over
the top of the pastry. Make
four small cuts in the top
crust so steam can escape,
and dust it with the sugar.
6 Bake for 40 minutes, until
the crust is golden. Remove
and cool for a bit. Serve
with cream or ice cream.
spaghetti
carbonara
Spaghetti
carbonara is
a popular Italian
dish, but do
any of these
supermarket
versions offer
a taste of
la dolce vita?
Charlie Bigham’s
Spaghetti Carbonara
our
pick
338g, £6
This browned nicely to make
it look delicious – which it was.
Excellent Parmesan taste,
scrumptious bacon and ham
hock and a delectable sauce.
Pricey but authentic and tasty.
Rating: 7/10
Sainsbury’s Spaghetti Carbonara
400g, £3.25
The large lardons and substantial
spaghetti made this look very
appetising. But it didn�t taste as
good as it looked as the sauce
lacked any wow factor.
Rating: 9/10
Waitrose Spaghetti Carbonara
400g, £3.50
Good sized spaghetti that
was a perfect texture, and
the ham was flavoursome.
There could have been more
cheesiness to the sauce,
but it was still yummy.
Rating: 6/10
Cook Spaghetti Carbonara
360g, £5.50
With huge pieces of tasty
ham, this had a ‘homemade’
feel. Cooked from frozen,
the pasta was a little stodgy
but that did not detract
from it being a great dish.
Rating: 8/10
Tesco Spaghetti Carbonara
400g, £3.25
The creamy sauce lacked
real cheese flavour. The bacon
had little smoky or salty taste
and the thick spaghetti was too
firm. Palatable but ordinary.
flavour but also subtle herbs
and spices and a hint of onion.
However, the bacon, despite
being ample, was bland.
Our reviewers
Mother and
daughter team
Diana Redfern
and Emma Gill
Rating: 6/10
Aldi ‘Cucina’ Spaghetti Carbonara
400g, £2.49
Great value with lovely pasta
and a rich, creamy sauce. It
delivered not only on cheese
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
Rating: 9/10
M&S Gluten Free
Spaghetti Carbonara
400g, £4
This was much tastier than M&S’s
standard carbonara. Plenty of
bacon and lardons in a pleasant
sauce. Apart from it being a
little starchy, we couldn’t tell
that the pasta was different.
Rating: 7/10
61
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WINE
Hot off the press
Our climate is changing – and so too are the grapes
used by winemakers battling ever-increasing
temperatures. But, it does bear some tasty fruit…
by J O E F A T T O R I N I
T
seeing wines such as Stanton & Killeen
he Duke of Wellington is rarely
Arinto, Rutherglen, Australia (13.8%, £21,
remembered as a ‘wine influencer’.
swines.co.uk). Using Arinto means that
Yet, after The Peninsular War, the
Wendy Killeen and winemaker Adriaan Foot
Duke popularised wines made
can create floral wines with a mineral lick,
from the Portuguese grape Arinto. It became
even in the increasing heat.
known as ‘Portuguese Hock’ and was the
Arinto isn’t the only grape being tested in
toast of London society. Today, it’s coming
our hotter climates. Albariño, a white wine
back – and not because we’re fighting the
grape from Spain, also manages to keep its
French, but because winemakers are fighting
fresh fruit in the heat. Leftfield Albariño 2022
a bigger battle: climate change.
from New Zealand has stone fruit and
Its secret? Arinto is historically
white flower aromas and a fresh palate.
grown in areas that get seriously
‘Bordeaux upended
At 13.5%, it’s £11.99 from Waitrose.
hot in the summer, yet the wine
centuries of tradition by It’s not just white grapes either. In
manages to keep its lovely fresh,
2021, Bordeaux upended centuries of
zingy qualities. Portugal still
approving six new
tradition by approving six new grape
makes exceptional Arinto, like
grape varieties’
varieties for the region’s producers
Marks & Spencer’s excellent-value
– four red and two white. These
Found Arinto 2022 (£7.50), which
include strange names like Marselan, Castets,
comes in at only 12.5% alcohol
Arinarnoa and Liliorila. However, the most
– low for a hot-climate wine.
promising is another Portuguese grape, Touriga
The Arinto-based wines of Bucelas, in the
Nacional. It will take a few years for the first
Lisbon region, were among the Duke’s favourites,
wines to hit the market, but in Australia you can
like Boas Quintas Morgado de Bucelas Arinto
see what they might be like with 5OS Project
2021 (12.5%, £12.99, or six for £8.66 each,
McLaren Vale Shiraz Touriga 2018 (below,
majestic.co.uk). Bucelas is a hot region, but
14.5%, £19.99, virginwines.co.uk, ). It’s chocolatey,
this is zesty and fresh and keeps Arinto’s apple
big and a serious treat,
and lime character.
which adds depth
Winemakers
and a damson tang
around the world
to the peppery
are looking at
character of Shiraz.
Arinto for their
But for warm
own vineyards,
climate value,
too. If you’re
Portugal still leads
in Rutherglen,
the way. Asda
Australia, you
Extra Special
are no longer
Dão at just £7
making wine
(13%) is a herbal
in the same
and black-fruited
climate you
treat that is
did 20 years
perfect for
ago. Summers
a midweek supper
that were
whatever the
once 40˚C are
weather brings
now closer to
this April.
45˚C, so we’re
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
63
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Offer valid until Midnight Sunday 28th April 2024. We reserve the right to amend or withdraw this offer without notice or liability.
BEAUT Y
Posh… without
the price tag
As Spice-Girl-now-style-queen Victoria Beckham
turns 50, our columnist shows how to get her chic,
pared-back look on a non-Beckham budget
I
recently had a very sobering insight into
the generation gap after eavesdropping
on a teenage train conversation. As they
chatted about ‘olden days music’, one
youthful voice suddenly piped up, ‘So
when was Madonna famous,
was it like the 1960s?’ It took
all my powers of self-restraint to
remain silent. But the threat of
being labelled ‘that crazy old lady
born in, like, the 1840s’ won out.
So instead, I chose to call it karmic
retribution for once being young
myself and saying infinitely worse.
I was, after all, the seven-year-old
who asked an elderly writer friend
of my parents if he was alive at
the same time as Charles Dickens.
Besides, I find it hard to feel
anything but joyful about ageing
right now. That’s because my patron
saint of mature elegance, Victoria Beckham,
turns half a century this month. Like a fine
whisky, or a favourite pair of jeans, the woman
just improves with every passing year. And what
a beauty evolution it’s been from Posh Spice to
50 not out
Birthday girl
Victoria; her
brand’s Satin
Kajal eyeliner
‘Like a favourite pair of jeans,
she improves with every year’
pared-down queen of minimalist chic. Who
knew that the girl who brought you ‘zig-a-zigah’ would go on to create one of the most
high-end luxury beauty brands in the world?
So, what is the secret to VB’s eternally glowing,
ageless aesthetic? And can we get it without
a joint net marital worth of £370 million? The
answer: a hard yes. First up, you’ll need a great
eyeliner. Victoria Beckham Satin Kajal (£30,
victoriabeckhambeauty.com) is fast becoming
the stuff of legend for being richly pigmented,
deliciously creamy and totally smudge proof.
However, Revlon ColourStay Eyeliner (£6.99,
tip
Follow VB’s
golden rule to nail
natural-looking
brows – treat
your eyebrows
like sisters
not twins!
by E M I L Y D E A N
boots.co.uk) is a purse-friendly alternative. The
lightweight formula gives tons of definition,
glides on smoothly, comes with its own smudger
and sharpener and won’t budge for 24 hours.
Oh to have VB’s naturally luscious lashes. And
you can, with the right mascara brush. Look for
a tapered precision tip that gently coats even
hard-to-reach corners. Maybelline Lash
Sensational Sky High Mascara (£8.91,
amazon.co.uk) is my pick. The bendy brush
defines, curls and separates without
clumping, while the added bamboo extract
leaves lashes fabulously nourished. Premier
League stuff for Sunday league prices.
To recreate Victoria’s tawny eyeshades,
you’ll need a boss of a palette. And happily,
Maybelline has delivered again. The Nudes
Eyeshadow Palette (£11.99, superdurg.com)
features 12 neutral hues, from creamy vanilla
to deep mocha. Beautifully blendable, easy to
layer and flatteringly matte, these shades may
be the greatest thing to happen to the world
since VB’s ‘Fashion Stole My Smile’ T-shirt.
For someone who lived through the 90s – a
time when few eyebrows made it out alive – Posh
has astonishingly great brows. Reassuringly, it’s
all clever artistry – the NYX Professional Make
Up Precision Brow Pencil (£9, cultbeauty.co.uk)
has a flat-tip pencil to fill in gaps with detailed
strokes, while the spoolie brush helps tidy, blend
and sculpt. Hello, gorgeously feathery arches.
VB famously never leaves the house without
one of her range’s signature lip pencils. And
I don’t blame her. She draws across her Cupid’s
bow to create fullness, but this requires a super
slick pencil. Step forward Victoria Beckham
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Modern cars may come with a plethora of gadgets as standard,
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ime was when even a heater was
regarded as a luxury motoring
accessory. I remember my
grandfather in midwinter, thick
driving gloves clamped to the
steering wheel, declaring with a puff of visible
exhaled breath that car heaters were for softies.
When I started driving in the early 1970s,
every ‘new’ fifth-hand jalopy I bought had
a weedy heater as standard, but lacked anything
else ‘softie’. So I’d buy a cheap radio, a pair of
rubbishy back-shelf speakers and a stick-on
heated rear windscreen from Halfords.
Today, cars have all the luxuries. But this
doesn’t stop an inventive industry from devising
exciting add-ons. The most sophisticated
I’ve seen in ages is the Carly from Germany.
If your car is post mid-1990s, it has an
on-board diagnostics (OBD) port under the
driver’s-side dashboard. Plug in an OBD scanner
and you can investigate your car’s health by
interrogating the typical vehicle’s 80-plus
electronic control units, which run everything
from the airbags to the window motors,
as well as the 50-plus switches and
knobs and up to 70 sensors.
Carly works with your
smartphone and was invented by
a tech-savvy BMW owner who
was told by a garage he needed a
£10,000 gearbox, but discovered
Cool kit
AA Digital Air
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VFMFM
3000A Jump
Starter Power
Pack; Carly
by rigging up his own OBD scanner that all the
car actually required was one £50 part. Having
a £65 Carly (mycarly.com – there’s also a
subscription to get full use from it) means
you can always know what problems you have
and what might be coming up, then have a
grown-up discussion with your garage. If you’re
buying a used car, Carly will also be able to tell
you if the mileometer has been tampered with.
A dashboard camera is also a useful accessory
which can help in the event of an accident that
wasn’t your fault. The ROVE R2-4K Dash Cam
is at the top end of the price range at £223
(amazon.co.uk) but has exceptional features.
If you’re used to frustrating encounters with
the tyre pump on petrol station forecourts,
having your own electric digital pump will
save a lot of annoyance. The AA Digital Air
Compressor, which at the time of writing
was £27.40 on amazon.co.uk, is reliable
and compact.
Although modern cars are less likely to break
down, a flat battery is still a real and present
danger. There’s a range of reasonably
priced mini power packs that can live
unobtrusively in a glove compartment
or boot. A good example is the
VFMFM 3000A Jump Starter Power
Pack (£59.99, amazon.co.uk). You
may use it only once, but knowing
it’s there is reassuring.
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
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F A M I LY
Generation
games
by M A R K P A L M E R
A self-confessed bad loser, our
columnist considers the example
it sets his grandchildren. Should
he be more gracious in defeat?
M
ILLUSTRATION: STEPHEN COLLINS
y niece was in Scotland’s Under-19
World Cup lacrosse team some
20 years ago. She was – and still is
– a good tennis player, too. Fiercely
competitive, driven and, it must be said, not
always a good loser.
Runs in the family – well, at least, the not
always being a good loser bit. Which is why
when I was around 12 years old, my father gave
me a small piece of paper and told me to keep
it in my wallet at all times.
‘When the One Great Scorer comes to write
against your name, it matters not whether you
won or lost but how you played the game,’ it
says, based on the words of early 20th-century
American sportswriter Grantland Rice.
One of the reasons he did this was because
a few years earlier I had disgraced myself
during a winter evening’s session of Old Maid,
that innocent card game that was popular with
What do
you think?
Email us at
editor@saga.
co.uk with
‘Generation
Games’ in the
subject line
families in the 1950s and 60s. In case anyone
may have forgotten, the object of the game is
not to be left holding the one ‘old maid’ card.
If you do find yourself in that unfortunate
position, the other players are at liberty to
point and mockingly chant: ‘You’re the old
maid, you’re the old maid.’
When I lost the game that winter and was
left stranded as the old maid, I took it badly.
So badly in fact that I picked up all the cards
from the table and threw them on the open fire.
I’m not sure what immediate repercussions
there were to that fit of pique, but I was known
as a bad loser from that moment on.
Guilty as charged, I suppose – but the other
side of the coin is letting an opponent win just
to be polite. Or the idea, as adopted at some
schools, that everyone should be a winner.
What good does that do?
Once they’re old enough I might let my
grandchildren take the odd game off me at
tennis. But I will never give them a whole set.
They will have to earn their victory. Which,
of course, they will do in due course.
A few years ago I read an interview with
Ian Botham’s son Liam, who said his father
(probably the greatest all-round cricketer we’ve
ever produced) never let him win at anything:
not at golf, cricket, football or ping-pong.
Possibly as a result, Liam went on to be a
semi-professional rugby player with a burning
desire to win. And he attributed much of his
success to the way his father brought him up.
Of course, the best option is to be highly
competitive and at the same time a good loser.
That’s what sets rugby players apart from
footballers. The former spend 80 minutes
pushing and shoving each other with all the
force they can muster – often drawing blood in
the process – then at the end shake hands and
form guards of honour before traipsing off to
the showers and enjoying a few beers together.
Footballers however – and, believe me, I love
footy with a passion – roll around in agony as
if struck by lightning when they are clobbered
by an opponent. And, then, if on the losing
side, many of them start blubbing and can’t be
bothered to congratulate their victors.
Mind you, I still don’t like to lose. My wife
says she can always tell if I have won at tennis
as soon as I walk back into the house – and
thinks I should set a better example to the
younger generation when it comes to showing
more graciousness in defeat.
But I’ve never thrown my racket on the fire.
And that little piece of paper my father gave me
nearly 60 years ago still lives in my wallet.
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
69
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YO U R Q U E S T I O N S / SAU NA S / B OW E L C A N C E R
illustration
MICHEL STREICH
Ask
Dr Mark
Our expert answers your questions
on falls, frequent peeing and the link
between diabetes and a frozen shoulder
I go to the pub with a few friends
every weekend and always get ribbed
about how often I go for a pee – about twice
as much as everyone else. It’s not a new
problem, but it has become worse over the
past ten years. I am 72 and don’t have any
other bladder-type symptoms, and my GP
has checked my prostate and says all is well.
Could it be because my bladder has a smaller
capacity than my friends’?
Needing to pee a lot (urinary frequency)
during the day or night can be a sign
of a number of underlying problems, ranging
from infection to prostate trouble and always
warrants investigating. However, it could be
that your bladder simply won’t hold as much
‘Needing
to pee
frequently
could be
because
your
bladder is
“irritable”’
as others, and that’s probably not because it’s
smaller than normal, but because it’s ‘irritable’
and tends to signal it needs emptying before
it’s actually full.
Think of the bladder as a bag with a stretchy
muscular wall. It expands as it fills with urine
and starts to gently contract as it reaches
capacity, and it is these contractions you feel
as the urge to pee. Men tend to have more
capacity than women, but a typical adult
bladder will send the first gentle signals at
200-250ml. At 400ml or so these become
more insistent and by 500-600ml you are
likely to be getting pretty desperate.
However, as we age, bladder capacity tends
to reduce and the ‘I am full’ signals are triggered
at lower volumes. Prostate enlargement is
a common cause in men, but it can happen in
both sexes, particularly if you don’t trust your
bladder and get into the habit of peeing ‘just
in case’ before leaving the house as this
encourages it to ask to be emptied at much
lower volumes.
So try not to pee unless you really need to
go, and even then, if at home, try to stretch
it out a bit to see if you can increase
the time between trips to the loo. Google
‘bladder training’ for more details on doing
this. It won’t help everyone but can make
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
71
a significant difference in those that it does.
To check your bladder capacity, place a measuring
jug by the loo and record the volume each
time you go over a 24-hour period. If you are
bursting but only passing 100-200ml at a time,
then you could have a problem that may be
helped by training.
Bladder pills like solifenacin can also help
reduce the number of trips to the loo, and the
urgency with which you have to get there, but
I always try the natural approach first. Not
that the two are mutually exclusive; indeed,
medication is often used alongside bladder
training to try to make it a bit easier.
Over the past few months my husband
has had a number of falls. So far he
hasn’t hurt much more than his pride, but
I am worried that he is becoming increasingly
unsteady. He dismisses my concerns and says
it’s because he is getting on a bit and his
reactions aren’t as good. Am I right to worry?
Yes you are. We all slip and trip
occasionally, but if it is happening
frequently it warrants closer attention – not
least because of the risk of serious injury,
particularly hip fracture in older people.
There are many possible causes, ranging
from the side effects of medication (for example,
drugs for blood pressure) and ear-related
balance issues, to poor vision and general
frailty/weakness. Help depends on finding the
underlying cause or causes – in some cases,
it can be quite complex to unravel.
Options may involve a change in medication
for a current condition or a new treatment
for an as-yet-undiagnosed problem such as
Parkinson’s disease. Balance and strength
exercises can help combat frailty and
weakness, and aids like a walking frame or
grab bars in the bathroom can give a little
more confidence.
A physiotherapist is a good place to start,
but getting your husband to speak to his GP
would be even better. Most practices now have
Ask
Dr Mark
Email
drmark@
saga.co.uk or
write to
Dr Mark at
the address
on page 7.
He can’t reply
individually,
but will
respond to
questions on
this page*
*Always
talk to your
own GP
access to specialist fall services, which offer
multidisciplinary assessment by a team
that will probably include a physio and an
occupational therapist. They can look at his
gait, postural stability, bone health and plenty
else, and can devise long-term fall prevention
exercises. The initial assessment is often done
in your home, too.
Services vary across the regions but this one
in Cornwall gives you an idea of what to expect:
cornwallft.nhs.uk/falls-practitioners
I have just been diagnosed with a frozen
shoulder, which the specialist looking
after me suggested might be related to me
having Type 2 diabetes. How could diabetes
give me a stiff and painful shoulder?
Frozen shoulder (adhesive capsulitis) is
a nasty condition that affects at least one
in 50 people at some time in their lives, often
in middle age or later. Women are more likely
than men to suffer from it, and it usually affects
the non-dominant shoulder – although it could
occur in either, or both (one in seven cases affects
both shoulders). It causes pain and stiffness in
the joint that typically lasts at least 12-18 months,
and it can take a few years to fully recover.
Frozen shoulder can follow injury but often
develops out of the blue with no obvious
trigger. However, it is much more common in
people with diabetes (Type 1 and 2). Recent
research suggests this is due to the direct
effect of high blood sugar (glucose) levels
damaging both the blood supply to the joint
and the muscles and tissues in and around it.
It’s another reason to try to maintain tight
control and keep blood sugar levels as close to
normal as possible. Too much glucose in the
blood also damages other parts of the body,
including the kidneys and eyes.
This type of shoulder problem is difficult
to treat, but interventions like steroid injections
and physiotherapy (both joint mobilisation and
stretching exercises) should speed recovery.
I hope yours settles soon.
fyi
72
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
SHUTTERSTOCK
Protein power
Women who eat plenty of protein are more likely to remain healthy
into old age, according to a US study looking at the health data
collected over 32 years from 48,000 women in the Harvard Nurses’
Study. Those who obtained more of their protein from plant sources –
nuts, beans, vegetables and bread/cereals – were healthier than those
who relied on meat, fish and dairy. This could be because the key players
in cell longevity are stimulated by chemicals in proteins. By Rachel Carlyle
Not just
hot air
Saunas are enjoying a revival in
the UK, and contrary to popular
opinion, they can be good for
heart health and blood pressure
T
wo men dressed in caveman-like
sacking are performing an
ancient ritual in front of me,
swirling towels to direct hot air
at my fellow sauna-goers in 90˚C
heat. Steam rises as ice is heaped
on hot stones, and the fragrance
of pine swirls around against a soundtrack of
howling wolves. Thankfully, no one is naked.
Elaborate ceremonies like these are known as
the Aufguss – the wafting of steam and essential
74
by J O
WAT E R S
oils – a kind of performance art, and part of
a global resurgence in the popularity of saunas.
I’m at Sauna Fest, the annual festival held at
Therme in Bucharest, Romania (therme.ro),
which feels a million miles from my twice-weekly
sauna in the UK. But after making it part of my
weekly routine a few years ago I have lower blood
pressure, improved skin tone and better stress
management, so I’m keen to find out more.
Saunas have been popular in Scandinavia,
Germany, Russia, Japan and Turkey for centuries,
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
H E A LT H
but apart from a brief spell in the 1970s, they
didn’t get much traction in the UK.
Emma O’Kelly, who built a home sauna after
researching Sauna: The Power of Deep Heat
(Welbeck), says, ‘They’re popping up everywhere
in the UK – more than 70 beach box saunas,
hotels building forest saunas, plus pop-up
festivals in cities, and home saunas too. People
like to chill out and de-stress, and there’s the
social aspect as well.’
Therme is building a sauna complex in
Manchester scheduled to open in late 2025.
50% less likely to suffer from cardiovascular
(heart and circulatory) disease. These regular
sauna bathers also had half the risk of strokes,
pneumonia, Alzheimer’s and dementia. No one
quite knows why, and because it was a population
study rather than a trial, you can’t rule out
other factors – such as wealthier, and therefore
healthier, people being more able to visit saunas.
Dr Cullen says his study showed that the
effects of being in a sauna mimic some of the
benefits you get from exercise. Heat causes blood
vessels to dilate, improving blood flow and
reducing blood pressure, and also easing tension
and sore muscles, as well as helping you to
relax. He adds that there is also evidence that
saunas have an anti-inflammatory effect that
may potentially help with chronic conditions
such as arthritis and depression.
Which sauna is best?
There are two main types of saunas in the UK.
In a traditional Finnish sauna the temperature
is typically 70-100˚C, with low humidity of
10-20%. The heat comes from stones on the
stove, and when water is ladled on to them it
evaporates to make steam (in Finnish, called
Are saunas safe for all?
löyly), which condenses on the skin to create
Japanese studies have shown that saunas are
a burning yet pleasurable sensation.
good for heart failure patients. However,
The second type, Infrared, uses infrared
consultant cardiologist Dr Smriti Saraf at the
radiation lamps and panels to heat the body
HCA Lister Hospital and East Kent Hospitals
directly so it can operate at a lower
University NHS Foundation Trust,
temperature, typically 49-60˚C.
urges caution for those with heart
‘Saunas are popping up
‘There’s not enough research to
conditions, including atrial
say that Finnish or Infrared is better,
fibrillation and heart failure. ‘Have
everywhere in the UK.
but the infrared doesn’t benefit from
a chat with your cardiologist first
People like to chill out
the social aspect of a Finnish sauna,
and if you get the go-ahead, measure
and de-stress and there’s your pulse and blood pressure
nor the steam, which are sacred
parts of the traditional experience,’
and after the sauna and
the social aspect as well’ before
says Gabrielle Reason at the British
only stay in for a few minutes [not
Sauna Society. ‘In my opinion these
the standard 15 minutes],’ she says.
are the very reasons saunas have taken off –
‘If everything stays stable for a few weeks,
we’ve neglected our social and spiritual sides,
you are OK to use the sauna in moderation.’
and we need these things for wellbeing.’
In general, it’s safe if you have high blood
pressure because the sauna works as a treatment,
she says – except if your blood pressure is
What happens to your body?
extremely high. However, those with low blood
‘You’ll start sweating very quickly and your core
pressure should consult their doctor first.
body temperature, heart rate and blood flow will
increase too,’ says Dr Tom Cullen, at Coventry
University’s Centre for Physical Activity, Sports
Is it true they help joint pain?
and Exercise Sciences. He has recently published
Yes, they are good for injuries and joint pain,
a review of scientific evidence on saunas.
probably because of the anti-inflammatory
‘As a result of the rise in body core temperature
effects. ‘I’ve recently had surgery on my shoulder
and blood flow you get a release of proteins
and my surgeon recommended regular saunas
into the blood, which send messages around
to help healing,’ says Dr Saraf. ‘They can also
your body. One of those, called nitric oxide,
lower cholesterol and burn calories.’
may be important in blood pressure regulation
The Japanese use the word ‘totonotta’ –
and reducing arterial stiffness.’ He says some
meaning ‘put back together’ – for the feeling
studies show two to three saunas a week for
of wellbeing you get after a sauna, and Dr Cullen
two weeks can lower blood pressure.
says there’s good evidence it can help with
For a list of
One of the best known studies of the health
depression, which could be down to the social
Finnish saunas
benefits of saunas was conducted by Finnish
aspect. Reason adds, ‘Saunas are social hubs
in the UK,
cardiologist Dr Jari Laukkanen after 26 years
where it’s fine to go to on your own and have
see british
of follow-up on 2,000 middle-aged men. Those
a chat. We find that great multigenerational
saunasociety.
who took four to seven saunas a week were
communities spring up around them.’
org.uk
SHUTTERSTOCK
fyi
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
75
H E A LT H
by P A T S Y
WESTCOT T
WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR
April is Bowel Cancer Awareness Month. Claire Coughlan,
clinical lead at Bowel Cancer UK, says, ‘No screening test
is 100% accurate, so staying aware of signs and symptoms
and acting on them quickly is vital.’
Make an appointment with your doctor if you experience:
in bowel habit
* Changes
Bleeding
from your bottom
* Blood in your
* Pain or a lumppoo
in your abdomen
* Unexplained weight
loss
*
76
swirled: shock, disbelief, uncertainty, anxiety,
fear, sadness, and the nagging question, ‘Why
me?’ My age alone, 72, put me at a higher risk.
Cases rise with age, and more than four in ten
are in those aged 75-plus, with the highest
rate in 85-89-year-olds. Perhaps long hours in
a sedentary job played a part too. ‘Occupational
sitting’ is linked with a 24% increased bowel
cancer risk. However, other risk factors, such
as family history or poor diet with too much
processed meat and too few fruits and veg,
didn’t apply. I wasn’t obese, I don’t smoke and
barely touch alcohol. As the specialist nurse
suggested, it was probably sheer bad luck.
She told me the op was the equivalent
of running a marathon and referred me to
a ‘prehabilitation’ scheme called Brighter
Outlook, which helps cancer patients prepare
physically and mentally, and to get up and
moving soon after surgery.
It worked for me. I was admitted on Friday
lunchtime and home by Monday teatime. Two
weeks later the surgeon called with the fantastic
news that there was no spread, so chemo was
unnecessary. My only reminder is a two-inch
‘With 43,000 people diagnosed
annually, bowel cancer is the
fourth most common in the
UK and the second biggest
cancer killer after lung’
fading scar below my ribs plus two virtually
invisible smaller scars. I’m being monitored for
three years in line with current guidelines and
as I write – touch wood – I am cancer free.
With 43,000 people diagnosed annually,
bowel cancer is the fourth most common in
the UK and the second biggest cancer killer
after lung. The good news is that 95% of those
detected at the earliest stage survive five years.
‘If it gets picked up through screening, the
odds are even better,’ says consultant surgeon
Michael Machesney, at Barts Health NHS Trust.
But not everyone is lucky and as a country,
we aren’t doing that well. ‘England grumbles
along with 10% fewer people surviving overall
from bowel (and other common cancers) than
other European countries,’ he says. Screening
aims to help prevent bowel cancer by finding
polyps that could turn cancerous, so they can
be removed. But in the UK, just 10% of bowel
cancers are picked up this way, with most
diagnosed when people develop symptoms
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
ILLUSTRATION BY EIKO OJALA. ALISA CONNAN
I
f it hadn’t been for a late
summer hiking holiday
in the Lakes, I may not
have discovered that I had
bowel cancer. Not the most
obvious route to a cancer
diagnosis. But my struggle
to walk up hills without having to
stop constantly to catch my breath
prompted a call to my GP.
I’d noticed I was breathless
going upstairs or uphill for a
while but thought that, despite an
active lifestyle, my age was beginning to tell. The
GP ordered a blood test and called early the next
morning to say I was anaemic. I made some
flippant remark about eating more steak, only
for him to inform me sombrely that my iron
levels were so low I’d likely need an infusion.
Alarm bells clanged. Anaemia – a shortage
of haemoglobin, oxygen-carrying red blood
cells – signifying bleeding from the bowel,
is a sign of colorectal cancer in around
30-75% of those diagnosed. Yet I’d always kept
up to date with my screening tests. The FIT
(Faecal Immunochemical Test) detects tiny
traces of blood in poo, and my last one the
previous spring had been negative. Surely that
couldn’t be my problem?
A whirl of tests and procedures followed.
Another FIT, with a lower cut-off point, a blood
test for a protein called CEA, a colonoscopy,
CT scan, and two iron infusions. At the end
of November I received the verdict: I had bowel
cancer. The 3cm tumour was situated in my right
colon. Luckily it was confined to my bowel but
if on operating was found to have spread to my
lymph nodes, I might need light chemotherapy.
It's clichéd but true that nothing prepares you
for a cancer diagnosis. Conflicting emotions
SLUG
‘Why did screening
not detect my cancer?’
She doesn’t drink or smoke and has a healthy diet. Yet Patsy Westcott
was diagnosed with bowel cancer, the UK’s second
most common cancer killer. How did her routine test miss it?
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
77
H E A LT H
fyi
or in A&E. In England, Wales
and Northern Ireland (NI), the
FIT is offered two yearly from
60 to 74. In Scotland it starts at
50, which is being phased in
across England and Wales but
not NI. After 75, you can request
a test if you live in England or
Scotland, but not in Wales or NI.
Postcode lottery aside, there
is another significant flaw. The
screening FIT is not a diagnostic
test. The cut-off point (for the
number of micrograms of haemoglobin in the
stool sample) in England, Wales and NI is 120.
In Scotland it is 80 and there are plans to
introduce this in Wales and NI. But, as
Machesney says, this is still high compared to
other European countries. In Slovenia it is 20.
This may explain something that puzzled me:
why the FIT I’d had just six months before my
diagnosis had been negative. If the threshold had
been lower my tumour may have been picked
up. I also discovered that FIT is less accurate at
detecting right-sided tumours, more common
in women. However, if you go to the doctor with
symptoms, as I did, a threshold of ten is used.
This explained why my second test was positive.
Setting a lower cut-off point would lead to
more investigations. But this presents another
hurdle: follow-ups require a colonoscopy, but
the UK lacks trained staff and facilities.
Clearly, better ways to screen for and detect
bowel cancer are urgently needed. Could
a blood test work? This is the focus of a study
led by Dr Oleg Blyuss, from Queen Mary
University of London, who is aiming to
pinpoint new molecular ‘signatures’ found
in blood, tissue, and other samples. The
£500,000 study is funded by the Bowelbabe
Fund for Cancer Research UK set up by the
READ Dark Matter: The new science of the microbiome
* by
scientist and surgeon James Kinross (Penguin Life);
The Bowel Cancer Recovery Toolkit: Recover faster
with activity, exercise and lifestyle by Sarah Russell
(Hammersmith Press)
bowelcanceruk.org.uk/how-we-can-help/
* LISTEN
real-life-stories/podcast
Over 75 and want to request a screening
* CALL
test? In England, call 0800 707 60 60. In Scotland,
call 0800 0121 833.
Find more information at cancerresearchuk.org/
* BROWSE
about-cancer/bowel-cancer
78
inspirational Dame Deborah James, who died
of the disease aged 40. ‘We hope detecting new
patterns of molecules could predict who is
most likely to develop bowel cancer,’ he explains.
We also need to know why some cancers are
more likely to spread. Professor Joanne Edwards
at the University of Glasgow has identified three
new biomarkers in a project funded by Bowel
Cancer UK. Her team has developed a new
scoring system, the Glasgow Microenvironment
Score (GMS), that measures inflammation plus
cells that fuel the growth and spread of a cancer.
The aim is to predict the likelihood of spread
and patients’ response to currently available
drugs. ‘If successful it could help guide treatment
decisions within five to ten years,’ she says.
Her team is also working with a new
compound capable of turning off a marker
‘Better ways to screen for
and detect bowel cancer
are urgently needed.
Could a blood test work?’
linked with poor outcomes, with the hope it
could be a new weapon in the drugs armoury.
Of course, preventing bowel cancer or
delaying its onset would be the most desirable
solution. And it’s here the health of our
microbiome, the micro-organisms found in
our gut, could prove crucial, says Professor
Philip Quirke, at the University of Leeds. His
most important research finding so far is that
a toxin – pks – released by some strains of the
common stool bug E. coli can promote genetic
changes that fuel bowel cancer development.
‘This toxin is found in around a third of UK
screening samples and is associated with a
Western lifestyle,’ he explains. ‘We think that
modifying your microbiome might slow the
development of bowel cancer. Also, importantly,
it’s vital to have the “good” bugs in your bowel
so that you're not driving cancer development.’
How? ‘Eating a healthy, diverse diet of fresh
foods with the addition of fermented foods like
kimchi and kefir,’ says Prof Quirke, who isn’t a
fan of probiotic shots or supplements because
of lack of evidence. ‘Not becoming obese and
being active can help reduce your chances,
and you should also reduce sugar and look
after your teeth as your mouth has a microbiome.
‘It’s increasingly clear that bowel cancer
is a public health disease. My job is to put
myself out of business, and we've never been
in such a good position to do that. I’m the
most optimistic I’ve been for ages.’
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
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R E L AT I O N S H I P S
Old age,
young love
by H U N T E R D A V I E S
Our columnist and his girlfriend
are now grandparents and own
up to some of the silly things
they did with their own children
ILLUSTRATION: MH JEEVES
W
hen you meet in old age
there is little chance of
procreation happening,
at least you hope that’s
the case. But there’s a good
chance your new partner will have children
and grandchildren. Which of course is
a delight. Oh yes. All the fun without the tears.
Just when they start playing up, you can
make an excuse and say you have to get home
to have a lie down/take my pills/put the heat
on/watch the football.
Miranda has three grandsons and I have
four granddaughters. Isn’t that neat? A sudden
and unexpected inheritance. They call her
Granmanda, which is a bit of a mouthful but
even the youngest, Max, who is three, can get
his little tongue round it.
My granddaughters call me Hunpa, which
is a combination of Hunter and Grandpa. They
all bring a new element to our relationship.
But I do get a bit jealous when Miranda has
to go off and do grandmotherly duties when
I am wanting all her attention.
We compare notes all the time, talking
about them endlessly. I have owned up to
several really stupid things I did when my
children were young, which have now become
part of our family legend.
Flora is our youngest child, and she was
born in University College Hospital, London,
in 1972. I went to pick up Margaret and the
baby by car and on the way home, I said,
‘I know, let’s stop at Marine Ices in Chalk
Farm’, our favourite place for family meals.
I carried newborn Flora into the restaurant
in a little straw Moses basket, ahhh sweet, and
plonked her beside us as we ate some lunch.
I then drove me and Margaret home – leaving
‘When they start playing
up, you can make an excuse
and say you have to get
home to have a lie down’
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Flora behind in her
basket. Oh gawd did
I get it in the neck.
I have explained
to Miranda that it
was six years since
we’d had a baby
and I had forgotten what they looked like.
Miranda did something similar. While
sailing in the West Indies with her husband
and six-month-old baby, they arrived in a port,
looking for a quiet place to have a meal. When
the baby could not be pacified, a kind lady,
a total stranger, offered to take him for a walk
in his baby buggy. And then she disappeared.
It seemed like hours before she returned.
Miranda still can’t believe she was so dopey.
I was equally dopey once in Portugal when
I went into a shop leaving the car outside,
the key in the ignition, and Caitlin and Jake,
aged six and four, in the back. I came out
and the car had disappeared. Parking
restrictions had just come in and a helpful
traffic warden had decided to move the car.
What a panic I was in.
I eventually found it in a nearby square.
The children still say it was one of the most
traumatising moments in their childhood.
A total stranger, in a foreign land, suddenly
jumping into our car and driving them off
with no sign of Daddy anywhere.
Oh, we each have so many stories like
this, which Miranda and I reminisce about
over cocoa by the log fire.
Your turn, you parents and grandparents.
You have probably done equally silly things
with your children. Do share them with the
editor so I don’t look uniquely dopey – and give
us all a laugh.
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
81
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money
matters
RETIREMENT PLANNING / MONEY NEWS
illustration
E L I O T W YAT T
W
Paul
Lewis
Think you’ve saved enough for
retirement? New estimates show
just how much money you
actually need – and, as our
expert explains, for many
it’s a lot more than the
state pension alone
hat annual income do you
need to have a comfortable
retirement? Or a moderate
one? Or a minimum one?
The Pensions and Lifetime
Savings Association (PLSA) has just published
its latest estimates – and they’ve surprised many.
To have a ‘comfortable’ life it says you
need to spend £43,100 a year if you are single,
while a couple needs £59,000 between them.
To enjoy a ‘minimum’ life it requires £14,400
if you’re single or £22,400 for a couple.
In between those two extremes, a ‘moderate’
life would cost £31,300 if you are single or
£43,100 between a couple. And if you live in
London you need to add £1,000 to £2,000
a year to those figures.
The figures have not just been plucked out
of the air. The PLSA used the Centre for Research
in Social Policy at Loughborough University to
set the minimum payments. They then
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
83
FINANCE
a gross income of around £58,000 to reach
worked with focus groups around the
‘Comfortable’ for them both.
country to find out what people thought they
To achieve those incomes would require
needed to be ‘comfortable’ or ‘moderate’.
a big pension or continuing to work, as around
Those items were then priced and it turns out
1.5 million people aged over 65 do. To get that
you need more than average wage to be
Read more
big pension on top of the full new state pension
comfortable in retirement!
on the PLSA
– and not all new state pensioners get the full
At the bottom end of the scale, a single
report at
amount – you’d need a very large pension pot.
person’s minimum retirement needs of
retirement
The only safe way to convert your pension
£14,400 are way above the new state pension,
livingstandards
pot into a guaranteed income for life is to buy
which is £11,500 a year from April. But a couple
.org.uk
an annuity. They work like this: you give the
who both get that would have enough to reach
insurance company a lump sum, say £50,000,
the £22,400 they need to buy the ‘minimum’
and in exchange it gives you a guaranteed
life. This is defined as consisting of no car, one
income for life. Currently £50,000 would buy
week’s holiday a year in the UK, basic TV and
a healthy person at 66 a guaranteed income for
broadband, and £95 a week on groceries with
life of £3,480 a year. That would barely raise the
the occasional takeaway and meal out.
new state pension to the PLSA’s minimum level.
It may sound a bit basic but, remember, this
To hit ‘Comfortable’ you would need around
minimal life costs £3,000 a year more than
£40,000 a year income on top of the current
the new state pension – and those on the old
state pension. To buy that for life would need
state pension receive even less. This is paid to
a pension pot of £570,000. And that would be
people in their early seventies or older and
a flat rate income that would not rise as prices
is just over £8,800 a year from April. That is
increased. To buy one that increased with
less than two thirds of the amount a single
inflation would cost around half as much again.
person needs for that ‘minimum’ life.
High as they are, these figures from the PLSA
At that level you could claim means-tested
are an underestimate of the real
benefits to top it up almost
needs of many pensioners. They
to the level of the new state
‘People should focus on the
assume everyone owns their own
pension and pay your council
tax and, if you are a tenant,
“Minimum” and “Moderate” home without a mortgage. But
a growing number of people are
your rent. But these benefits
lifestyles and see whether
heading for retirement with a
have to be claimed and
savings are on track for that’ mortgage to pay.
hundreds of thousands
And many others rent their
of pensioners who could
home, which can easily cost £15,000 a year.
claim them, don’t.
There will be no help from the state with that
Passing through the ‘Moderate’ bracket
if you have enough income to be ‘Comfortable’
– £31,300 a year for a single person and
or even ‘Moderate’ by PLSA standards.
£43,100 for a couple – we reach ‘Comfortable’.
Even without that key omission of housing
That means spending £600 a year on your
costs, the amounts seem beyond the reach
home, £130 a week on food and a couple of
of most people. Calculations by the Pensions
takeaways, plus one meal out a month with
Policy Institute for the PLSA show that a single
your family or friends.
person who earns twice the average wage all
You would get there in a small car between
their life – say around £70,000 annually now
three and eight years old and would relax
– and who saved 12% of that income into
with a summer fortnight in Europe and three
a pension would still fall short of the amount
long weekends away in the UK. You could also
needed to enjoy a moderate life in retirement.
afford to give grandchildren a bit of cash or
Nigel Peaple, director of policy and
pay for treats. All that would cost £59,000 for
research at the PLSA, told me: ‘If you are
a couple and £43,100 for a single person.
a couple, these standards are more achievable
Of course, these amounts are what you
than if you are single.
spend. So your pre-tax income would need to
‘People should focus on the “Minimum” and
be higher still as the Chancellor will be helping
“Moderate” lifestyles and see whether savings
himself to a chunk of what comes in.
are on track for that and if not, ask if they
A single person would need to have
can save more.’
pensions or wages of around £51,000 a year
He suggested that if it is too late for extra
to have enough left for this comfortable life.
saving, people may have to consider working
A couple would need an income of around
beyond pension age to have the lifestyle they
£34,000 a year each. But if one only has the
want as they get older.
state pension then the other would need
fyi
84
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
FINANCE
April 2024
Money news
by P A U L L E W I S
Our expert on energy standing charges and
other extras we pay on bills. Plus, council tax
increases and the rising cost of running a car
SHUTTERSTOCK, GETTY
Not standing for less
Millions of mainly older people
seem to have been forgotten
in the announcement by the
regulator Ofgem that the
price of electricity and gas
was being cut this month by
around 12% for a typical bill.
But one group is being
discriminated against. That
is the nine million people
who do not pay by direct debit
nor have a prepayment meter
– they pay in the old-fashioned
way every three months by
cash or cheque when their
energy bill arrives.
They pay an extra 1p a unit
for electricity and nearly 0.5p
extra for each unit of gas. In
addition, the standing charge
– the daily amount you pay to
be connected to the supply
regardless of how much, or
little, energy you use – is
about 10p a day higher than
for other customers.
On average across Britain it
is 60p a day for electricity and
31p for gas for those who
pay by direct debit or have
a prepayment meter. But people
who are billed quarterly pay
an extra 6p per day to have
electricity and more than 3p
a day to have gas. Ofgem says
the typical bill for
quarterly payers will be
£106 a year more than
direct debit payers and over
£150 a year more than prepay
customers.
Council tax up
All over England and Wales
council tax is rising sharply
from this month. Usually by
at least 5% – some will see
double that or more – so
check if you can cut your bill.
If you live alone or with no
other adults then you should
get a 25% discount on your bill.
If your income is low then
you may be able to get your
tax reduced, sometimes to
zero. Ask your local council
for more information.
In Scotland, a government
promise to freeze council tax is
being broken by some councils.
The road to more rises
The tax on your car (VED)
will go up next time you
renew after 1 April.
The rise is 5.5% even
though inflation is well
below that. For most cars
that will mean an increase
of £10 or £15, though for
some it will be more. Fully
‘Standing
charges are
higher for
the 9 million
who do not
pay bills by
direct debit’
fyi
electric vehicles pay zero tax.
If your car was made before
1 January 1984 (or registered
before 8 January 1984) you can
apply for a historic vehicle
exemption from 1 April 2024
and pay no VED at all. See
gov.uk/historic-vehicles for
more information.
ENERGY EXTRAS IN 2024/25
* £28 added to direct debit or standard credit
bills to help suppliers cope with £3.1 billion of
customer debt.
* Additional £10 added to direct debit bills to
reduce standing charge on prepayment meters.
* These amounts will be split between electricity
and gas bills with a slightly bigger share added
to electricity bills.
A
* further £16.50 added to direct debit and
standard credit bills (almost all of it on electricity
bills) to pay for the smart meter programme.
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and more. Visit saga.co.uk/money to see how we can help.
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
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85
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Capital gains
Tallinn in
Estonia, one
of the cities
Peter and
Sue (below)
visited
going places
B A LT I C C R U I S E / S PA B R E A K S / L E T T E R F R O M A M E R I C A
AWL-IMAGES.COM
TRAVELS WITH
MY DAUGHTER
When Peter Bryant, 91, was given the
opportunity to explore the Baltic region
with his daughter, Sue, a top cruise
writer, he couldn’t wait to get on board
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
87
I
’ve been lucky to spend my whole life
travelling, both for pleasure and
during my career with the Civil Service
and Diplomatic Service. But for some
reason, one part of the world had
eluded me: the Baltic. Although my
late wife and I had lived for many
happy years in southern and west Germany,
the Baltic capitals remained on my bucket list.
For me and my family, 2023 was a miserable
year. Jean, my beloved wife of 62 years, passed
away in January after a long battle with
Alzheimer’s. Winter seemed to go on forever.
But my desire to travel, even at 91, was
rekindled when my daughter, Sue, suggested
we go on a cruise together for a change of
scene. Saga seemed the perfect choice. Spirit of
Adventure’s Scandinavian Explorer itinerary
included Sweden, Finland, Estonia and
Denmark, none of which I’d visited before.
I was even more drawn by Wismar.
During my time living in Germany,
I’d developed a fascination for the
medieval Hanseatic League cities,
and this would be a new one for me.
The ship and the itinerary aside, I was
also attracted to the fact that travel
insurance would be relatively easy to
secure, and a car and driver would pick
us up at home. It had been a while since
I’d dusted down my passport. And my
dinner jacket – I had to try on a few
things to make sure they’d still fit.
88
by P E T E R
B R YA N T
Baltic see
Peter (below)
joined an
excursion to
Copenhagen
(above),
Helsinki�s
Sibelius
Monument
(top right)
and Wismar,
Germany
(right)
Travelling with my daughter was surprisingly
easy, given that we keep to different schedules.
I’m usually up at dawn, while she’s rarely seen
before 9am. She loves the gym, while I hoped
to rekindle my love of bridge. But this is what
worked so well for us on the cruise. You can go
ashore together and enjoy meals but occupy
yourselves separately on the ship if you want to.
Midsummer is the perfect time to visit
Scandinavia and we were lucky to arrive during
a heatwave. The sun set around 11pm, the sky
streaked with scarlet, and would be up again
by the time I woke.
We went ashore every day on the ship’s
excursions. Tallinn was enchanting, all red
medieval spires and domes, half-timbered
houses and cobbled streets. We walked with an
excellent guide through the narrow streets of
Vanalinn, the UNESCO-protected old centre, to
the comically named Fat Margaret tower, one of
the original entrances to the city. The pace was
tailored to the age group – there were more than
a few using walking poles – and the fact that we
could listen to the guide through a headset meant
everybody could hear. I later discovered that the
oldest person on the ship was 97, so perhaps I’ve
got a few more cruising years to look forward to.
Of course, one element of my Baltic bucket
list was St Petersburg, which was and
continues to be off limits. We called at Kotka,
a Finnish timber town close to the Russian
border, its horizon dotted with rocky, forested
islands. Kotka’s attempts to develop as a tourist
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
destination are admirable, with sculpture parks
dotted all over the town, but it’s no substitute for
the treasures of the Hermitage in St Petersburg.
Helsinki, a handsome city, was surprisingly
quiet and basking in almost hot sunshine. We’re
told that around midsummer everybody takes off
to their waterfront summer house to pick berries,
swim in the cold sea and celebrate the midnight
sun. This left us practically alone at the starkly
modern Sibelius Monument and the grand
neoclassical cathedral. Copenhagen, on the
other hand, was heaving with tourists, but we
still managed to snap shots of the Little Mermaid
‘I later found out that the oldest person on
the ship was 97, so perhaps I’ve got a
few more cruising years to look forward to’
without any selfie sticks getting in the way.
I felt instantly at home in Wismar, immersed
in the German language and culture with
which I’m so familiar. This is a grand city with a
well-preserved medieval centre and wonderful
Brick Gothic architecture. When I lived in
Germany in the 1980s, Wismar lay behind the
Iron Curtain. Since reunification, it has been
cleaned up, but photographs displayed in the
brick steeple of the 14th-century St-Marien-Kirche
– all that remains of this church that was once
a city landmark – show a different Wismar that’s
rundown, the buildings blackened by pollution.
Life on board Spirit of Adventure was
extremely pleasant. The service was courteous,
the crew were full of smiles and there was a
great choice of food. We dined on fish and
chips outside on the sunny deck at Verandah,
enjoyed delicious prawn cocktails and lamb
chops in The Supper Club, and the food at
Khukuri House, the ship’s Nepalese restaurant,
FIND
OUT
MORE
To get
a travel
insurance
quote from
Saga, call us
on 0800 092
6808 quoting
reference
SMAGTR or
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co.uk/
travelmag**
was exceptional. The crumbles
and trifles at the buffet were pure
comfort, although the tapioca
pudding was a step too far for me
– I had enough of that at boarding
school during the war.
I enjoyed the bridge sessions, and
the lectures by Penny Morgan on
the next day’s destinations and the
classical recitals in the Britannia
lounge were highlights. Cocktail
hour was a pleasant part of every day; Sue and
I would sit in the lounge with our respective G&T
and glass of wine as the lines were cast off and
Captain Jason Ikiadis set a course for the next
port. I even enjoyed dressing up for the formal
nights; people-watching was a fun pastime,
and we noticed several other partnerships of
mothers or fathers with adult sons and daughters.
Would I cruise again? I certainly hope so.
I’m keen to do a river cruise on the Moselle
and should St Petersburg ever become a
possibility, I’ve still got my eye on that. In fact,
my enthusiasm for travel is stronger than ever.
Just as long as my body can keep up.
TAKE ME THERE
Saga’s ‘Scandinavian
Gems’ cruise visits
Sweden, Denmark,
Lithuania and Norway.
See Gothenburg,
Copenhagen and
Klaipeda. You’ll also
visit Wismar, Aarhus
and Kristiansand.
TOUR DETAILS
12 nights, departing
30 May 2024 and
4 August 2024
from £3,699 pp*
SAGA INCLUDES
to and from
* Travel
the port
excursions
* Four
24-hour room
* service
food
* All-inclusive
and drink and all
gratuities
A full programme
* of live music,
entertainment
and talks
Complimentary
* Wi-Fi
**Saga Insurance is provided by Astrenska for people over 50
*FARE BASED ON TWO PEOPLE SHARING A STANDARD BALCONY GUARANTEE ON THE AUGUST DEPARTURE AND IS SUBJECT TO AVAILABILITY AND CHANGE. GETTY, AWL-IMAGES.COM
T R AV E L
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SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
89
Dive in
Take a dip in
the rooftop
pool at Buxton
Crescent hotel
Spa
gazing
Thermal pools, fireside hot tubs and top-notch
treatments – these super UK spa getaways
will leave you feeling relaxed and refreshed…
90
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
T R AV E L
Buxton Crescent
Ensana Spa Hotel
Buxton, Derbyshire
High on the edge of the Peak
District National Park, Buxton
Crescent was built for William
Cavendish, the 5th Duke of
Devonshire, in the 1780s. This
charming Grade I-listed building
is now a luxurious spa hotel
with modern facilities and
81 sumptuous bedrooms.
Treatments
There are plenty of treatments,
including magnetic therapy and
oncology treatments. I enjoyed
an exhilarating Himalayan Salt
Massage (£85 for 50 minutes)
and a Therapeutic Thermal Mud
Pack (£85 for 50 minutes)
– great for relieving joint pain.
Stay
Our Junior Suite had a roll-top
bath, king-sized bed and large
shower room. Guests can also
choose from cosy attic rooms to
the majestic Crescent Suite with
views across the Buxton Slopes.
Food
The dining room offers British
classics, while traditional
afternoon tea is served in the
hotel’s bar. There’s an extensive
menu available in the lounge,
and the spa café is perfect for
post-treatment refreshments.
Five-star stay
Historic
Cameron
House is set
in a stunning
national park
Cameron House
Loch Lomond, West Dunbartonshire
Nestled on the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond and
within the Trossachs National Park, Cameron House
Hotel & Spa offers its guests five-star luxury in
glorious surroundings. Built in the 1700s by novelist
Tobias Smollett, the original house is quintessentially
Scottish – think towers and turrets – while a
newer wing has many loch-facing rooms.
Treatments
The spa is a few minutes’ drive from the hotel with
a regular shuttle service. I enjoyed a wonderful full
body massage in one of the 17 treatment rooms.
There’s also an indoor pool, plus an outdoor rooftop
infinity pool, heated to a cosy 38°C, as well as six
thermal rooms. Inside the hotel there’s a family pool
with waterslides, bubble pool, steam room and sauna.
Highlights
The indoor/outdoor heated pool,
multiple saunas and the thermal
pool supplied by Buxton
mineral-rich water were pure bliss.
Book
Rooms from £170 per night,
including breakfast and spa
access. See ensanahotels.com/
en/hotels/buxton-crescent
By Jasmine Perry
Stay
We stayed in a beautifully decorated suite with a
separate lounge area overlooking the loch. Luxury
facilities included ESPA toiletries and a free mini bar.
Food
From afternoon tea in the lounge to delicious
breakfasts and dinners in the Cameron Grill, the
hotel caters for all tastes.
Highlights
Peak practice
Buxton
Crescent has
a range of
treatments
After relaxing in the spa, a trip on the loch in the hotel
speedboat was the perfect end to a perfect stay.
Book
A little R&R
Afternoon
tea and a
hydrotherapy
pool at
Cameron
House
Spa packages from £560 per room per night.
See cameronhouse.co.uk
By Jennie Buist Brown
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
91
Careys Manor Hotel & SenSpa
Brockenhurst, Hampshire
In the heart of the New Forest, this luxury hotel
is home to the SenSpa, which blends ancient Thai
traditions with modern state-of-the-art facilities.
Treatments
I booked a ‘Moments for Me Menopause spa day’,
designed to help alleviate menopause symptoms,
which included a stress-busting massage.
Stay
Choose from rooms in the 18th-century manor
house, as well as suites and garden rooms.
Our Thai-inspired Rosewood Suite was next
to the spa overlooking manicured gardens.
Food
We floated into the Zen Garden Thai restaurant
in our dressing gowns and tucked into a tasty
lunch of succulent seabass with pak choi.
Highlights
The SenSpa kept us relaxed for days.
Book
Rooms from £249 per night, including breakfast.
The Moments for Me Menopause Spa Day
(including a day at the SenSpa, massage and lunch
with a drink) is from £245. See careysmanor.com
By Jane Ackroyd
Calcot & Spa
near Tetbury, Gloucestershire
This rural, 16th-century Cotswolds manor house has
a sandy limestone exterior and climbing foliage.
Inside, you’ll find roaring fires and stylish interiors.
Treatments
I enjoyed a blissful Aromatherapy Associates
Massage (£120 for 55 minutes) using my choice
of essential oils. Other treatments include facials,
manicures and pedicures.
Stay
There are rooms in the manor house itself or
self-contained suites in the grounds. We stayed
in The Cottage with two bedrooms, a lounge
with a log burner and a private courtyard.
And relax…
Hydrotherapy
pool at
Careys Manor
(above);
delicious
dining and
outdoor
swimming at
Calcot & Spa
(left); and a
cosy stay at
The Pig at
Bridge Place
(above right)
Food
The Brasserie is Calcot’s elegant restaurant and
serves breakfast, dinner and afternoon tea, all
made with produce sourced from local suppliers.
You can also have breakfast delivered to your room.
Highlights
92
The Pig at Bridge Place
near Canterbury, Kent
Tucked away in the rolling fields
of the Nailbourne Valley, this
17th-century, red-brick manor
house, which once hosted gigs
by the likes of The Kinks and
Led Zeppelin, is now the perfect
bucolic bolthole. Full of Jacobean
period features, including ornate
fireplaces and secret stairways,
it still retains a rock’n’roll vibe.
Treatments
I had a supremely relaxing
Hot Stone Massage (£115 for
60 minutes) in one of the cosy,
rustic Potting Shed treatment
rooms. Other treatments
include facials and body wraps,
all using Voya products.
Stay
We stayed in the opulent Big
Comfy Luxe room – one of
seven in the main house
– which has a super-king bed,
freestanding bath and walk-in
monsoon shower. Guests can
also stay in Hop Pickers’ Huts on
stilts, Stream Wagons or Lodges.
Food
Like all eight Pig hotels, the
restaurant is at the heart of
Bridge Place. What isn’t grown
in the hotel’s impressive fruit
and vegetable garden comes
from within a 25-mile radius
to support local suppliers. The
famous crackling and apple
sauce ‘piggy bits’ are a must.
The outdoor hot tub, set beside an open fire in a
courtyard lined with lavender, is the spa’s prized
centrepiece. And if you fancy exploring the hotel’s
220 acres, you can borrow wellies or a bike.
Highlights
Book
Book
Rooms from £334 per night, including breakfast.
See calcot.co
By Rebecca Norris
Rooms from £240 per night
room only. See thepighotel.com
By Kirsty Tyler
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
We loved the decadent bar with
its creative cocktails, roaring
fires and velvety sofas.
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VIEWPOINT
Letter from
America
by S I M O N M A R K S
F
way home, my son grinned and conceded that
irst, the good news: my 17-year-old son
he might – just might – have hit the kerb when
passed his American driving test at the
he parked (an error that is supposed to result
first attempt. It’s a crucial rite of passage
in an immediate fail). ‘The examiner didn’t
for every US teen in a country that remains
seem to notice,’ said the proud new petrolhead.
utterly car-centric, and he was surprised and
thrilled in equal measure.
So he will not mind if I share the bad news:
hile trying to keep pace with the
namely, my astonishment that he secured
dizzying developments in Britain’s
approval to drive the streets solo, and my
Post Office scandal, I found myself
suspicion that the cloud of marijuana smoke
grappling with the diminishing state of its US
that enveloped us when we reached the testing
counterpart when I needed to send my expiring
centre may have played a role.
UK Passport to Hemel Hempstead for renewal.
Let me back up (or, as they say on Top Gear,
Traditionally, I would have sent it Air Mail,
reverse). My son secured a learner’s permit (the
but the US Postal Service clerk warned me it
first stage of the process) last spring, and while
could take ‘weeks’ to reach the UK. So I was
my wife and I spent a lot of time in the passenger
persuaded to spend $47 (about £37) sending it
seat, engaged in white-knuckle rides down
‘International Priority’. The service came with
residential roads, it’s fair to say
a tracking number, allowing
he still had a long way to go.
to spend the next ten days
‘The marijuana smoke me
Returning recently from
observing my documents’
an overseas trip, I was told
progress… or lack thereof.
that enveloped us at
I did not need to teach him
From Washington DC, my
the testing centre may passport
how to parallel park because
headed west (the
have played a role in my wrong direction) to Sacramento
a school friend’s father
had stepped into the breach
California, then south to
son getting his licence’ in
during my travels. I ran
San Francisco, Santa Clarita,
into the dad a couple of days
Los Angeles, a place called
before the test, and thanked him for saving my
Bell Gardens, and then back to LA before
bacon. He looked at me quizzically and suggested
finally being flown to the UK. The now-expired
there may be more practice required before my
document spent its final days seeing more of
son could truly claim to be a master of parking.
California than its owner has ever managed.
To keep him match-fit, I volunteered to drive
us both to the test. It took place in the remotest,
alking of California, in Silicon Valley,
outer fringes of Washington. An area so distant,
a new tech start-up hopes to revolutionise
I feared we had drifted into a neighbouring state.
the world of internet search. Kagi.com
We opened the test centre door and were
thinks that searching the web is so valuable,
immediately engulfed by the unmistakable
you should be willing to pay for it.
aroma of cannabis. Not just a waft, but a cloud
The subscription-only service promises to
that almost choked us. I can only assume the
produce neutral search results that are not
rigours of spending a day alongside 17-year-olds
swayed by advertisers who pay Google and other
eager to show off their driving skills is enough
services to show up more prominently. Users pay
to send even the bravest examiner to seek
$10 (about £8) a month for unlimited searches, and
a little on-the-job relief.
are promised ‘results that are faster, more accurate
Ten minutes later, the boy became a licensed
and completely respectful of users’ privacy’.
driver. It turned out he had been required to
More than 22,000 people have signed up
park the car once, then spent three minutes
and are engaging in 360,000 searches per
driving around the block before the examiner
day. But the mountain is steep. Google hosts
surrendered and offered the thumbs-up. On the
8.5 billion searches every 24 hours.
W
T
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
95
A ROS L A N D E XC LUS I V E
Introducing the
Four Graces
COIN COLLECTION
Celebrating the life and reign of
Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
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Britain’s greatest monarch
Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was the
longest-living and longest-reigning monarch in
British history, the first ever to reach a Platinum
Jubilee. She was also the oldest living, longest
reigning monarch and longest-serving head of
state in world history.
the throne – wisdom, strength, devotion and
leadership. Designed in an elegant neoclassical
style, drawing inspiration from William Wyon’s
1817 Three Graces, these limited edition coins
are minted in pure gold and fine silver, with only
125 of each available worldwide.
In celebration of seventy years of a most
remarkable reign, renowned modern engraver,
Jody Clark, has produced an exquisite design
personifying the virtues Queen Elizabeth most
consistently embodied throughout her time on
Struck to exceptional proof quality, each coin is
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Available in .9999 gold and .999 silver,
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what’s on
T H E AT R E / E V E N T S / F I L M / E X H I B I T I O N S / R A D I O / P O D C A S T / T V / B O O K S
ALINARI/TOPFOTO
Like a
Rolling
Stone
Legendary photographer
Gered Mankowitz took a series of
iconic images of The Rolling Stones
in the Sixties after gaining unique
access to them for almost three years.
Now, as a new book of images from
his archive hits the shelves, he shares
rare and unseen shots of the band
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
97
W H AT ’ S O N
G
ered Mankowitz was just 18 when
he began photographing The
Rolling Stones. Between 1965
and 1967, he enjoyed a fruitful
partnership with the band
– his pictures appeared on their
album covers, posters and tour programmes.
He gained access to both their stages and their
homes, capturing them in performance and
behind the scenes. Now, almost 60 years on,
he has returned to his rich archive to curate
a book of rare and unseen pictures from this time.
‘I was drawn to them because of their
rebelliousness, their naughtiness,’ says
Mankowitz. ‘They were rule-breaking lads and
I liked that. The Beatles were the opposite, with
their lovely little suits, ties, and clean hair.’
The image on the previous page was his first
shoot with the band, just outside his studio in
Mason’s Yard, central London. It became the
cover for their 1965 album Out Of Our Heads.
Mankowitz went on to join them on the
road. ‘Being with them on stage was fantastic,’
he says. ‘Feeling the throb of the amplifiers
and the intensity of the crowd.’ He got on well
with them, becoming especially close with
Keith Richards and Charlie Watts. ‘By the time
we were touring America [in late 1965], I felt as
though I was part of the band.’
But his allegiance to their manager at the
time, Andrew Loog Oldham, meant he parted
ways with them when Oldham did. ‘That was
that,’ says Mankowitz, who continued to see
the band socially. ‘But for nearly three years,
it was an absolute joy. I loved
every minute.’
Here, he talks us through
some of his most memorable
images from the book…
Picture
purr-fect
Summer
1966
‘This is
at Mick’s
new flat in
Harley House,
Marylebone.
I think the
cat belonged
to Chrissie
Shrimpton,
who was his
girlfriend
at the time.
It was an
opportunity
to get an
unusual
photograph
of him – he’s
not somebody
who is seen
with animals
very often.
I like it
because of its
informality.
Mick was
always very
comfortable
in front of
the camera.’
The Rolling Stones: Rare and
Unseen, photographs by Gered
Mankowitz, with a foreword by
Keith Richards (Welbeck, £35)
is out on 28 March
Lounging about 1965
‘Here, I’ve knitted two images
together, as I thought it told
a bigger story. They are at the
airport before their American
tour in 1965, and Bill has
brought his wife Diane and
son Stephen to see them off.
There’s a domesticity that
is sweet and unexpected.’
98
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
Wild horses
Summer
1966
‘Keith bought
a beautiful
house in West
Sussex and
this was his
chestnut pony.
He was quite
a keen rider.
It was a lovely,
hot day to
spend in the
country
with Keith – an
easy-going,
laid-back
shoot.’
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
Building up trust 1965
‘I chose this location [a building
site outside his studio] because
there is a grittiness to it, it’s very
unglamorous. One of the great
strengths about The Stones
visually was their individuality
– they gave up on any idea of
a uniform. These are the clothes
they chose to wear for the day.’
Getting some satisfaction
Summer 1966
‘This is Charlie at home in Lewes,
East Sussex. He had a refined
taste and style – an immaculate
dresser with a love for antique
furniture. The chair’s a collectible,
20th-century armchair. He was
never particularly happy about
having his picture taken. But we
were friends and he understood
that me taking the photos was
better than strangers coming in.’
99
out and about
EXHIBITION
Expressionists:
Kandinsky, Münter
and The Blue Rider
TATE MODERN, LONDON
25 April-20 October
tate.org.uk
This major new exhibition
tells the story of a group of
artists who came together
to transform modern art.
Founded by Franz Marc and
Wassily Kandinsky in the early
20th century and named after
a Kandinsky painting, The
Blue Rider (Der Blaue Reiter)
collective were based in
Munich and united by their
radical new approach to art.
Well-known artists such as
Gabriele Münter were included
in the creative network as
well as less celebrated ones
such as Wladimir Burliuk and
Maria Franck-Marc, whose
painting Girl with Toddler
(right) will be on display.
EVENT
My Life in Musicals:
I Know Him So Well
ON TOUR
18 April-14 May
sirtimricelive.com
He has written lyrics for showstopping musicals
including Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor
Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Lion
King and Aladdin. Now, lyricist
Sir Tim Rice heads on a tour to
celebrate his illustrious career.
The musical theatre legend, who
has collaborated with Andrew
Lloyd Webber, ABBA’s
Björn Ulvaeus and Elton
John, will share anecdotes,
interspersed with live
performances by West
End singers. Expect hits
such as Don’t Cry For Me
Argentina and Circle of Life.
100
Sister scribes
Charlotte,
Emily and Anne
as portrayed
in The Other
Other Brontë
THEATRE
Underdog: The Other Other Brontë
DORFMAN THEATRE,
SOUTH BANK, LONDON
Until 25 May
nationaltheatre.org.uk
This retelling of the life of the Brontë sisters
focuses on the sibling power dynamics that
shaped their rise to literary stardom, leaving
the youngest, Anne, as the lesser-known writer.
Isolated at home in Yorkshire in
the 19th century, Charlotte, Emily
and Anne Brontë all start writing
stories. Charlotte would go on to
enjoy recognition for books such
as Jane Eyre, while the works of
Emily (Wuthering Heights) and
Anne (The Tenant of Wildfell
Hall) were only considered
masterpieces after their early
deaths, at the ages of 30 and
29 respectively.
W H AT ’ S O N / O U T A N D A B O U T
THEATRE
MARIA FRANCK-MARC, GIRL WITH TODDLER, CIRCA 1913, LENBACHHAUS MUNICH, JOHAN PERSSON, CRAIG SUGDEN
The Syndicate
ON TOUR
11 April-27 July
syndicatetheplay.com
Making his stage acting debut, Max George,
former singer in boy band The Wanted, stars
alongside Samantha Giles (Emmerdale) and
Brooke Vincent (Coronation Street) in the
world premiere of Kay Mellor’s The Syndicate.
The new stage show is adapted from the
critically acclaimed BBC drama of the same
name, which centres on five supermarket
workers whose lottery numbers come in.
This will be the directorial debut for TV and
stage star Gaynor Faye, daughter of Mellor, who
is bringing her late mother’s adaptation of
this moving comedy drama to the stage.
THEATRE
book
now
A View from the Bridge
THEATRE ROYAL, HAYMARKET, LONDON
23 May-3 August
trh.co.uk
After a sold-out run in Bath, Dominic West
(above with co-star Kate Fleetwood) stars in the
West End transfer of Arthur Miller’s tragedy
about a dock worker in 1950s New York who
struggles with repressed desire for his niece.
FILM
by A N N A S M I T H
The Trouble With Jessica
A dinner party goes wrong in this black comedy
with a brilliant British cast. Sarah, played by
Shirley Henderson, and Tom (Alan Tudyk) are
a middle-class married couple with a beautiful
London home, but pressing financial problems.
However, they’ve finally found a buyer for their
house, which could save them from ruin.
On the evening we meet them, they are
hosting their friends Beth (Olivia Williams)
and Richard (Rufus Sewell), who bring an
unwelcome guest: Jessica (Indira Varma).
A successful novelist, Jessica is pretty, flirty,
unstable and causes an immediate rift among
the guests – there is clearly a lot of history there.
But when tragedy strikes, the group are faced
with a decision: call the police and risk losing
a nervous buyer, or move the body to another
location? Cracks begin to show as each
character takes a different position.
It’s a gripping set-up that recalls everything
from the thriller Shallow Grave to that Fawlty
Towers episode The Kipper and the Corpse.
The tone is probably closer to the former as
this explores the mind games and secrets that
emerge in a tight-knit gang under stress. It’s
disturbing in parts, but more often it’s laughout-loud funny, with sharp dialogue and terrific
turns from the talented cast. Look out for an
amusing cameo from the great Anne Reid, who
plays a neighbour absolutely determined to get
Jessica’s autograph. If you enjoy films rooted in
a moral dilemma, it’s thought-provoking stuff
– even if you might want to shout at the screen
at times. That’s all part of the fun.
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
‘It’s a
gripping
set-up
that recalls
everything
from the
thriller
Shallow
Grave to
that Fawlty
Towers
episode
The Kipper
and the
Corpse’
101
W H AT ’ S O N / O U T A N D A B O U T
out and about
DECADE
BUSTERS
compiled by MITCHELL SYMONS
GETTY, ALAMY, MIKE LAWN/SHUTTERSTOCK, J M HAEDRICH/SIPA/SHUTTERSTOCK, RW/MEDIAPUNCH/SHUTTERSTOCK, BRETT COVE/SOPA IMAGES/SHUTTERSTOCK
TURNING 50
Penélope Cruz actor,
below left
Vernon Kay TV and radio
presenter, right
Victoria Beckham singer and
fashion designer, below right
Edgar Wright film director
TURNING 60
Andy Bell musician (Erasure)
Andy Serkis actor
Fiona Bruce TV newsreader
and presenter, above
Gina McKee actor
Russell Crowe actor
TURNING 70
book
now
THEATRE
Kiss Me Kate
BARBICAN THEATRE,
LONDON
4 June-14 September
kissmekatemusical.com
Adrian Dunbar (Ridley, Line
of Duty) stars in this classic
musical comedy, which makes
THEATRE
The Cherry Orchard
DONMAR WAREHOUSE,
LONDON
26 April-22 June
donmarwarehouse.com
A doctor by trade,
Anton Chekhov is
widely considered
one of the greatest
writers of all time.
And now, his final
play, about the
decline of an
aristocratic family,
102
its long-awaited return to the
London stage. It marks the
65-year-old actor’s musical
theatre debut, starring with
Broadway superstar Stephanie
J Block (above with Dunbar)
in composer Cole Porter’s
Tony-award-winning show.
will be staged by Benedict
Andrews, a leading interpreter
of the Russian playwright. It
stars German actor Nina Hoss,
who appeared alongside
Cate Blanchett in the 2023
Oscar contender Tár, as
well as Baftawinning actor
Adeel Akhtar,
known for
his roles in
Sherwood,
Fool Me
Once and
Ali & Ava.
Captain Sensible singer/
songwriter (The Damned)
Dennis Quaid actor
Sir Iain Duncan-Smith
politician
Jackie Chan actor, above
Dame Jane Campion
film director
Jerry Seinfeld comedian
Michael Moore film-maker
TURNING 80
Dave Edmunds
singer/songwriter
John Sergeant broadcaster,
above
Tony Orlando singer
TURNING 90
Dame Jane Goodall
naturalist, above
Shirley
MacLaine
actor,
far right
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staying in
PODCAST
by S A R A H S H A N N O N
Ghost Story
As its name suggests, Ghost Story is a podcast
series with ghosts aplenty. A faceless ghost,
a ghost that shakes the bed, even a ghost that
moves a vase around the room. Luckily for the
sceptics among us, it’s also a captivating true
crime serial, and a study on how families deal
with their own history. How is it all these things?
Ghostly things happened in the childhood
bedroom of host Tristan Redman. Then he
heard about two other families who’d lived there
after him and experienced a faceless ghost
on the top floor. Next, it turns out his wife’s
great-grandmother was murdered in the house
next door, killed by two gunshots to the face.
The killing was ruled a murder-suicide, the
great-grandmother shot by her shell-shocked
brother who then cut his own throat. Redman
puts today’s detectives on the case, who suggest
that John Dancy, the great-grandfather revered
by the family, committed a double murder,
sending shockwaves through his wife’s family.
Redman brilliantly interweaves the elements of
the story, drip-feeding discoveries along the way.
RADIO
Classic FM
breakfast
with Dan
Walker
104
Is there a central casting directory marked
‘Classic FM male presenters’? Must be pleasantlooking, urbane, and the sort of chap that
would charm everyone at a vicar’s tea party
from the old war veteran to the young mum.
Those already in the line-up certainly fit
the mould. Alexander Armstrong. Tick!
Aled Jones. Tick! Alan Titchmarsh. Tick! And
now, here comes the station’s latest recruit,
Dan Walker (left). Double tick!
Walker is Classic FM’s new weekday
breakfast presenter. Early starts are
nothing new for the 46-year-old who
made his name on the BBC Breakfast
couch before moving across to host
the early-evening Channel 5 News.
He’s slipped into the new radio role
with all the professionalism you’d
expect. How much this former sports
and news presenter really loves
classical music remains to be seen,
but with his jolly anecdotes and nice
slots like ‘Dan Walker’s dog walker’
he’s certain to fit right in.
ON
THE
BOX
by B E N J I E G O O D H A R T
Ripley
(NETFLIX)
This new
eight-part
psychological
thriller, out
on 4 April
and starring
Andrew
Scott, is an
unsettling
and visually
stunning
adaptation
of Patricia
Highsmith’s
The Talented
Mr Ripley,
but every bit
the equal of
the 1999 film.
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
Scoop
our
pick
(NETFLIX)
It’s a fair bet
that Netflix is
not hugely popular in
Buckingham Palace.
Hot on the heels of the
last-ever season of The Crown
comes this riveting featurelength drama revealing how
BBC Newsnight journalists
landed the ‘scoop of the
decade’, an interview with
Prince Andrew about the
allegations arising from his
friendship with the disgraced
financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Newsnight producer
Sam McAlister clinched the
infamous 2019 interview, and
the film is based on chapters
W H AT ’ S O N / S TAY I N G I N
WE’RE LOVING...
Miners’ Strike
1984: The Battle
for Britain
PETER MOUNTAIN/NETFLIX, GETTY
A drama on that Prince Andrew interview, an odyssey
to Nigeria with Michael Palin, and a peek into the life of
a Roman emperor with Mary Beard are in store this April
in her book Scoops that
give an inside account of
the showdown.
Launching on 5 April, it
stars Gillian Anderson
as Emily Maitlis and Rufus
Sewell as Prince Andrew, ably
supported by a cast including
Billie Piper (playing McAlister),
and Keeley Hawes as the
Prince’s former private
secretary, Amanda Thirsk.
The interview itself, which
heralded the end of Prince
Andrew’s royal duties, was
described by a royal observer
as less a train wreck than ‘a
plane crashing into an oil
tanker, causing a tsunami,
triggering a nuclear
explosion level bad’.
Hot seat
Rufus Sewell
and Gillian
Anderson in
Scoop. Below:
Michael Palin
Michael Palin In Nigeria
(CHANNEL 5)
Following on from his awardwinning 2022 travelogue
series in Iraq, Michael Palin
once again dons his
sunhat and sets off
on another epic
adventure, this time
a 1,300-mile odyssey
through Nigeria.
With more than
220 million inhabitants,
a number projected to
double by 2050, the
‘Giant of Africa’ is
the continent’s most
populous nation, and
its biggest economy.
But it’s also a nation
beset with problems,
(CHANNEL 4)
It’s 40 years since Britain’s
biggest industrial dispute,
but for those involved,
it feels like yesterday.
The bitterness felt by
divided communities is
still raw, as evidenced
by this powerful and
profoundly sad three-part
documentary series.
including chronic poverty,
endemic corruption,
inequality, religious divides,
and the active threat from
the Islamist militant group
Boko Haram.
Travelling by road down
the spine of the country,
accompanied by armed
guards and with the everpresent threat of kidnap and
violence, the 80-year-old
Palin discovers the Nigeria
beyond the dismal headlines,
meeting the ordinary
Nigerians of this culturally
diverse, vibrant nation.
As ever, former Python
Palin is a charming delight,
and Nigeria is a fascinating,
complex subject.
105
W H AT ’ S O N / S TAY I N G I N
Meet the Emperor
Sleepless
nights
Richard
Armitage and
Jing Lusi in
Red Eye and,
below, Mary
Beard looks at
life as a Roman
emperor…
including what
went on in
the Imperial
bedroom
60 YEARS AGO… THE LAUNCH OF BBC TWO
The much-vaunted launch of
the nation’s third channel, on
20 April 1964, was ruined by
a fire at Battersea Power
Station causing a blackout at
the BBC’s Television Centre.
It meant only news bulletins,
106
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
broadcast from Alexandra
Palace, were shown.
As a result, the first full
programme appeared on the
channel at 11am the next day
– a new show for children,
called Play School.
BBC/LION TELEVISION/RUSSELL BARNES, ©BBC
Red Eye
(ITV1)
An overnight flight is never fun – plastic food,
cramped legroom, and that seat-kicking kid
behind you. But when people start showing up
dead in the aisles, you’ve really hit rock bottom
(at least until they bring out the next meal).
This riveting six-part thriller follows
Dr Matthew Nolan, played by Richard Armitage
(Fool Me Once) returning from a medical
conference in Beijing, only to be arrested at
Heathrow for a murder he vehemently denies.
He’s promptly put on a red-eye flight back
to China, accompanied by the Met’s finest,
no-nonsense DC Hana Li (Jing Lusi). But when
fellow passengers start dying, Li quickly
realises Nolan is in danger.
As with Apple TV+’s enjoyably daft recent
series Hijack, starring Idris Elba, the mounting
claustrophobia and tension on the plane is
intercut with similar intrigue on terra firma,
and the result is a fast-paced, twist-filled
delight. Fasten your seatbelts…
(BBC TWO)
Thanks to a social media trend last year that
prompted women to ask men how often they
think about the Roman Empire, we now know
the answer is that it’s on a startlingly regular
basis – for some up to several times a day. So
this eye-opening new one-off documentary
should garner plenty of interest.
Academic powerhouse Mary Beard travels
across Italy, examining the reality of life as
a Roman emperor – from the fabulous
banquets and armies of slaves, to what really
went on in the Imperial bedroom when the
torches were extinguished.
But, beneath the cloak of luxury, the top
job came with a side order of paranoia – and
not without reason: every one of the first
12 emperors was rumoured to have been
murdered. Something to get you thinking.
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BOOKS
It never rains but it pours
This month brings a spate of murders, a sojourn in dystopia, a blast
of inclement weather, and writing so good it’s a crime
CLOSE TO DEATH
Anthony Horowitz
Screenwriter for Midsomer
Murders, creator of Foyle’s
War and the teen spy Alex
Rider series, the incredible
Mr Horowitz once again plays
Watson to ex-DI Daniel
Hawthorne’s Holmes, when
loud, brash Giles Kenworthy
is shot dead with a crossbow
in a gated close in leafy
Richmond. It had to be an
‘inside job’, and the neighbours
have all been given grief by
the Kenworthy tribe. But
who, among the genteel and
civilised residents, could
possibly have perpetrated
such a cold-blooded deed?
What does each of them
have to hide? You sense the
author having great fun with
his avatar, expounding on the
‘locked-room’ subgenre,
the choice of third-person
narrative, and the crafting of
a good whodunnit, even as he
sweeps you up in the mystery
of it all. Such chutzpah!
LISTEN FOR THE LIE
Amy Tintera
THE MORNINGSIDE
Téa Obreht
When Lucy’s best friend, Savvy,
is murdered, and Lucy is found
wandering, injured, covered in
Savvy’s blood, everyone in her
small Texas town thinks she’s
guilty as sin, and podcaster
Ben Owens is bent on
uncovering the truth. How can
Lucy clear her name when
everything points to her?
Tintera cuts between podcast
and Lucy’s own appealing,
sardonic voice, delivering
improbable killer one-liners.
Displaced from their homeland,
in a not-too-distant future, Silvia
and her mother find sanctuary
with Aunt Ena in a once-luxury
tower block in drowning Island
City. Beguiled by Ena’s fanciful
stories, and lost in magical
thinking, Silvia fixates on the
mysterious Bezi Duras, who
lives in the penthouse with her
shape-shifting man-dogs.
Dystopia is sprinkled with fairy
dust by this young, talented,
US-based Yugoslavian author.
DAY ONE
Abigail Dean
IN ALL WEATHERS
Matt Gaw
As families grieve in the idyllic
lakeside Cumbrian town of
Stonesmere, in the wake of
a school shooting, ‘truthers’ are
out to expose the ‘hoax’. Teacher
Ava died a heroine, protecting
her pupils, but her daughter,
Marty, is trapped in a lie, and
conspiracy theorist Trent Casey
means to expose her. A beautifully
written and compassionate
literary page-turner with
empathy even for troubled Trent
from the author of the
phenomenal bestseller Girl A.
As the great Alfred Wainwright
didn’t quite say, there is no
such thing as bad weather, only
perspective. Here naturalist
Gaw wraps up warm to take
a walk on the wild side,
through wuthering winds on
the Yorkshire moors, fog
on Wicken Fen, sheeting
Cumbrian rain, snow on Skye,
and Suffolk ice, finding beauty
and excitement wherever he
treads. An exhilarating and
lyrical celebration of everything
nature throws at us Brits.
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
by R O S E
SHEPHERD
also available
as audiobook
109
letters
T H A N K S F O R W R I T I N G T O U S , W E L O V E H E A R I N G W H AT Y O U T H I N K
Top tip
One reader
has had
success
with a tip
by Nancy
Birtwhisle
(left) to make
laundry liquid
from conkers
(below)
with water pollution, perhaps
Mauritius is a more certain bet.
But the UK should not be
looked down upon. Indeed,
‘Why not go to the Isle of Wight
instead?’ I loved it so much
I ended up living in Seaview
for a while and still live on
the island. I feel fortunate to
be living in such a beautiful
place, generally with better
weather than much of the
rest of the UK. Mark’s fellow
columnist Hunter Davies has
an abode on the island, and
I am sure he would agree!
Janet Weston
Cowes, Isle of Wight
Holidays on home turf
£100
letter
Green clean
I was thrilled to see your article
about Nancy Birtwhistle and
her green living campaign
(January). I wasn’t a Bake Off
watcher when she won and so
I hadn’t heard of her – until she
appeared in my Instagram feed.
I had already been getting
more interested in green
cleaning products, so after
watching some of her reels
and trying out the tips,
I bought the book. One of the
more odd-sounding ideas was
laundry liquid from conkers,
but it happened to be conker
season, so I gave it a try. Guess
what? It works! I had already
converted to Ecover liquid,
but it’s jolly expensive, so now
I dilute it half and half with
conker liquid; using that
together with washing soda
and Nancy’s vinegar-based
110
conditioner, my laundry and
washing machine are sparkling.
Highly recommended.
At last, something good
comes out of social media.
Priscilla Heaton, London
Isle of plenty
I was interested to read Mark
Palmer’s column in the March
edition. As a child, I too
holidayed most years with my
parents in Seaview. I remember
the Orange Tree well.
While I have welcomed
being able to travel further,
I feel many people think they
haven’t had a holiday unless
it’s overseas. This
country has a lot to
offer, including the Isle
of Wight, although, of
course, the sun is never
guaranteed and with
our problems in the UK
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
Growing up in the 1940s and
1950s, I never had a holiday
with my parents. Dad was
a small-scale milk producer/
retailer, assisted by Mum.
They could not take time off
together, as the half-dozen
cows had to be milked and
the milk delivered around
our village. The solution was
railway ‘Runabout Tickets’. For
30 shillings, passengers had
unlimited travel for a week
over a certain area. During one
week of each summer holiday,
I had days out by steam train
with Mum, then on another
week, I’d travel with Dad.
Our usual destinations
were Bournemouth, Swanage
or Weymouth. My favourite
days were taking a paddle
steamer from Bournemouth
to Swanage, returning via the
Swanage-Wareham branch
line with its push me, pull
you tank engines.
As a youngster,
I never expected to
travel overseas, much
less spend six weeks
touring New Zealand
in my seventies, one
of many wonderful
holidays in later life.
Gerald Ponting (age 84)
Chandler�s Ford, Hampshire
H AV E Y O U R S AY
Partners
in crime
William
Ballantyne
and Wopsie
the cat
KEN MCKAY/ITV/SHUTTERSTOCK, SHUTTERSTOCK
Incredible journey
I’m sure at some stage every
reader finds an article in Saga
Magazine that resonates with
them. For me, the mention of
East Fortune Airfield (Letters,
February) piqued my interest.
It was from here in July 1919
that the R34 airship flew to
the US, completing the first
ever east-west air crossing of
the Atlantic. The R34 was
built near Glasgow and one
of those involved in its flight
preparation was William
Ballantyne, my wife’s first
cousin once removed.
Many dignitaries took part
in this historic flight, but it was
decided that some of the
workers should also be on
board; a ballot took place, but
William missed out.
Not to be deterred, he
decided to stowaway. He hid
in the rigging among the gas
bags, taking with him the
airship’s mascot, Wopsie the
cat. It was a precarious place,
but they survived to emerge
nearly a day later in
mid-Atlantic much to the
annoyance of the captain.
Word got out in the US and
when the R34 landed at
Mineola, Long Island, the
press and public regaled
William and Wopsie as
heroes. I have always been
enthralled by the derring-do
of this story, and the history
of the flight itself.
David Drake, Leeds
You’re all talking about...
THE VAUXHALL WYVERN
The height of luxury
Your article about taking
a driving test in a Vauxhall
Wyvern (February) brought
back memories, as I took
my driving test in the Velox
version in March 1955. I was
told on the way to the test
that the handbrake cable
had broken, which made
the hill start interesting.
I felt the article was
unkind to the Wyvern as it
might be seen as clunky
now, but it was part of the
generation of cars that were
designed and built after the
war – compared to pre-war
cars, it was the height of
luxury. The bench seat
and steering column gear
change allowed three
people to sit in the front.
I loved it so much I bought
a Wyvern in 1958. I now
have a modern automatic
and I’m still driving but
not much these days.
Tony Pye, North Somerset
Rust bucket
I was in the RAF when I
purchased a 1953 Vauxhall
Wyvern. The rear bumper
on was on the back seat
and the seller said, ‘It just
needed bolting back on’.
I didn’t ask why it wasn’t on
in the first place. When
refitting it with a friend, we
discovered the mounting
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
brackets were still on the
bumper instead of under
the car. I later discovered
that I wasn’t alone with
a rusting Vauxhall as they
developed a reputation as
‘rot boxes’ (thankfully, no
more). It failed its first
MOT. The missing rear
bumper brackets should
have been very near the
rear spring shackles. The
garage said that if I could
replace the rear spring
bushes in the spring
shackles without the
underside of the car
collapsing, it would pass.
My friend and I succeeded.
It passed its MOT and
continued its time
without a rear bumper.
Eric Heavisides
Stokenham, Devon
Fond memories
I learned to drive in
a Vauxhall Wyvern with
right-hand steering. Initially
my father taught me and my
first challenge was hill
starts. We’d first head for a
tobacconist so he could buy
a pack of Senior Service,
then on to a quiet hill where
the lesson would begin, my
father puffing away anxiously
as I performed the hill start.
And in those days (c.1964),
you also had to do a hand
signal out of the window as
you pulled away from the
kerb. I passed second time.
Our Wyvern is remembered
with affection.
Marilyn
Jackson
London
111
Pill popping
I found your Let’s Talk...
Prescription Drugs article
(March) fascinating, and
Hunter Davies’ Old Age,
Young Love revelations
about how many pills he
and his partner Miranda
take even more so.
When my father died, aged
94, he was on 14 different
tablets. I will be 80 this
summer and am currently on
eight. I just hope that I don’t
need to reach my dad’s grand
total, although I am amazed
and grateful about what
modern medicine can do.
David Savage
Ockendon, Essex
a day, not five. Two are firmly
advised to be taken before
breakfast. The third is
incompatible with one
of the first two and must be
taken as far apart as possible.
So that’s the one I take
in the evening.
Eric Woods
Sturminster Newton, Dorset
Box clever
I really enjoy Hunter Davies’
column each month and was
so pleased when he found
Miranda. But Hunter, please
do not be swayed by the
argument against the little
plastic boxes for your pills.
When I receive my
prescription with about the
same number of tablets as
you, it takes me a maximum
of 15 minutes to undo the
boxes and place them all in
their rightful place. I have
separate spaces in my box for
morning and afternoon, and
each day I just pick up the
relevant one and take the
pills. Then when I go away,
I just take the number of
boxes needed in my luggage.
Why would you spend
time every morning (or
evening) opening each box,
taking out the pill, putting
it down, taking out the next?
Then taking them all with
you when you go away?
Then counting to see if
you’ve taken them when
you can just look at the
dated box? No! No! Please
stand up to Miranda on
this one.
Jenny Spear
Cardiff
Take a seat
Could
another Saga
reader soon
be sitting in
the iconic
Mastermind
black chair?
Unhelpful advice
It was irresponsible of
Hunter Davies to
suggest that we
of a certain age
should take all our
medication before bed.
Unlike Hunter, I only
have to take three pills
112
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
A true mastermind
Thank you for inspiring an
adventure. After your
interview with Clive Myrie
(January 2023), and a call
out for Mastermind
contestants two months
later, I decided to apply for
the 2023/24 series. Choosing
specialist subjects was hard,
but I enjoyed the challenge
of the general knowledge
auditions. I love Thomas
Hardy, so once I had been
chosen for the show, revision
started! Filming was straight
after a cruise, so that was
spent studying not partying.
The studio experience was
great, and really joyous when
I won with a big gap between
me and the other contestants.
I chose Mary Shelley as
my semi-final subject.
Unfortunately, the semi-final
was the end of my experience,
but it has all been wonderful.
As a woman of 66, with
very limited mobility, I felt
I proved there is life in the
old dog yet. Thanks again
Saga for prompting me to
challenge myself.
Julie Ashcroft, Rugby
If you would like to take
part in the next series
of Mastermind, request
an application form at
Mastermind.HTH@
hattrick.com or visit the
‘Take Part’ page at bbc.co.uk.
GETTY, ALAMY, SHUTTERSTOCK, NATIONAL MUSEUMS OF SCOTLAND
No digital attraction
Regarding landlines (Saga
Voices, February), we live in
rural North Devon and our
mobile phones can only make
calls from a few areas, mainly
towns. Recently, I was at
North Devon Hospital A&E
and was unable to make a call
on my mobile from inside or
outside the building. Several
neighbours, like us, use Wi-Fi
calling, which is not possible
during the many power cuts
that we have. Additionally,
Wi-Fi calling fluctuates,
especially in wet and windy
conditions, of which North
Devon is renowned. We often
have to go up and down the
lane trying to get a signal.
In the future, how do we
make emergency calls
with no landline?
Wendy King
Stevenstone, Devon
H AV E Y O U R S AY
Good shout
Thank you for the fabulous
Lulu article (February).
I saw Lulu at a CarFest festival
several years ago and she was
fantastic! Her voice was
still powerful, and she was
bouncing around the stage
with the energy of someone
half her age. Well done
for interviewing her, and
well done to Lulu for being
just fabulous.
Chrissy Thompson
Wakefield, Yorkshire
Wise words
‘I’m not worried about what
I don’t have, or what I didn’t
get, what I didn’t do. What
a waste of time! Just be grateful
and see the joy.’ Wise words
indeed from Lulu. I still
remember, as a 13-year-old,
being mesmerised by Lulu on
Top of the Pops in January
1974. Super-cool and ultrachic, she was performing
one of her biggest hits,
the David Bowie classic
The Man Who Sold
the World, with its
haunting sax, as
memorable in its own
way as the one from
Gerry Rafferty’s
Baker Street four
years later. So,
many thanks
for the happy
memories, Lulu.
I hope that you
keep rocking
well into your
eighties!
Phil Partridge
North Devon
Pet name
Susie Dent’s research
into the ‘lexicon of love’
(March) reminded me of
my late mother’s pet term
for me when I was small.
Maybe I looked good
enough to eat? At any
rate, and much to my
embarrassment when other
children were within
earshot, she always called me
‘Mummy’s little buttered bun’.
Maggie Cobbett
Ripon, Yorkshire
Love struck
Susie Dent’s article on odd
terms of endearment (March)
brought back memories of
the Seventies, when I taught
at a secondary school. On
Valentine’s Day I received
a card saying:
I love you my darling,
I love you almighty
I wish my pyjamas were
next to your nightie
Now, don’t be mistaken.
And don’t be misled
I mean on the clothesline
and not in a bed
This caused much mirth
both in the classroom and
the staff room, but it occurs
to me that these days the
sender – a 16-year-old boy
– would be offered
counselling, while I would
no doubt ignominiously
lose my post.
A. Barrington
Thame, Oxfordshire
Singing
their praises
Lulu (left) is
a hit. And a
reader shares
an easy way
to get your
daily dose
of olive oil
No more delays
The article in the
February issue
about discharging
delays proves how
short-sighted it
was to close the
wonderful
cottage hospitals.
One huge, missed
opportunity
was not to use the
Nightingale
hospitals, which
were built to deal
with Covid during the
pandemic and are
now being used for
other purposes.
Shirley Nightingale
Bolton, Greater
Manchester
Just add oil
Regarding the health feature
in the February issue on the
benefits of consuming olive oil
each day, readers may like to
try the following. My daily
breakfast is a homemade bowl
of muesli consisting of
chopped nuts, a dessert spoon
of mixed seeds, a sprinkling of
raisins, 3 dessert spoons of
porridge oats, 1-2 dessert
spoons of extra virgin olive oil,
milk and topped with fruit.
The oil gives the dish a lovely
creamy taste. Try it on other
cereals too.
Linda Moore
Andover, Hampshire
Time for change
Send us a
letter*
Email us at
editor@
saga.co.uk
with Letters
in the subject
line.
Or write to
us at Saga
Magazine,
3 Pancras
Square,
London
N1C 4AG
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
I applaud Paul Lewis for his
article in the February issue
about suggested changes to
the state pension. I have been
retired for nearly 20 years
and I have sufficient pensions
(state and private) to live
comfortably. Not everyone
can save for a private pension
to supplement their state
pension. I totally agree
with the changes he proposes
and can only hope that
the government listens to
his suggestions.
Kate Carpenter
Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire
For more information on the
cost of retirement, see Paul
Lewis’ article on page 83.
113
*We welcome
your letters,
but reserve
the right to
edit them.
Please
include
your email
address
Missed out
I was interested to read Susan
Hunter’s letter, A Fairer
System (March). I also think
that a percentage system is
unfair. I do not get a full
pension as I stupidly paid
a reduced married women’s
rate for a few years when my
family was young. I was only
employed for four hours a
week for 20 weeks a year. I felt
at the time that it would not
be worth working at all if
I paid the full contribution.
What is really galling and
upsetting is that if I had not
worked at all, I would have
been credited for those years
as a stay-at-home mum!
Barbara Reed, Maidstone, Kent
Problem answered
I, too, was in the same
situation as Peter Masterman’s
wife (Letters, March). I was
a nurse until I married
my husband, who was in the
army. We also moved around a
114
Beep talking
I haven’t noticed this subject
raised anywhere, but why does
everything beep? We recently
bought a kettle, which beeps
when it’s picked up, put back
on the stand, when the
temperature is set, when we
press start and three times
when it reaches temperature.
The hob beeps when touched,
the air fryer positively shrieks
at every set, start and stop.
The same with the freezer and
fridge when it deems it’s been
open long enough. Our
vacuum cleaner charger,
dishwasher, toaster and car…
This might be helpful to
someone with sight problems,
but why the repetition instead
of a single note? Why so loud?
We hear of silent applause to
Cold-water
swim
Wendy
Shehan�s
Saga cruise
snap (above)
Regarding euphemisms
(Susie Dent, February), our
family favourite was from the
WI. When a clerical meeting
was in progress and someone
wished to ‘pay a call’, they’d
stand up and announce: ‘I am
just going to turn the vicar’s
bicycle round!’
Sally Hayter
Salisbury, Wiltshire
SHUTTERSTOCK
I thought your readers would
like to see this photo taken
on Christmas Day on board
Saga’s Spirit of Discovery,
moored in Oslo (above). No
takers for the sunbeds that
day! We had a wonderful
cruise and were thoroughly
spoiled by all the crew.
Magnificent.
Wendy Shehan
Ringwood, Hampshire
Meeting adjourned
great deal – 28 times! A career
of any kind was impossible.
When I reached retirement
age, my pension was also nil.
However, when my husband
reached retirement age,
I then received the basic
pension based on his National
Insurance contributions.
I don’t remember having to
apply for this. I’m pretty sure
that I received it from the
Department for Work and
Pensions as a right. Could Mrs
Masterman’s situation have
somehow slipped through the
net? Perhaps a call to DWP
may answer some questions.
Joan Padkin, Leicestershire
CALLING ALL
CENTENARIANS
Have you reached your 100th birthday
or do you know any friends or family
who have? We’d love to hear from you for
a feature we’re planning about the secrets to
longevity. So, if you’re 100 years or older or
know someone who is and would be happy to
speak to us, please email editor@saga.co.uk
with ‘Centenarians’ as the subject line or
write to us at the address on page 113.
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
ALAMY
Chilly dip
respect the sensitivities of
some audience members at
meetings but in our homes
we are assailed by sudden
loud warnings of largely
insignificant happenings.
We’ve used a kettle for
decades without needing to
know that we’ve put it on its
stand. Is it just us?
Jean Foxall
Penarth, South Glamorgan
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ADVERTISING FEATURE
Relocating and
rediscovering
purpose
A widow, who relocated
to be closer to her son,
says she managed to
find purpose again with
the help of her local
Oddfellows friendship
group.
In 2013, Marilyn Hayward (82)
took the life-changing decision
to move from Sidcup to Woodley,
near Reading, after her husband
died and a later back injury
hindered her independence.
She soon discovered that most
residents in the retirement
complex she’d moved into had
existing friendship groups, so she
went to local churches and social
groups but couldn’t find the right
fit.
Beginning to lose hope, Marilyn
admitted that, for the first time in
her life, she felt lonely.
Then, in 2016, she discovered a
Thames and Kennet Oddfellows
friendship group was starting up
in Woodley and decided she had
nothing to lose by giving it a go.
Marilyn said: “Everyone was so
friendly. They took the time to
speak to me and ask me questions
about myself.
“You feel like you belong. Like
you’re not the new girl on the
block.”
She joined and said she “went to
everything going”. And added: “I’d
help out in the kitchen and they
appreciated it. I felt like I had a
purpose.
“I went to dinners and met people
from other areas and they were
friendly too. I liked being able to
get dressed up. All that stopped
when my husband died.”
The Oddfellows is one of the UK’s
largest friendly societies, with
around 37,000 members across
A FRESH START: Marilyn, pictured centre, enjoying spending time with new
friends at the Oddfellows
its 99 branches. It’s a non-profit
mutual (membership from £25
a year) run by members, for
members, to improve the quality of
people’s lives.
Its branches offer support to
members by organising regular
social events, including talks, walks
and quizzes, as well as offering
volunteering opportunities and a
travel club. Members also benefit
from wellbeing support and advice
with dedicated helplines.
Thames and Kennet Oddfellows
Branch Secretary, Karen Dyke,
said: “Marilyn is now an integral
part of many groups. I’m so glad
that she found us, and I know she
feels the same way.
“Moving to a new area can be
daunting, especially when you
don’t know many people, but we
always provide a friendly face and
a warm welcome.”
Marilyn added: “I’m not sure
where I’d be without the
Oddfellows. It’s not just a part of
my life, it is my life.”
To learn more about the
Oddfellows and to receive a free
information pack and local events
diary, call 0800 028 1810 or email
enquiries@oddfellows.co.uk.
www.oddfellows.co.uk/newstart.
*Terms and conditions apply to
all member benefits and services.
For details, visit www.oddfellows.
co.uk/terms-conditions, or call
0800 028 1810.
Moved recently?
Press play
on your
new start
Get to know some new faces
and places at your local
Oddfellows friendship group.
For your free
local information pack
FREEPHONE
0800 028 1810
Settling into a new home and community takes time. If you’re
looking for ways to meet people who share the same interests,
or to take part in some activities or social events in your new area,
why not give your local Oddfellows friendship group a try?
9am-5pm Mon to Thurs, 9am-4pm Fri
oddfellows.co.uk/newstart
We’re always ready to welcome new members.
Find out what’s happening in your new neighbourhood.
Media ref: 2116
The Oddfellows is the trading name of The Independent Order of Odd Fellows Manchester Unity Friendly Society Limited, incorporated and registered in England and Wales
No 223F. Registered Office Oddfellows House, 184 – 186 Deansgate, Manchester M3 3WB.
grey matters
More puzzles!
There are loads more
puzzles on the
Saga Magazine app.
Download from your
app store today!
PRIZE CROSSWORD
£250
prize
PRIZE CROSSWORD / CRYPTIC CROSSWORD / SUDOKU /
CODEBREAKER / SET SQUARE / ADD A LET TER /
WORD WHEEL / WORDSEARCH / PUB QUIZ / ANSWERS
ACROSS
DOWN
1 African tree with
a very large trunk (6)
5 Flowery‑patterned
cotton fabric (6)
10 Greek Muse of
love poetry usually
depicted with a lyre (5)
11 Puppet in striped
pyjamas first seen
on TV in 1950 (4,5)
12 Greek yogurt and
cucumber dip (8)
13 Protruding wall of
a chimney (6)
15 Phoenician god of
fertility (4)
16 Tailed amphibian
mythically related
with fire (10)
18 Composer of 1962
musical Blitz! (6,4)
20 Uttar Pradesh city on
the River Yamuna (4)
23 French physicist
after whom the
SI unit of electric
current is named (6)
24 American car make
that produces the
models Escalade
and Lyriq (8)
26 Film from 1997 with
Peter Fonda and
Patricia Richardson
as its stars (5,4)
27 Surname of the
writer imprisoned
in Reading Gaol
for 18 months (5)
28 Renault SUV model
produced in various
forms since 1984 (6)
29 Name given to the
ninth of Elgar’s
Variations (6)
2 The driest non‑polar
desert in the world (7)
3 Common alloy
that contains
approximately
88% copper (6)
4 Highly venomous
snake of sub‑Saharan
Africa (5,5)
5 Magistrate in Muslim
countries (4)
6 Old typewriter
company founded in
Leicester in 1911 (8)
7 Parliament of the
Isle of Man (7)
8 The Roman name for
Winchester (5,8)
9 Coastal wading
bird of the genus
Haematopus (13)
14 The most successful
snooker player of
the 1970s (3,7)
17 USA’s ‘Cornhusker
State’ (8)
19 Mythical husband
of Eurydice (7)
21 Discoverer of the
four main moons
of Jupiter (7)
22 Dome‑shaped
dwelling formerly
used by Native
Americans (6)
25 Point on a plant
where a leaf is
attached to a stem (4)
To enter
Email a scan or a good photo of your entry, using General Knowledge
Crossword (April) in the subject line, and send it, with your name
and address, to crosswords@saga.co.uk. Or cut out the crossword
(no photocopies) and post it with your name and address attached
to: General Knowledge Crossword (April), Saga Publishing,
PO Box 252, Seaham DO, SR7 1BL. Closing date: 26 April 2024
SUDOKU
Place each of the digits
1 to 9 in each row, column
and 3x3 box. There is only
one solution.
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
121
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Tenterden, Westwood Cross; Leicestershire Market Harborough; Middlesex Pinner; Norfolk Diss; Northants Towcester;
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PUZZLES
Codebreaker
SET SQUARE
Place each of the digits 1-9 in the grid
to make the sums work. We’ve started
you with two numbers. Note that the
mathematical rule of BIDMAS/BODMAS
does not apply to Set Square puzzles.
Each number in the grid represents a different letter. We’ve
given you two letters to start you off, which show that 7=C
and 24=O. Write these letters wherever their corresponding
numbers appear in the grid and then begin to work out the
identity of the other letters. All 26 letters of the alphabet will
appear in the finished puzzle.
ADD A LETTER
Rearrange the letters and add one to these
words to make five-letter words that fit the
clues. The added letters will spell a word.
SLAG
Tumbler
CASK
Rough hut
MARL
Tooth that grinds food
SEAT
Use uneconomically
SALT
Opposite of ‘most’
ALUM
Wall picture
WORD WHEEL
See how many words of four letters or
more you can make using the central
letter in each word and the other letters
only once in each word. You can make at
least one word by using all the letters.
No proper names are allowed, and all
words are from the Collins Dictionary.
GOOD: 8
EXCELLENT: 11
BRILLIANT: 13
GREAT SCORE FOR KIDS: 8
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
123
PUZZLES
The pub
From song lyrics to a scientist
and a Scottish historical figure,
test your knowledge with
this month�s tricky teasers
18
2 Which industry is heavily
based around the southern
French city of Grasse?
3 Who was photographed in
Los Angeles in 1995
holding the number
BK 4454813 06 27 95?
4 In which country is the site of
the Chernobyl nuclear reactor?
5 What distinctive part of
a Foreign Legionnaire’s
uniform is called a havelock,
named after Sir Henry
Havelock, a British
major-general who served in
India during the Mutiny.
6 Snooker in Jabalpur in India in
1875. Cricket, according
to legend, in Hambledon in
Hampshire in the early
18th century. Which sport
began at the George Hotel in
Huddersfield in August 1895?
7 Jimmy Tarbuck, David Frost,
Geoffrey Boycott, Norman
Tebbit, Gareth Edwards, Barry
John, Johnny Speight, Alan
Minter and Stewart Granger,
among others. They all chose
which notorious record,
the egomaniac’s theme tune,
on Desert Island Discs?
8 Which designer, now aged 84,
launched the Polo range of
clothing in the late 1960s?
9 Which Oscar-winning
actor is the sister
of Oscar-winning
actor-director
Warren Beatty?
10 And for which 1983 film,
a comedy-drama directed
by James L Brooks, did she
win that Oscar?
16 What word is an American
dance of the 1920s, a kind of
tobacco, a variety of carpet pile
and a species of cormorant,
among other things?
9
17 ‘From nine to five, I have to
spend my time at work.
My job is very boring, I’m an
office clerk.’ Where would
she rather be?
6
11 Frederick Forsyth’s first
novel was The Day of the
Jackal, published in 1971.
It describes an assassination
attempt on which real-life
political leader?
7
12 Which English writer of
world-famous children’s
fiction started out life, and
also ended it, with the name
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson?
18 Which mathematician
and scientist from the
17th/18th century
identified and named the colours of
the rainbow? He started with five
and added orange and indigo later.
19 On which river, famous from
ancient times, does the city
of Baghdad stand?
20 ‘Humidity is rising.
Barometer’s getting
low. According to all
sources, the street’s the place to
go.’ Why should this be? This
song was turned down by
Donna Summer, Grace
Jones, Diana Ross,
Cher, Chaka Khan,
Aretha Franklin,
Gloria Gaynor and Barbra
Streisand, among others.
13 What was the name of the
bank that rogue trader
Nick Leeson brought to
its knees in 1995?
14 Mel Gibson’s 1995 film
Braveheart was a slightly
fanciful account of the life
of which Scottish
historical figure?
15 You leave the
port of Fleetwood
124
and you drive to Lytham St
Annes. Which is the largest
town you drive through?
20
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
Answers on p127
MIKE LAWN/SHUTTERSTOCK, J M HAEDRICH/SIPA/SHUTTERSTOCK, GETTY, ALAMY, BRETT COVE/SOPA IMAGES/SHUTTERSTOCK
1 What’s due back on 28 July 2061
and not before?
by M A R C U S B E R K M A N N
PUZZLES
CRYPTIC CROSSWORD
WORDSEARCH
Find all the words below (horizontal, vertical,
diagonal, forwards and backwards) associated
with flowers.
BY FELIX
£100
prize
ACROSS
DOWN
Undesirable place of the
French politician (4)
3 Service yard and stable (6)
8 After shredding use basil
and boil a soup (13)
9 Officer commanding little
even-numbered group (5)
10 Endlessly desire to get rid
of coarse fabric (7)
12 Wooer having diamonds,
say, and gold (6)
13 Out-and-out pledge to
ignore leader (6)
15 Well-conditioned guys
head to this piece of kit (7)
16 Author enters very big
competitions (5)
18 Avid fans have these
snacks – see to it that’s
arranged (6,7)
20 Girl disheartened with
constant desire for hiccup (6)
21 Shock when potty’s
turned over (4)
1 Thrash on sibling’s guitar (5)
2 Horse isn’t right, having
1
3
4
5
6
7
11
12
14
17
19
trouble making way through
range (8,5)
Bandage that man after heavy
blow (6)
Day after alcohol, not fully
present (3)
Belittling Democrat is standard,
a fellow besetting me (13)
Joyous old boys in bash mingle
on vacation (8)
Archbishop wagered holding
cards with no diamonds (6)
By necessity, entertain people
shortly before church (8)
Seeing that erected with iron
and stone is most secure (6)
Least scrap of clothing
ultimately embarrasses little
person (6)
Antelope from South Africa
stray (5)
Uncovered path not in use (3)
ALLIUM
AZALEA
BERBERIS
BLUEBELL
CAMELLIA
COWSLIP
CROCUS
DAFFODIL
DAPHNE
HYACINTH
IRIS
LILY
MAGNOLIA
PRIMROSE
PRIMULA
TULIP
To enter
Email a scan or a good photo of your entry, using Cryptic Crossword
(April) in the subject line and send it, with your name and
address, to crosswords@saga.co.uk. Or cut out the crossword
(no photocopies) and post it with your name and address attached
to: Cryptic Crossword (April), Saga Publishing, PO Box 252,
Seaham DO, SR7 1BL. Closing date: 26 April 2024
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
125
PUZZLES
Solutions
FEBRUARY
February Cryptic
Crossword
£100 winner:
Robert Ripley,
Barnes
February General
Knowledge Prize
Crossword
£250 winner:
Tessa and Mark
Taylor, Sheffield
THIS MONTH’S ANSWERS
Word wheel
Codebreaker
Wordsearch
4-letter words
Beet, bite, cite, cove, jive,
veto, vice, vote
1
2
3
4
5
5-letter words
Covet, eject, evict, voice
6-letter word
Object
9-letter word
OBJECTIVE
Sudoku
Add
a letter
Glass
Shack
Molar
Waste
Least
Mural
SHOWER
Saga
pub quiz
Set square
More puzzles!
There are many
more puzzles
on the Saga
Magazine app.
Download
from the
app store
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
Halley’s comet
Perfumery
Hugh Grant
Ukraine
The neck flap
at the back of
the cap
6 Rugby league
7 My Way
8 Ralph Lauren
9 Shirley
MacLaine
10 Terms of
Endearment
11 General
Charles
de Gaulle
12 Lewis Carroll
13 Barings
14 William
Wallace
15 Blackpool
16 Shag
17 Echo Beach
18 Sir Isaac
Newton
19 Tigris
20 It’s Raining
Men
127
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GUEST COLUMN
The world according to…
John Lydon
The former Sex Pistol, aka Johnny Rotten, 68, on losing his
wife Nora to Alzheimer’s and his UK spoken-word tour
W
AS TOLD TO LINA DAS. GETTY, ALAMY
hen my lovely Nora died last
Splashing the cash
April, at the age of 80, it was
It’s hilarious to me that I’m 68. When I turned
like half of me went with her.
21, I locked the doors, pulled down the shades
After she was diagnosed with
and cried. I thought my life was over. Everybody
Alzheimer’s in 2018, I took
knew not to ring me on my birthday or buy me
care of her. There were moments when it tore
presents. I live in Malibu, California, but haven’t
me apart. I needed helpers in at least one day
embraced the lifestyle of diet and exercise. Nora
a week, just so I could sit down and stop running
used to drag me for long walks on the beach, but
around for a bit. It was chaotic, frustrating and
I’ve got a dodgy, arthritic ankle, so walking
mind-numbingly draining, but I loved
on the sand would knock me out for
taking care of her. I miss it like mad.
a week. But I did love swimming in our
‘God Save the Queen
When I was seven, I almost died from
pool, which was heated to 87˚F (30˚C).
meningitis and lost my memory
The electricity bill was about 800 quid
was
never
personal,
it
was
for four years, so I understood how
a week. The electricity board actually
about the institution’
Nora [below] felt on a much deeper
rang up wanting to know why so much
level. But she never forgot who I was.
power was being used in our house.
Nothing compares
Royal wrangling
I still talk to Nora and I don’t care if people think
I’m mad. I was watching Gosford Park the other
day and Maggie Smith was sensational in it, so
I turned to Nora’s favourite chair and asked: ‘Did
you catch that, Nor?’ We met when I was 19 [Nora
was 33] and we just automatically knew we’d be
together. I do regret that we didn’t have children,
but we lost one and that was that. I was never
unfaithful to her. This was an angel who landed
right in front of me – no one could compare.
Her last day was really painful for her. She
was very short of breath and uncomfortable and
I knew the end was coming. It was awfully hard
in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.
Her heart stopped a few times and she was on
respirators, being artificially kept alive. They
said to me: ‘We really can’t do any more. Do we
have your permission to stop?’ and God, what
a question to have to answer. It was one of the
most awful moments of my life.
I had to give permission because she was in
real pain and it would have been selfish to
expect her to go on suffering like that. I have
intense dialogues with myself, wondering if
I’ll be reunited with Nora when I die – logic
tells me no, but sometimes I think, yes.
She was brilliantly caring, dressed
fabulously, was kind and sweet-natured.
I’m not religious, but only God could
have created someone that perfect.
People think the Sex Pistols’ song God Save
the Queen was an attack on her but I’ve spent
the last 40-odd years explaining it was never
personal – it was about the institution. By all
accounts, she was a lovely person and I was
upset when she died. As for Harry and Meghan,
I don’t want to be judgemental, but it’s very hard
to think kindly towards them when they’re
so damn nasty to their own families. You can’t
disrespect your parents and grandparents like
that. And writing a kiss-and-tell book about your
family [Prince Harry’s Spare]? God, that’s mean.
John Lydon’s
tour I Could
Be Wrong,
I Could Be
Right will
be in the UK
from 1 May
to 29 June
(johnlydon.
com). Public
Image Ltd’s
11th album,
End of World,
is out now
Back on stage
My friend and manager, Johnny ‘Rambo’ Stevens,
also died last year. I’m living alone now, but I can
still hear both him and Nora in my head saying,
‘Get up and do something!’, so I’m coming
to the UK to do my spoken-word tour. I’ve done
about three of these now and I go on stage,
unprepared, unscripted but ready to share my
life’s experience and I answer questions from
the audience about anything from the early
days to life with my band, Public Image Ltd.
It’s like going to a strange pub, chatting
to the locals and finding out you’ve got
loads in common.
Now, more than ever, I need to share
my feelings with people. I’m slowly
starting to find myself again.
129
VIEWPOINT
Word to the wise
by S U S I E D E N T
This month our lexicographer gets her teeth into some words that
describe foods – and reveals some surprisingly unsavoury origins
T
he late, great Tommy Cooper once
quipped: ‘My wife said, “Take
me in your arms and whisper
something soft and sweet.” I said,
“Chocolate fudge”.’ I doubt many
of us would be disappointed
by anyone bringing us a sweet treat once in
a while: as the saying goes, the only thing
better than a friend, is a friend with chocolate.
How strange then that the name of this
delicious confection that has sustained me
for years began with a word from the Aztecs
that meant something like ‘bitter water’.
But if there’s one thing I have learned as
an etymologist, it’s that the origins of our
words seldom go the way we expect them
to. And the lexicon of food is no exception.
Did you know, for example, that the
literal meaning of a croque monsieur,
that delicious French cheese and ham
toastie, is ‘bite a gentleman’? Perhaps
we should opt instead for an Italian
calzone, the delicious stuffed pizza,
except this name rather bizarrely
translates as ‘trouser leg’, because
that is apparently what it looks like.
I hate to linger further on the
unpalatable side, but I remember
feeling a smidgen of vegetarian
smugness when I learned that the
Latin botellus – sausage – is the
origin of ‘botulism’. And staying with
unexpected relatives, a tasty French
baguette is actually a kissing cousin
of ‘bacteria’: both come from ancient
words meaning ‘little staff’, because
the first bacteria to be discovered were
rod-shaped, and because a baguette is
essentially a little stick.
Fancy some ketchup on your
sausages? Were you to stick with its
Chinese origins in the word kê-chiap,
you would be tucking into the ‘brine of
pickled fish’. Surely you’d be safer with
lasagne, but I hate to tell you that its
name descends from the Latin lasanum,
meaning ‘chamber pot’. Evidently
130
a Roman chef served up something not to
everyone’s taste, and the word was transferred to
his cooking pot, then to the dish served in it.
Animals get a look-in too. Burrito is Spanish
for ‘little donkey’ because a folded tortilla looks
a little like the pack a donkey might carry on its
back. Porcini (as in mushrooms) means ‘little pigs’
because they plump up in liquid, and rollmops
– short, stubby herrings wrapped round a gherkin
– is of German extraction and translates literally
as ‘pug-nosed dogs’. Worse
still, the fragrant coriander
‘I remember
may have its roots in a Greek
feeling a
word for ‘bedbug’, because
smidgen of
the tiny horned seeds of the
coriander flower look like
vegetarian
the antennae of little insects.
smugness
Time surely to turn to some
when I learned sweeter origins. Many of us
know the coffee in a tiramisu
that the Latin gave the pudding its name,
which is Italian for ‘pick me
for sausage
up’. Also from Italy is the tasty
is the origin
ciabatta, whose name literally
of “botulism”’ means ‘slipper’. And among my
favourite foodie origins is the
word pretzel, which rather beautifully comes
from the Latin for ‘folded arms’ thanks to its
twisty shape; it’s said the doughy treats were
designed by European monks as symbols
of arms folded in prayer.
Pasta, of course, comes in all shapes,
and its names never disappoint. Vermicelli
is Italian for ‘little worms’, farfalle means
‘butterflies’, penne is ‘quills’ or ‘feathers’,
orecchietti are ‘little ears’, and linguini, ‘little
tongues’. Spaghetti is ‘little strings’.
You will find stories like these in almost every
ingredient on our plates, no matter whether we’ve
plumped for a Welsh rarebit (originally ‘Welsh
rabbit’, an insult implying that the Celts couldn’t
afford meat) or an expensive sirloin steak (not,
disappointingly, from the knighting of a great
piece of beef by a happy king, but it’s a good story).
Knowing where our food really comes from
can add zest and zing to a meal. Then again, if it
involves lasagne, some facts are best forgotten.
SAGA MAGAZI N E • APRI L 2024
Introducing the new
Knaresborough
Collection
The Knaresborough 2.5 Seater Sofa, shown in Sophie Floral Amber and Burrows Ottoman, shown in Forfar Stripe Moss.
Visit your local showroom, browse online or contact us to arrange a free Home Visit.
Call 01924 507050 | Visit hslchairs.com | Quote: SAG24