Clanger_july2011

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THEBEDFORDCLANGER

ISSUE 2: JULY 2011

For: music-lovers, culture-vultures, crafters, artists, makers,

gardeners, traders, foodies, fashionistas

email: [email protected] blog:thebedfordclanger.wordpress.comtwitter:@bedfordclanger facebook: The Bedford Clanger Group Page

FREE

Your finger-on-the-pulse, indispensable guide to what’s going down in this town.

Illustration by: Marisa Straccia



Welcome to the

July issue of

The BedfordClanger, which,

as I’m sure you’ve

gleaned from the

front cover, is a

Bedfringe special.Not only have we got details of every

single show that’s on offer from 15th

– 30th July, we’ve also interviewed

local group the Ouse Valley Singles

Club about – among other things - be-

ing Bedford rascals. Not sure what to

book? We asked Bedfringe Director

of Programming, James Pharaoh to

nominate his top three acts. As you

will see from his choices, there really

is something for everyone this year.

Also coming up this month is the

inaugural Bedford Book Festival, tak-

ing place in a variety of town-centre

locations from 15th of July to the

end of August. A celebration of the

written word in its many forms, the

Book Festival will bring poetry, prose,

graphic novels and blogging to ourtown in quirky and intimate venues.

www.bedfordbookfestival.co.uk

As ever, the centre spread of The

Clanger is our listings guide. From

gardens to gigs via guided walks, let

us help you pack as much culture into

the month ahead as possible.

Finally, a big thank you to everyone

who came along to the Bedford

Clanger launch events at Fancy, Bed-

ford’s new coffee and cake shop on

Roff Avenue and to the Big Lunch at

Castle Bailey Gardens. It was great

to see real people reading and enjoy-

ing the rst issue of The Clanger!

Erica Roffe (Editor)

JULY 2011 THEBEDFORDCLANGER

2Will you be performing in Bedford this month?

UNIQUE BEDFORDCLOSE ENCOUNTERS, 59 MIDLAND ROAD, BEDFORD

Close Encounters

has been attracting

comic book fans

to Midland Road

since 2004. With a

larger-than-lifeBatman figure

standing guard

outside the shop,

chances are you’ll

know exactly

where it is.

The Bedford Clanger met up

with MD Bub Chahal to get the

story on this super(hero)store and

discovered that you can even cre-

ate your very own personalised

comic…

Q1. What inspired you toopen Close Encounters?I worked at MVC for nine years, but

wanted the opportunity to combine

my hobby with my career. Before we

opened, if you wanted to browse a large

non-superhero range of graphic novels you

would have to go to London. I wanted to

develop a mainstream store with a reading

area and wider product range than had

previously been available in Bedford.

Q2. How would youdescribe the shop to some-one not familiar with it?We’re similar in some respects to the

Forbidden Planet chain of stores but are

more strongly focused on comics and

graphic novels. We carry a range of about

3,000 graphic novels and 60,000 comics.

We also carry hundreds of action gures,

toys and retro video games. The store is

real mix of pop culture stuff from StephenKing graphic novels to action gures

of Elvis. We tend to nd we’re a gifting

store when people are looking for ideas

or something a bit different to what chain

stores offer.

Q3. You sell retro gamesconsoles. What was thebest decade for gaming andwhat’s your favourite retrogame?

I love the 90’s as the Snes and N64 were

fantastic machines from Nintendo with

some brilliantly produced games that still

stand up today. My favourite retro game

is Zelda Ocarina of Time on the N64 (The

Clanger would have to agree!). In fact

Nintendo have just released a 3d version

for its 3DS console.

Q4. What is the most popu-lar comic character?That depends on whom you ask! I’d guess

that it’s either Batman or Spider-man.

Marvel is denitely the most popular

company in the UK as they had a UK

branch set up in the 70’s so you have a

generation of kids who had easy access to

Marvel comics.

Q5. There has been a spateof comic-inspired film ad-aptations. Does this bringnew customers to your shopto find the original comics?GOOD movies denitely bring in new

customers! Nobody came asking for Jonah

Hex comics but we had a lot of interest

in Walking Dead while the show was

running on TV. Often a lm or show will

get someone through the door and they

can discover other books related or similar

to the movie/show they’ve seen. For

example, fans of the Sin City movie often

nd that once they’re in the store, that

they like the look of other crime books

like “100 Bullets” or “Criminal”.

Q6. What is the rarest/mostexpensive comic that youstock?We don’t really focus on the most ex-

pensive or rarest comics. We’ve quite a

few Silver Age comics that date from the

early years of Marvel but I’m far more

interested in a comic’s contents than its

value. As regards rarity it’s possible to

have a completely unique comic made up

for you in-store at one of our store sign-

ings. You can buy a “blank” cover comic

and have it personalised cover drawn byan artist. I think that a rare comic like that

is more “valuable” because it’s related to a

personal experience of meeting the artist.

Q7. Do comics and graphicnovels make reading moreaccessible to kids?Denitely. There are quite a few studi es

that show that kids that start reading com-

ics at an early age tend to have a higher

reading age than kids who don’t. We’ve

worked with local schools and libraries

to get books that kids are interested in

reading into libraries. Manga especially is

incredibly popular with kids and teenagers

so we make a big effort to have a dedi-

cated area to Manga books and to have a

“Kids Corner” with easy to read books.

Q8. If you could make oneimprovement to Bedford,what would it be?Someone really needs to open a CD/DVD

store as it’s a shame that the town doesn’t

have one. I really miss music shopping

as buying a CD at a supermarket really

doesn’t cut it...

Q9. Finally, sum up Bedfordin three words...Home - Diverse – Historic

www.closeencounters.co.uk

01234 270777

As part of the Bedford Book Festival,

Close Encounters is offering a 20%

discount on all comics from 14th July

to end August, and a competition to win

original artwork of pages from Green

Lantern. Pop into the shop for details.

P h o t o b y : S h a u n A r m s t r o n g

Take time to look atour town with fresh

eyes.

By being a tourist in

your own town you’ll

be amazed at what is

right on your

doorstep…

With a wealth of knowledge and experi-

ence, what the Bedford Tour Guides don’t

know about our town isn’t worth know-

ing! Established by the Borough Council

over 20 years ago, t he Tour Guides are

your key to the hidden history of Bedford.

They run twice weekly tours on a plethora

of subjects (see the Listings Guide for

further information) and have a passion

for sharing their stories. The Clanger metwith Trevor Stewart to nd out some of

the secrets of the town centre.

“Our most popular walk is called ‘I Never

Knew That’ and even Bedfordians who

join us for this tour are always amazed at

how much history of the town is unknown

to them,” explains Trevor. “I won’t give

away the secret, but there is something

unusual about the statue of John Howard

that never fails to astound people!” (I can

vouch for that! – Ed)

“When we start a walking tour of the

town, we always advise people to look up

above the shop-fronts. In almost all cases,

that’s where all the interesting details can

be found,” says Trevor. “For example,

the clock on St Paul’s church was known

as God’s clock in years gone by as it

could be seen for miles around. It was ef-

fectively the town’s timepiece in the days

before watches. Or the bull-shaped clock

that stands out from the shopfronts on the

High Street. This was the original site of

John Bull jewellers and the clock was the

symbol of their store. At 10am each day aball would drop on the reverse side of the

clockface to signify GMT.”

Fascinatingly, the years during the Second

World War saw many departments of the

BBC relocate to Bedford to avoid the

bombings in London. During the Blitz it

was deemed too dangerous for the BBC’s

Music Department to remain in London,

and they were originally ‘evacuated’ to

Bristol. Unfortunately, as they arrived

in the West Country, Bristol came under

heavy bombing too. The Mayor of

Bedford heard of their plight and offered

the musicians a home in our town. A

hired train left Bristol with the entirety

of the BBC’s musicians, band-leaders

and technical crews and they established

themselves in various buildings around

the town including The Corn Ex-

change. Other departments then

followed including drama, news

and religious affairs. The Daily

Service was actually broadcast

from St. Pauls Ch urch everyday.

“It is no exaggeration to say

that Bedford kept the BBC

broadcasting during the war

years,” explains Trevor. “We are

running our popular WWII walk

on Sunday 3rd July and again

on Wednesday 14th August so

please book a space if you’d like

to nd out more.”

If you would like to nd out

more or to book a place on any

of the Guided Walks, please

contact the Tourist Informa-

tion Centre on 01234 221712

or email:

[email protected]

HOMETOWN TOURISTGUIDED WALKS

Bub Chahal: The X-Man Factor



THEBEDFORDCLANGER

3Whoever says that there is nothing to do in Bedford is WRONG!

JULY 2011

From the team that

brought you The Cas-

tle Quay Weekender

comes The BedfordBusking Festival- part

of this year’s excellent

Bedfringe line-up.

With the aim of bringing top-quality

music to our town, We Are Bedford has

brought together a host of talented per-

formers to entertain you at ve busker-

friendly pitches throughout the town.

“The buskers at the Castle Quay Week-

ender created such a great atmosphere

that we wanted to take the concept

further,” said We Are Bedford’s KayteJudge.

“Music has the ability to turn spaces

into places and we hope to make Bed-

ford a more busking-friendly town as a

result of the festival.”

If you want to catch some of our town’s

most talented musicians in action, you

can nd the busking sites at the follow-

ing locations:

• Beside the Silver Faces

• Lime Street/Harpur Street

• Church Square

• Midland Road (outside the Harpur

Centre entrance)

• Harpur Street (outside Burger King)

From African drumming (Malcolm

Smith) to ukelele-toting songstress Beth

Fereday, Still Seeking (Seekers’ tribute

act) to Kai Jenkins the 11 year old melo-

deon player, there will be something for

every musical taste.

In addition, The Riverside Grill at

Castle Quay, The Bedford Swan Hotel

and the Howard Centre will be hosting

buskers too.

They’re everywhere, so make sure you

catch them while you can – and give

generously! wearebedford.co.uk

BUSKINGFESTIVAL

Everyone’s heardof the Edinburgh

Fringe Festival. Each

August it dominates

the newspapers &

the winner of the

newcomer award is

guaranteed rock-

god-like status. But

if you don’t want to

cross the border

why not enjoy top

quality acts fromthe comfort of your

own town... Ladies &

Gentlemen,we give

you BEDFRINGE!

It was in 2006 that Bed-

fordians James Pharoah

and Richard Mann began

working on a professional

show to take to the Edin-

burgh Fringe. Their theatre

company, Future Legends,

produced a show featuring

Alex Perkins (The Ofce/

Foyles War) and they

headed over the border.

Impressed by the sheer

volume of events that came

under the Fringe banner,

they believed that some-

thing similar (although just

a tiny bit a smaller) could

be achieved in Bedford –

and Bedfringe was born.

“Richard and I felt that

Bedford would embrace

something like the Edin-

burgh Fringe Festival, so

when we returned we began

the process of establishing

the framework for the rst

Bedfringe. Our aim was to

bring a mix of professional

and local talent to a variety

of venues in the town,” said James. “Therst Bedfringe took place in 2007 over

one week with a total of 35 shows. We

received support from local businesses –

many who are still sponsors ve years on

– and we made a prot!”

Building on the each year’s successes,

Bedfringe has gone from strength to

strength. And while it might have been

slightly under the mainstream radar, those

in the know have embraced Bedfringe as

the place to see Edinburgh preview shows

and top name acts for a fraction of the

price and at quirky venues.

“This year’s event is our most ambitious

yet. A fortnight of over fty performances

in venues including The Place Theatre,

The Corn Exchange, The Devonshire

Arms, Esquires and The Bedford Swan

Hotel. In addition, We Are Bedford ishosting a Busking Festival in locations

throughout the town, so wherever you are,

you are likely to be able to enjoy an ele-

ment of Bedfringe,” said James.

The full programme of events can be

found in the Listings pages of The Clanger

and there is more information about the

Busking Festival on page 2, but if you

want the lowdown from James on what

you really can’t afford to miss, here are his

top three recommendations:

Bane III

8.30pm 29th July at The Pl ace Theatre

Tickets: £7.50 (£5.50 concessions)

“Don’t worry if you haven’t seen Bane I

or II, this really is an unmissable show,”

says James. “We didn’t have enough

room in the programme to list all the

awards Joe Bone has won for this instal-

ment of the Bruce Bane trilogy. Sufce

to say, The Guardian called it ‘A brilliant

hour of comedy theatre... widescreen

thrill with zero props’, so you’ve got in on

good authority that this’ll be well worth

seeing.”From The Clanger’s point of view, just to

know Joe holds the Guinness world record

for most characters performed by one ac-

tor in a show is enough to convince us!

Joe Bone brings this quick-re comedy to

boiling point with just his body, his voice

and a live guitar soundtrack from one-man

Morricone, Ben Roe.

The Scottish Falsetto

Sock Puppet Theatre

Company

7pm 29th July at The Place Theatre

Tickets: £7.50 (£5.50 concessions)

“Previewing their Edinburgh Fringe show,

this is your chance to nally appreciate

just how funny socks can be,” says James.

The stars of BBC3’s Comedy Shufe,

MTV, GMTV, 4 whole seconds on The

Culture Show - and now BBC1’s The One

Show - bring you a brand new show of

songs, sketches, socks and violence.

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre

are a comedy double act who have been

compared, favourably, to Morecambe

& Wise and Abbott & Costello, with a

contemporary style which has seen them

featured on shows as diverse as The

Culture Show (those four seconds count!),

The One Show, and Big Brother’s Little

Brother.

Makoto Inoue –

Richard

4pm 24th July at The Place Theatre

Tickets: FREE!!!!!

“We’re thrilled that the winner of this

year’s Inspiration Award at the Prague

Fringe Festival, Makoto Inoue, is brining

his interpretation of Shakespeare’s Rich-

ard III to Bedfringe,” said James. “This

performance forms part of the Free Fringe

Weekend, so it’s absolutely free.”

‘Richard’ is based on William Shake-

speare’s Richard III. Using traditional

Japanese dance fused with modern

Western European street styles this is the

rst mime show of its kind. Finally - your

chance to experience neo-Japanesque

mime art in Bedford! www.bedfringe.

com


There’s loads of local

talent taking part this

year. Here’s our pick

of Bedford’s best:The Great Brain

Robbery7.30pm Tuesday 26th July at The Place

Theatre

Tickets: £7.50 concessions £5.50

Bedford College lm lecturer, Neil Fox

is taking The Great Brain Robbery to

Edinburgh this year, so here’s your chance

to catch a sneaky preview. During this

one-hour sketch show you’ll see this ve

piece don wigs, put on voices and deliver

songs and sketches in a classic way. Not

for kids or ‘the sensitive’.

Ouse Valley Singles Club5.30pm 24th July at The Place Theatre

Tickets: Free!!!!!!!

Bedford’s very own musical comedy duo,

The Ouse Valley Singles Club, invite the

audience for one night only to become

honorary members and take advantage of

the excellent advice from host Andy who

bears the scars of his many years on the

single scene.

Want to know more about the OVSC?

Then turn to the back page to read our

interview with the ukemeister himself.

Simon Munnery - Hats off tothe 101ers

7.30pm 16th July at The Place Theatre


Perrier Award nominee and Bromham-

based comedian Simon Munnery brings

his one man musical about the R101

airship disaster of 1930 and some other

new stuff to Bedfringe on his way to

Edinburgh.

“Go see!” said the London Evening

Standard. “Well, go on then,” says the

Bedford Clanger.

Theatre of Widdershins: The

King’s Got Donkey’s Ear2:30pm 23rd July at The Place Theatre

Potton-based puppetry fun for all the fam-

ily, especially the over 4s.

The Bedford Busking Festival

11am – 3pm Saturday 23rd & Sunday

24th July – Bedford town centre

Following the success of the Castle

Quay Weekender, the founders of We

Are Bedford are turning their attention to

the town centre for this year’s Bedfringe

festival. With the aim to turn ‘spaces into

places’, the Busking Festival will bring a

wonderful mix of music and performance

to locations in the town centre. Further

information and locations can be found in

our busking feature at the top of this page.

Hold4.30pm 17th July at The Place Theatre

Tickets: £7 (concessions: £5)

Two Thirds Sky return to B edfringe 2011

with ‘Hold’, a solo for two women who, in

dancing become the same body.

Performed by lecturers at the University

of Bedfordshire, the women gradually

morph to become ctitious caricatures of

themselves.

John Hegley7.30pm 29th July at The Place Theatre


As reported in last month’s Clanger, John

Hegley (who hails from Bedfordshire)

is previewing his Edinburgh show at

Bedfringe. Expect his mix of ‘awesomely

mundane’ comedy and poetry to entertain

and delight. Nothing slip-shod here!

Bedfordshire Youth Dance Company:

The BIG DANCE @Bedfringe!

All day 17th July at the South Bank Arts

Centre (Studio Theatre) Age Guidance:

10+

DANCE WORKSHOPSCome along to the South Bank Arts Centre

at Bedford College in the morning for a

chance to try out some new ideas with

BYDC’s talented dance leaders

(Ideal for ages 11-18)

BIG Dance workshops

(25 places available on each):

10.30am - 11.30am Contemporary

workshop

11.45pm -12.45pm Contact workshop

1.00pm - 2.00pm Commercial dance

workshop

Tickets £2 per workshop

PERFORM YOUR DANCE

If you have a solo dance or you are part of

a duet or a dance group/school then you

have the chance to show your dance as

part of the BIG DANCE WINNERS sec-

tion of the day. (max 25 entrants)

Entry categories:

a) under 10 yrs b)11 – 14yrs c)15-18yrs

[The space will be available for rehearsal

from 2.30pm – 5.30pm]

For more information how to take part,

please go to bedfringe.com

LOCAL THINGS FOR LOCAL PEOPLE

BEDFRINGE IN ASSOCIATION WITH EAGLE BEER

James Pharoah: Bedfringe is bigger than ever



THEBEDFORDCLANGER

4 •BEDFRINGE •MUSIC •WALKS •QUIZES & COMEDY •CRAFT •TALKS •GARDENS

LISTINGS THIS JULY 2011 Jam with Steve Jones at the Kings Arms

01234 354494

•Wind Down Wednesday ft. Elliot Mor-

ris + My First Tooth

Esquires - Holy Moly’s

bedfordesquires.com

•The Life & Times of John Bunyan

Follow in the footsteps of John Bunyan

11am Tourist Information Centre 01234

221712 visitbedford.co.uk

Thurs 7••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

••The Flowerpot Jam Night

Join Mat Roberts for his weekly jamming

session at The Flowerpot 01234 294174

Fri 8••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

•Hair of The Dog

Irish folk rockers The Flowerpot 01234

294174

•Rise Above + Support

Esquires Main Stage bedfordesquires.com

•The Pirate Sessions

Drum & bass with DJ Outrage at The Pad

thepadbedford.com

•The Lightning Seeds

Ian Broudie & his band play AmpRocks

festival. Oooh, lucky you!

Ampthill Park amprocks.co.uk

Sat 9••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

•Handcrafted in Bedford

Lots of lovely handcrafted & vintage

goodies for sale at this gorgeous market.

Midland Road [email protected]

•The IconicsSka! Kings Arms 01234 354494

•The Riffs + Support

Rock n’ Roll/punk


•Ska & punk club night

Esquires - Holy Moly’s bedfordesquires.

com

•Midnight Walk

In aid of Sue Ryder - St John’s Hospice,

Moggerhanger Bedford Athletics Stadium

01767 641044 stjohns.fundraising@

sueryder.org

Sun 10•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

••Music Quiz

John Cutler’s music quiz. Now in its 21st

year! Kings Arms 01234 354494

•The Jewel in Bedford’s Crown

A circular walk along Bedford’s beautiful

Victorian Embankment 7pm Tourist Infor-

mation Centre 01234 221712 visitbedford.co.uk

Mon 11•••••••••••••••••••••••••••

•General Knowledge Quiz

Flex those brain muscles! Kings Arms

01234 354494

•Tempsford - Bedfordshire’s Secret

Aireld

Find out about the Allies’ WWII base in

Bedfordshire Bedford Central Library

Tues 12•••••••••••••••••••••••••

•Beer Appreciation Club

Beer chat at Esquires - Holy Moly’s

bedfordesquires.com

•Kathy Brown’s Garden

These beatiful gardens are open to the

public from 1-5pm. Bring a picnic, enjoy

a tour with Kathy or feel free to wander on

your own. Tea & cake from 3.15 - 4.15pm

£2.50. Entrance: £4.50

The Manor House, Church Road, Steving-

ton, MK43 7QB 01234 822064 kathy-

brownsgarden.com

Wed 13•••••••••••••••••••••••••••Charity quiz in aid of the Save the Chil-

dren Fund.

£5 per head (includes a ploughman’s).

Team up to 6.

www.whitehorsebedford.co.uk

The White Horse, Newnham Ave

01234 409306

•Open Mic Night

Jam with Steve Jones at the Kings Arms

01234 354494

•Wind Down Wednesday ft. Katie

Buckhaven


bedfordesquires.com

•Who Lived In A House Like This

Fri 1••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

•VIPeas

5 piece covers band at The Flowerpot

01234 294174

•Lecarla + support

Iron Maiden front-man says they’re like

Bullet for My Valentine. See if you agree.

Esquires Main Stage

bedfordesquires.com

•Grace Trabucci & her band

Jazz, blues & swing at Esquires - Holy

Moly’s bedfordesquires.com

•The Pad’s 9th Birthday Weekender

Silent Disco - 2 DJs, 2 channels, everystyle of music played under the sun!

The Pad thepadbedford.com

•Marry ‘em off, Kill ‘em off: research-

ing a London family

Bedfordshire Family History Society Talk

Mark Rutherford School, Wentworth

Drive bfhs.org.uk

Sat 2••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

•12 hour music event

In aid of Help 4 Heroes. Tombola, cake

stall, BBQ, hogroast, rafe, auction.

Programme on website:


The White Horse, Newnham Ave

Tel 01234 409306

•Vintage Stuff

Classic covers band at The Kings Arms

01234 354494

•Single File

Classic & modern rock covers

The Flowerpot 01234 294174

•Larry Miller + Cherry Lee Mewis

Rock & blues


•Yum Yum’ club night


bedfordesquires.com

•Loaded

Classic indie night £3 before midnight


Sun 3•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

••Music Quiz



•Thunderbird 5

Bedford’s classic rock covers band

Esquires Danny’s Bar bedfordesquires.

com

•WWII Bedford Walk Discover Bedford’s wartime secrets

7pm Tourist Information Centre 01234


Mon 4••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••


Flex those brain muscles!

Kings Arms 01234 354494

Tues 5••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

•Evan Dando (Lemonheads) + Support

Yes, it’s really him and he’s really going to

be in Bedford!!!!!

Esquires Main Stage

bedfordesquires.com

•That Time of The Month’ comedy club

You’re having a laugh


bedfordesquires.com



public from 1-5pm. Bring a picnic, enjoya tour with Kathy or feel free to wander on


£2.50. Entrance: £4.50


ton, MK43 7QB 01234 822064 kathy-

brownsgarden.com

•Tuesday Lunchtime Concerts:

Monsoon Bow

Violin, Royal Academy of Muisc, London

St Paul’s Church, St Paul’s Square

01234 340163

Wed 6••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

•Charity quiz: In aid of Ridgeway

school. £5 per head (includes a plough-

man’s). Team up to 6.

www.whitehorsebedford.co.uk The White

Horse, Newnham Ave, 01234 409306

•Open Mic Night

Ever walked past an interesting house

in the town centre & wondered about its

past? Now’s your chance to nd out!



Thurs 14•••••••••••••••••••••••••••

•The Flowerpot Jam Night 01234

294174

Fri 15••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

•Driving Miss Daisy

1988 Pulitzer prize-winning play comes

to Bedfringe The Place Theatre bedfringe.

com 01234 269519

•Tim FitzHigham: Gentleman

Adventurer

Multi-award winner & Perrier nominated

comedian

Bedford School Theatre

bedfringe.com 01234 269519

•Matt Kirshan & Kerry Godliman

EdFringe preview of these fab comics

The Ent Shed bedfringe.com 01234

269519

•Spoonful

Classic & modern rock covers at


•Floods + Support

Esquires Main Stage

bedfordesquires.com

•Hellfyre club night


bedfordesquires.com

•One Night Whip

Electro party night at The Pad

thepadbedford.com

Sat 16••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

•The Mighty Hub Whipley

Ever-popular up-beat combo

Kings Arms 01234 354494

•Traditional Portuguese Hat Party

1pm - midnight at Baia de Cascais café

4 Newnham Street, Bedford MK40 3JR

Tel: 01234 364400

www.baiadecascais.co.uk

•Ozzy Asbeen’

Ozzy Osbourne tribute


•Loaded



•Summer Reading Challenge for Adults

Runs until 10 September

Bedford Central Library

•The Event

One-man theatrical performance

The Place Theatre bedfringe.com 01234

269519

•The Rather Ridiculous Experiment!

Family-oriented sciency kind of show


269519

•Simon Munnery: Hats Off to the 101’s

Musical homage to the R101 airship disas-

ter, plus Edfringe preview.


269519

Sun 17•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

••Music Quiz John Cutler’s music quiz.

Now in its 21st year!

Kings Arms 01234 354494

•2 Non Blondes

Esquires Danny’s Bar bedfordesquires.

com•Kathy Brown’s Garden

Late-owering clemetis festival


ton, MK43 7QB 01234 822064 kathy-

brownsgarden.com

•The Starstruck Review

Family revue show ft. sketches, songs and

dance.


269519

•Hold

Dance The Place Theatre bedfringe.com

01234 269519

•Spitre Solo

Drama about a former Battle of Britain

pilot at The Place Theatre bedfringe.com

01234 269519

JULY 2011

Bedford Busking Festival

23rd & 24th July

Come and enjoy a wide range of acts

playing ‘al fresco’ in Bedford Town

Centre between 11am and 3pm

Expect African drums, acoustic folk

rock and pop, Jazz, laid back funk, a

capella barbershop quartets, melodeon

players and much much more.

A professionally accredited, award winning and friendly branding

and design consultancy. We take the complex and make it simple.

Call 01525 841079 or visit www.bonfireci.com

La Petite Ecole Française provide both curriculum

& after school French lessons across Bedford Borough

and Mid Beds. Using dynamic teaching methods and mother tongue

teachers we give your child the condence to converse freely and

develop the framework to acquire language skills –

whilst also having fun!

tel: 01234 407915 email: [email protected]

Artist Opportunity with

Bedford Creative ArtsEnthusiastic lm makers and

animators wanted

••• For a new project introducing

14-19 year olds to filmmaking

and supporting them to create their own short films •••For more information call 01234 818670 or send a CV and examples

of your work to: [email protected] by 15th July

Licensed cafe/deli

Large range of spanish tapas, ingredients,cookware & gifts.

Private catering/events hosted

120a Castle Road, Bedford www.andaluzshop.co.uk

Tel: 0791 3342654

Official Bedford Clanger Photography

Creating unique photo libraries to showcase your people,

places, processes and projects.

Take a peek at www.mubsta.com



5

•The BIG Dance @ Bedfringe

Dance workshops South Bank Arts Centre,

Bedford College bedfringe.com 01234

269519

•The Rise & Fall of Bedford Castle

Bedford Castle was removed stone by

stone. Find out more on this guided walk



Mon 18••••••••••••••••••••••••••••


Flex those brain muscles! Kings Arms

01234 354494

•Bedfringe Five…Live!

Ft Priorite a Gauche

Perrier award-winning hilarious French

rock, rap, pop & roll artists

Howard Room, The Corn Exchange


Tues 19••••••••••••••••••••••••••••



public from 1-5pm. Bring a picnic, enjoy

a tour with Kathy or feel free to wander on


£2.50. Entrance: £4.50 The Manor House,

Church Road, Stevington, MK43 7QB

01234 822064 kathybrownsgarden.com

•Luke Toulson: Fear, Love & Other

Monkeys

Edfringe stand-up preview


269519

Wed 20••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••Open Mic Night

Jam with Steve Jones

Kings Arms 01234 354494

•Wind Down Wednesday ft. Danni

Nicholls


bedfordesquires.com

•Pip Utton is: Charles Dickens

Discover the man behind the classics

The Place Theatre bedfringe.com

01234 269519

•The Silent Faces of Bedford

A look at the statues and monuments in

our town 11am Tourist Information

Centre 01234 221712 visitbedford.co.uk

Thurs 21••••••••••••••••••••••••••

•The Flowerpot Jam Night


session


•Patarick Monahan: Touch Me, I Feel

Good

Irish/Iranian/Teeside comedian

The Place Theatre


•Phil Nichol & Stephen Carlin

Two full length shows from two great

stand-ups at The Ent Shed


Fri 22••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

•2 Non Blondes Big Band Classic &

modern rock covers


•Charity music night with Quiet Life.


The White Horse, Newnham Ave,

01234 409306

•Vintage Trouble

Fresh from supporting BonJovi


•Vintage Trouble

The after-show party. Free with gig

ticket/£4 without


•Barry & Stuart Live!

As seen on BBC1’s ‘The Magicians’

The Corn Exchange


•SPACE

Hilarious & heart-breaking one-man show

The Place Theatre


•An Army of Lights

Northamton-based up & coming band

South Bank Arts Centre, Bedford College


Sat 23••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

•Bedford Listening Walk

1-3.30pm Join artist Kathy Hinde on a

walk to record and map the sounds of

Bedford. £5. Bedford Creative Arts. To

book & more info:

www.echo-location.org.uk 01234 818670

•JC Moody & The Usual Suspects

Blues band at Kings Arms 01234 354494

•Beach Belles’ Burlesque Event

An entertainment extravaganza!

Esquires Main Stage

bedfordesquires.com

•Loaded



•Bedford Busking Festival

Enjoy live music outside!

All over the town centre

wearebedford.com

•The King’s Got Donkey’s Ears

Charming puppetry for all the family


269519

•Daphne du Maurier’s ‘Rebecca’

Irreverent look at this literary classic


269519

•Kevin Tomlinson: On The Edge

Improvised comedy/theatre show


269519

•Bedford is Funny!

Local things for local people!

The Ent Shed bedfringe.com 01234

269519

•Bedford Proms in the Park

Bedford Choral Society join Aled Jones &

a host of stars at Bedford Park.

Sun 24•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

••Music Quiz John Cutler’s music quiz.

Kings Arms 01234 354494

•Sweet Felicity Arkwright

Dirty funk n’ groove. There ain’t no party

like a Sweet FA party!

Esquires Danny’s Bar

bedfordesquires.com

•Bedford Busking Festival

Enjoy live music outside!All over the

town centrewearebedford.com

•FREE FRINGE SUNDAY!

Events from 2.30pm Mark Steinhardt:local

storyteller


•Makoto Inoue: Richard

4pm at The Place Theatre Tickets: FREE•The Ouse Valley Singles Club

ukelele-based comedy musings

•Bedford Listening Walk

1-3.30pm Join artist Kathy Hinde on a

walk to record and map the sounds of

Bedford. £5. Bedford Creative Arts. To

book & more info:

www.echo-location.org.uk 01234 818670

•I Never Knew That

Discover Bedford’s hidden history on this

wonderful guided walk

11am Tourist Information Centre

01234 221712 visitbedford.co.uk

Mon 25••••••••••••••••••••••••••••


Flex those brain muscles!

Kings Arms 01234 354494

•Bob The Builder

Everyone’s favourite Neil Morrisey-

voiced animated buiderBedford Corn Exchange

bedfordcornexchange.co.uk

•The Memory of Water

Family drama at The Place Theatre


Tues 26••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

•The Great Brain Robbery

Sketch show at The Place Theatre bed-

fringe.com 01234 269519

Wed 27•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

•Open Mic Night

Jam with Steve Jones Kings Arms

01234 354494

•When I Was Ten I Could Fly

Eamonn Fleming’s insightful journey

through his youth

The Place Theatre bedfringe.com

01234 269519

•Bravo Mr Lancaster

Compelling drama at The Place Theatre


•Guided Walk: Are You Being Served?

A historical look at the High Street and

how shopping has changed over the last

200 years. 11am Tourist Information

Centre 01234 221712 visitbedford.co.uk

Thurs 28••••••••••••••••••••••••••

•The Flowerpot Jam Night


session The Flowerpot 01234 294174

•Potted Potter: The Unauthorised

Harry Experience

Seven books in 70 minutes in this hilarous

Hogwarts showBedford Corn Exchange


•The Diaries of Adam & Eve

Modern adaptation of Twain’s satire

The Place Theatre


Fri 29••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

•Traditional Irish Music

Come along and enjoy the relaxed craic of

traditional Irish music in the bar

Kings Arms 01234 354494

•The Graduates ft. Dave Marks

Amazing vocal performing original mate-

rial & covers


•Bon Giovi BonJovi tribute band


•Mutiny’ club night


bedfordesquires.com

••Grow Your Own

A Down Memory Lane event at the

library. Share your memories of home-

grown fruit & veg!

Bedford Central Library

•Battle of The Student Bands

Bedford Corn Exchange

bedfordcornexchange.co.uk

•The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet

Theatre Co

Puppetry shenanigans from these sock-

based stars at The Place Theatre


•Bane III

EdFringe preview of this lm noir parody

The Place Theatre


Sat 30••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

•Out of the Hat3pm kick off for these Irish rockers

Kings Arms 01234 354494

•Midsummer Night’s Scene

Acoustic night at Esquires - Holy Moly’s

bedfordesquires.com

•Loaded


The Pad - thepadbedford.com

•Kinetic Vibes

Family dance spectacular at The Place

Theatre - bedfringe.com 01234 269519

•Whenever I Get Blown Up I Think of

You

Moving dramatisation of 7/7 bombings

The Place Theatre


•Famous & Divine: Fugitive Songs

The Place Theatre


•John Hegley: The Adventures of Mon-sieur Robinet

EdFringe preview of his new show

The Place Theatre


•Bedfringe Closing Party

Featuring Rebecca De Winter

The Place Theatre


Sun 31•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

••Music Quiz



•Henry Cluney (Stiff Little Fingers)

Irish punk stalwart

Esquires Danny’s Bar

bedfordesquires.com

••The Big Lunch 2

Join the Midland Road Residents’ As-

sociation for fun, games, food and music

Alexandra Road

Take a fresh look at Bedford.

01234 359599

Learn to Sew. Adults and Teen classes. Modern and Stylish projects.

Evening courses. Saturday Workshops. Crafternoons.

www.schoolofcraft.co.uk or call Jo on 07900 905186

THEBEDFORDCLANGER JULY 2011

Love wine and want to know more?

Stuck in a wine rut

but unsure what to try?

Looking for a gift for a loved one?

Swirl Wine School has the answers.

Now open, in Bedford.

Tel: 01234 761753

www.swirl-me.co.uk

Showroom with a wide varity of Antique Furniture,

pictures, sliver and pottery. We also carry out

Antique Furniture Restoration

Visit our website for more details of the services we offer

www.jmooreantiques.co.uk

01480 406993

J Moore Restoration

Get t, make friends and join the UK’s

fastest growing sport - Roller Derby

Bedfordshire Rollergirls are recruiting

now - JOIN US!

www.bedfordshirerollergirls.com

8Excellent local pub offering great food & a relaxed atmosphere.

The Ent Shed for comedy & live music.

Available for private hire, weddings, birthdays, fund raising etc

118 Castle Road Bedford MK40 3QY

tel:01234 348 668

•The Life & Times of John Bunyan

Follow in the footsteps of John Bunyan



In association with...



CAFÉ SOCIETYIs it possible that

anyone can love cof-

fee and cake more

than The Clanger’s

Coffee and Cake

Correspondent?

Well, yes! Meet cake-maker extraor-dinaire, Saffron Denton, owner of

Bedford’s newest cafe – Fancy! in Roff

Avenue.

‘”I love cake and desserts – it’s almost

like a fetish. I

love reading

about them,

making them

and eating them.

As a child, I

was always

disappointed by

the desserts and

cakes served

in cafes and

restaurants as it

was so obvious

that they had

been bought in.

For me, dessertshould be the

loveliest part of

the meal. That’s when I realised there

was a market for home-baked desserts.”

A former food scientist, Saffron knows

her stuff when it comes to quality. “I

used to do all sorts of food testing, like

taking ice-creams up mountains in the

Alps to see how they would respond to

changes in altitude!” she recalls.

In 2002, following the birth of her rst

son, Saffron started experimenting with

cake making at home and began supply-

ing cafes. Then in 2004 she opened her

own bakery in Stanley Street. “I never

advertised as a shop, but via word of

mouth, people started to come and buy

slices of cake which I served through a

hole in the wall! Mainly I was baking

desserts to sell through cafes and to

order.”

“Over time, I really needed more space,

and as a supplier to other cafes, I started

wanting to serve people on vintage china

and create my own cafe. That’s why I

moved to Roff Avenue earlier this year. I

now get a real thrill out of that.”

Fancy! is located in the former Arcade

Saddlery, which has been lovingly re-furbished by Saffron’s partner, Lee Hall.

“He’s done a wonderful job – people

compare the atmosphere to a London or

Parisien cafe.”

The spacious

cafe is certainly

proving popular

with customers.

Business people,

mums with chil-

dren, school chil-

dren and students

provide a steady

ow of customers

throughout the

day. ‘We have

wi and qual-

ity newspapers

(including

The Clangerof course!), so

people come in and

read or work on their laptops.’ Serving

freshly ground coffee and speciality teas,

Saffron’s cakes take centre stage on the

counter. Cupcakes, chocolate brownies

(her bestseller), victoria sponge, sticky

stem ginger cake and gluten-free cakes

are just some of the goodies on offer. So

why is the café called Fancy? “Well,”

says Saffron, “You know what they say:

a little bit of what you fancy does you

good!”

Website: www.homebaked-desserts.

co.uk

35 Roff Avenue, Bedford, MK41 7TH

Email:Saffron@homebaked-desserts.

co.uk 01234 930991

Great news, Bedfordian ladies! Fifth

Avenue Salon & Spa on Lurke Street has

been prestigiously selected by Redken

to exclusively stock their new ‘Nature’s

Rescue’ hair de-tox products. The four

products help remove impurities and

build-up while nourishing your locks.

Nice!

Want to be the rst to know what’s hap-

pening at Fifth Avenue? Then why not

join their fan page on FaceBook? It will

give you up-to-date offers, hair and beauty

tips and the latest photos from the salon.

If you ‘like’ the Fifth Avenue fan page you

will automatically be entered into the free

prize draw. Prizes include the exclusive

Nature’s Rescue Pamper Hamper and a se-

lection of Redken and Pureology goodies.

Closing date is 29th July and winners will

be notied. So ‘like’ Fifth Avenue today

and good luck!

One lucky Clanger reader can win a free

cut and blow dry at Fifth Avenue too.

Just email [email protected]

with ‘Nature’s Rescue’ in the subject and

we’ll let you know if you’ve won by the

end of the month.

www.facebook.com/ilove5thavenue and

“Like” 5th Avenue today.

6They have a lovely juke box in that pub.

THEBEDFORDCLANGER

Your Local:THE GORDON ARMS

JULY 2011

From trendy

gastro-pubs to

back-street boozers,

community pubs to

havens for real alefanatics, Bedford has

a wealth of diverse

public houses. Let’s

keep it that way by

supporting our town

centre watering

holes. This month we

meet the new

landlord of Castle

Road’s Gordon Arms:

Chris Sweeting is synonymous with Bed-

ford pubs and clubs. Since coming to the

town in 1986 to build his own eponymousnightclub on St Peter’s Street, he went on

to manage The Angler’s Rest in Clapham

for over 17years, developed a successful

marquee-events business and has now re-

turned to the town centre to make his mark

on The Gordon Arms on Castle Road.

“Before coming to Bedford I had worked

for Mecca Leisure for 10 years and built

up the Cinderella Rockerfeller nightclub

concept,” says Chris. “I was in my 30s

and decided to use my knowledge and

expertise of the industry to set up my own

nightclub. Sweetings was born and I’ve

been in Bedford ever since.”

After three years, Chris sold the club

(although it retained his name) and headed

for the tranquillity of Clapham to tem-

porarily run the Angler’s Rest for Wells.

“We never intended to stay, but 17 years

later we were still there!” said Chris. “In

addition to the pub, we built a permanent

marquee in the beer garden to host events.

We created a unique, self-contained venuesurrounded by beautiful scenery with the

River Ouse owing by. Plus, there were

no neighbours to complain about any

noise! It was perfect for a whole host of

occasions, from charitable fundraisers

(particularly for Dream Flight, a children’s

charity I am involved with) to weddings.”

Over the last couple of years Chris and

his partner Claire Bowes have become

caretakers of a variety of Wells & Youngs’

pubs. “Once again, we didn’t intend to

take on another pub on a permanent basis,

but then The Gordon Arms became avail-

able and here we are!”

Says Chris, “The Gordon Arms is a

wonderful pub that is used by the whole

of the Castle Road community. We serve

breakfasts from 10am, mums meet here

for coffee, we have a great lunch and

dinner menu, plus of course we have the

added benet of The Ent Shed – Bedford’s

hidden gem!”

For those who don’t know (shame on

you!), adjacent to The Gordon Arms is a

self-contained venue that is used for ev-

erything from top-class comedy to karate,

gigs to private parties. “We want to build

on the excellent reputation of the Ent Shed

and continue to bring a diverse mix of acts

to Castle Road,” said Chris. “Come along

to the Gordon Arms, enjoy and meal and

then head next door for the entertainment.

What could be better?”

The Ent Shed is hosting four comedy

events as part of Bedfringe. Check out the

listings guide in the centre pages of The

Clanger for further details.

CASTLE ROAD

Weather permitting,

entertaining in the

garden is now in full

swing, With the advent

of July I thought it might

be a good idea to give a

few ideas on summer

drinking.

With many of us feeling the pinch and

looking to save a few pennies here are a

few ideas to keep the party going in style

without breaking the bank.

First off with some zz to lift the spirits

but without the hangover of a large drinks

bill.

Prosecco has to be the way forward as a

great alternative to Champagne. Although

the two do vary in taste, when making

cocktail with bubbles it’s a very good

alternative and usually half the price.

Try adding putting half a teaspoon of

crème de cassis into a long ute and

topped up with a good quality chilled

Prosecco for the perfect Prosecco Royale.

You should be able to get about six

glasses out of a bottle so apart from tasting

fantastic on a summers day, it won’t cost

the earth.

A family favourite in our house during the

summer is of course that classic British

summer tipple, Pimms. But did you know

there is a simple homemade recipe that

is remarkably like the real thing but at

about half the cost, with the added bonus

of making it to you own taste in terms of

strength and avour.

The basic recipe is this;

2 parts good strength gin.

2 parts red vermouth.

1 part orange liqueur, triple-sec is ne.

1 dash of Angostura Bitters.

Mix well into a jug and ll up with lemon-

ade to taste and garnish with the usual mix

of cucumber, chopped fruit, mint leaf and

of course, plenty of ice.

It’s very similar to real thing and the

beauty is that besides the obvious lower

price, you can make it in your own style,

just go easy on the gin as this cocktail can

be deceptively potent especially on a hot

summers day.

Sláinte !

43 St.Cuthbert’s Street, Bedford.

Tel: 01234 347732

www.theblueglass.co.uk

JULY’S TOP TIPPLEBY

JOHNBARNES

OF

THE BLUE GLASS,

ST CUTHBERT’S

STREET

REDKEN’S‘NATURERESCUE’


Chris Sweeting: Eat, drink & be merry


EXCLUSIVE TO

FIFTH AVENUE

Midnight Walk forSue Ryder’s

St John’s Hopsice.

If you would like to help raise money

for a brilliant cause, then you’ve still got

time to register to take part in this year’s

Midnight Walk in aid of Sue Ryder - St

John’s Hospice in Moggerhanger.

Now in its fourth year, the Midnight

Walk invites ladies from Bedfordshire

and Cambridgeshire to join in a late

night stroll of either 5 or 10 miles on

the evening of Saturday 9 July at the

Bedford Athletic Stadium. Last year’s

walk saw 501 women take part and

raised £85,000.

The reason for the event is to walk inmemory of loved ones. By raising spon-

sorship you also help support St John’s

Hospice which takes patients from the

Bedford area. St John’s Hospice cares

for patients aged from 18 years for relief

from the daily symptoms they endure

caused by illnesses including cancer,

heart, lung and liver diseases, multiple

sclerosis and end of life illnesses.

So, if you are interested in taking part

in Sue Ryder – St John’s Hospice’s

Midnight Walk then please contact the

fundraising team on 01767 641044 or

email them at

[email protected]

Saffron Denton: Let them eat cake!



THEBEDFORDCLANGER

7Naughty drinking tips on page 6 and healthy eating tips on page 7. Ha!

After such a dry

spring, it’s worth do-

ing everything you

can to save water in

the garden, even if

it’s hammering down

with rain as you readthis.

First off, please don’t waste water on

your lawn. If it’s brown, so what? Your

garden’s not home to a Crown Green

Bowls lawn, last time I looked, and it’s a

criminal waste of water to keep it looking

that way. It’ll soon green up once the

weather turns. No, instead use the precious

contents of your water butts (you have got

water butts, haven’t you?) to keep contain-

ers, hanging baskets and veg crops going,

and to settle in things you’ve just put in,

because if you’re anything like me you’ve

completely ignored the advice about

avoiding planting in midsummer. Mulch-

ing will help to stop water loss from the

soil: layer up old newspapers and corru-

gated cardboard then top with straw, grass

cuttings or chipped bark and the wormswill have a munch and improve your soil

into the bargain. Don’t forget to mulch

pots either, as they’re the ones that need

it most: you can buy all kinds of fancy

gravel and glass chip mulches but again,

grass cuttings or wood chippings do the

trick and they’re free and they won’t make

your garden look like the horticultural

equivalent of The Only Way Is Essex. Free

wood chippings, you ask? Ask your local

tree surgeon who’ll probably give you a

load of chipped wood for nowt provided

you’re prepared to collect it yourself.

On the veg patch or allotment, now is not

the time to sit on your laurels (they’re

not very comfortable, anyway): you must

ensure that your harvest doesn’t peter

out come September. Now’s the golden

moment to sow oriental greens that cost

a gazillion quid in the supermarket andare so versatile: the young peppery leaves

for salads, the bigger coarser ones for

classy stir fries. Pak choi, mizuna, and

mustard greens are all dead easy to grow

in containers or your veg bed, and you

can buy packets of mixed oriental greens

that will be ready to harvest as cut-and-

come-again leaves within ve weeks. It’s

also worth a last sowing (or rst, if you’ve

been a bit slow off the blocks this year) of

beetroots, carrots, radishes, spring onions

and turnips. Try Wilkinson for a cheap

town centre seed splurge.

If you have a pyracantha (aka rethorn),

and let’s face it who doesn’t – it’s the

Cheryl Cole of the garden, ubiquitous but

loveable with its white owers followed

by red, orange or yellow berries - it’s a

great time to tame this beast with a thor-ough pruning. This plant should be thick

and hedge-like (think Cheryl’s hair), either

as a shrub or a climber, not a mass of long

thorny swords ready to jab the postman

in the eye as he walks up the path. Don’t

worry too much about slavishly following

pruning advice on slanting cuts above

outward-facing buds, just grab a pair of

shears or hedge trimmers and hack away

until it looks neatly mounded and respect-

able. Or, if you want to go that little bit

further, what about starting work on a

topiary masterpiece like this front garden

in Castle Road, which is crafted from

pyrancantha? You too could be the proud

owner of Rupert Bear on a unicorn.

And nally, perhaps I can save you a

visit from a puzzled electrician. Have

you been hearing a random electronic

beeping sound in your garden, a bit like

a smoke alarm with a failing battery? If

you’ve spent hours trying to track down

the malfunctioning piece of technology

that’s causing the sound, you can stop

right now. The cause is nothing electrical,

it’s much more exciting than that – no less

than one of Bedford’s oddest and most

intriguing residents, the midwife toad

or Alytes obstetricians. Like many of us

Bedford residents (me included), this little

grey toad with coppery eyes isn’t native to

the town. According to the Bedfordshire

Natural History Society, the midwife toad

arrived in a shipment of plants delivered

from France to a local nursery more than

100 years ago. Its call is the most you’ll probably see of this secretive beast, which

hides out under stones and in crevices in

your garden. And the name? The male

toads carry fertilised eggs on their backs

until the tadpoles (which are incidentally

JULY IN THE GARDEN JULY 2011

By Jane Perronegardening editor of The Guardian

Hot Plot or Not?

TOP TIPS:

In the current economic climate we’re

all looking for ways to save money onour food shopping.

To help out our Clanger readers, we’ve

come up with some top tips for eating

healthily whilst not breaking the bank.

It’d be churlish of us not to share, so

here it is:

• Ways to include your 5 a

day: Take advantage of the supermarkets’

special offers as these usually include

staple fruit and veg.

• Buy seasonal fruit & veg:

In the days before mass importation

this was all that would be on offer.

When produce is in season there’s a glut

of it, therefore it’s cheaper (or even bet-

ter, grow your own!)

• Learn the supermarkets

ploys: They’ve spent millions on studying

shopping habits and ways to get you to

choose the higher valued products. One

of these is to place higher valued items

at eye level. Beat them at their own

game and check out what’s at higher and

lower levels – bargains!

• Forget the ready meals.Not only are they expensive, but usually

high in salt, fat or sugar. Once a month,

put aside a day to cook up plenty of

meals, and freeze them.

• Swap branded products

for supermarket ownbrands and value options.They’re often taste just as good and are

much better for your wallet. Just check

on the salt, sugar and fat content.

• Take advantage of the

supermarket comparisonwebsites.

Does what it says on the tin!

• Don’t shop when you are

hungry or buy on impulse.

If you’re hungry you’ll buy snack foods,

so just don’t do it. And whilst it might

seem a bit nerdy to make a shoppi ng

list, believe us, it works. Especially

when you need to keep to a budget.

• Check out the 2 for 1

offers.

• Look at the discount

shelf. There’s a reason why people

crowd round this! Very often cuts of meat are discounted and can be cooked

up for that evening’s meal.

Stephen and Mark Gray are personal

trainers, authors and founders of The

DoubleVision Conditioning Centre in

Bedford.

www.doublevisionpt.com to nd out

more.

Personal trainers

Stephen and Mark Gray

divulge their credit

crunch-friendly healthy

eating tips

A garden is made by

the combined

effort of all the

people who’ve plant-

ed a rose or built a

fence on that plot

over the years.

If you’re lucky enough to move into a

place where previous owners have lav-

ished attention on the outside space, even

if it’s not quite to your taste, there will

be mature shrubs, trees and climbers for

you to use as a green canvas to build the

garden you desire. A bare square of grass

set against empty fences can be xed, for

sure, but it takes oodles of both time and

money - mature shrubs are hellishly pricey

to buy, or you opt for the tiny specimens

and wait. And wait.

So it was canny (or fortunate) on the part

of Sara and Sam Sayer to pick a house

with a mature garden already in place.

When they moved to their Victorian

terraced house in St Augustine’s Road a

year ago with their two young sons, the

garden already had a good bone structure

in the form of brick walled boundaries and

mature plants including an array of climb-

ers - roses, clematis, two grapevines and

wisteria. When taking on a new garden,

it’s wise to wait and see through a whole

set of seasons before deciding on what

plants need to go and what needs adding,

but there are some structural changes

that shouldn’t wait. This is just what the

Sayers did, adding classy, solid raised veg

beds made of railway sleepers down the

narrow side passageway where crazy pav-

ing previously dominated, moving a shed

to the rear of the garden, widening ower

borders, extending the patio and building

a wooden pergola for the white grapevine

that had previously enveloped the old shed

to romp up and across.

It’s not radical or racy, it’s just sensible

gardening with a young family in mind.

There are a few problems here,

to be sure - a plum t ree that’s

probably a sucker or volunteer

growing way too close to

the garden wall, and I’d like

to have seen something else

growing up the other side of

the pergola - but it’s early

days yet. This garden has a

good pedigree and it’s great

to see the Sayers adding to its

charms. HPON verdict: HOT.

How ‘Hot Plot orNot?’ works:

There’s nothing better than the

chance to have a nose around

other people’s gardens, and

that’s just want Hot Plot or

Not? is about? Every month

I bring you a Bedford garden

I’ve visited, offer up my

opinion on whether it’s a hot

plot or not, and give you the

chance to have your say.

Visit the Bedford Clanger website at

thebedfordclanger.wordpress.comto

have your vote.

Why not put your garden forward for

the Hot Plot Or Not? Challenge. Email

[email protected] a

picture and your contact details and we’ll

pick the most interesting plot to pick apart

in the August issue.

For more from Jane Perrone on gardening,

visit her blog at perrone.blogs.com

You Decide

much larger than those of frogs) are ready

to emerge. To nd out more and hear the

toad’s call, visit http://tinyurl.com/mid-

wifetoad

Other jobs for this month: prune back

spring-owering shrubs and also wisteria

(no space here to explain how, but by the

power of Google you can work out how todo it properly); harvest onions and shallots

when the leaves turn brown and limp;

give your tomatoes some tough love by

removing lower leaves and side shoots to

encourage fruiting; treat your houseplants

to a holiday outside in a spot out of direct

sunlight; give your compost heap a soak-

ing to keep it rotting away and put off rats

and mice from making their home in it;

and keep picking sweet peas to make sure

you have armfuls for indoor display: it’ll

keep them owering longer, too.

Jane Perrone is the Guardian’s gardeningeditor.

Visit her blog at perrone.blogs.com

Tally-ho topiary

Beep beep, beep beep- YEAH!



THEBEDFORDCLANGER

8Good job, David!

A DRAWING A MONTH by David Litchfield

CHALLENGE DAVID

A BIG BEDFORD THANK YOUThe Bedford Clanger would not have

been possible without the quite excep-

tional talents of the following people:

Designer: Marisa Straccia

Photographer: Shaun Armstrongwww.mubsta.com

Contributors: Caryl Jones, John Barnes,

Jane Perrone, Stephen & Mark Gray,

David Litcheld, all our advertisers and

listers and of course, you, dear reader.

Cheers!

Can’t wait til next month for your Clanger

x? Then check out the blog:

thebedfordclanger.wordpress.

comWe’d love to hear from you, so why not

get in touch?

You can email

[email protected]

Thank you to everyone who submitted a suggestion for the Challenge David feature in

last month’s Clanger. After much deliberation, ‘An aardvark in a top hat and monocle

drinking a cup of tea’ by Sarah Dunn was chosen. Congratulations! If you would like

to suggest something for David to draw in our next issue, please email

[email protected]. by 15th July and if you’re chosen you will WIN a

signed print of your picture.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you ‘Aardvark’, June’s drawing by David Litcheld.

JULY 2011

The Clanger loves a

laugh, so we jumped

at the chance to meet

Bedford’s finest

ukelele-based

comedy act, TheOuse Valley Singles

Club (OVSC), todiscover what makes

Bedford so funny.

With songs entitled Bedford Rascal,

Weekend Dad and Facebook Blues, singer

and co-songwriter of the OVSC, Tim

Barron manages to evoke modern life in

all its glory.

“We’re like a m usical, modern day Wil-

liam Hogarth,” declares Tim. “Our song

Kicking Out Time is our Bedfordian

interpretation of The Rakes Progress. We

don’t write about the glamour of Bedford

(really? – Ed), but rather the ‘warts and

all’ side of life and that’s why people can

relate to it and laugh at it.”

While training as an electrician, Tim

began his show-business career with localband the 10 Ton Beavers. But when the

band split up, he realised that his inner

show-off could not be suppressed. Am

Dram followed and Tim was told those

immortal Cowellesque words: you could

be a professional. Redundancy from his

electricians job followed and Tim realised

that this was his opportunity to use the

money to follow his dream…to Loughton

in Essex. A contemporary theatre course

at the East15 drama school was not only

where he met his wife (and OVSC bass

player Amy Martell), but also where

he became inspired to take a show to

Edinburgh.

In August 2005, Tim and his East15

course mates took a show to the renowned

Fringe Festival. ‘Terrorist! The Musical’

became the toast of Edinburgh and pro-

vided the springboard for his next project

– something that he’d been thinking about

for a while – a show about a Gary Glittertribute artist whose career ends when Paul

Francis Gadd is arrested on child abuse

charges. Tim and his co-writer/director

Jessica Beck took ‘Up The Gary’ to Edin-

burgh in 2006 and then toured nationwide

before heading to the New York Fringe

Festival in 2008. Stardom beckoned!

By now, Tim was living in London and

following his dream of acting. B ut the

lure of Bedford proved too strong and he

soon moved back to his roots. “When I

was in London I was totally uninspired. I

moved back to Bedford and material just

started ‘Ousing’ out of me (see what I did

there?). I was surrounded by my kind of

people and the humour of Bedford pro-

vided me with the basis for the OVSC.”

“I write all the songs with my Uncle

Sam – a veteran predator on the Bedfordsingles scene – so we had a wealth of

experience to draw on,” explains Tim.

“The Bedford Rascal song is based on me,

but almost all the others use my various

uncles as inspiration.

Within English culture there is a strong

history of humorous story-telling through

music. From the Victorian music halls to

the songs from the wars, through to Peter

Sellers, Pete & Dud, the Barron Knights

(no relation) and Ivor Bigun, we’ve

always enjoyed a laugh through music.

Shame Richard Digance killed i t really.”

This heritage is at the heart of the OVSC

and is a vehicle for Tim to spread the

joy of Bedfordshire throughout the land.

“I’ve been inspired by Shane Meadows’

work and his devotion to Uttoxeter and

the Midlands. I wanted to do that for

Bedford. Although each of our songs

speaks of our town, they are universallyunderstood because we’re singing about

all nondescript parts of the country.”

Tim and Amy can be seen at this year’s

Bedfringe with a FREE show at The Place

Theatre on Sunday 24th July. Performing

songs from the OVSC ‘concept’ album

‘Aim Low & Early’, the audience will be

invited to become honorary members of

the singles club for one night only.

“We performed ‘Up The Gary’ at the

rst Bedfringe in 2005 and I take my hat

off to James and the organisers for their

dedication in building the festival up

over the last ve years. No-one expects a

town like Bedford to have such a thriving

Fringe scene, so we’re proud to be part

of it.”

For your chance to win a copy of the

album, emailthebedfordclanger@gmail

.com by Friday 15 July with ‘10cc’ as the

subject.

BEDFORD RASCALS

BASEMENTPOETSCalling all budding poets!

Local poetry group The Basement Poets

meet once a month (usually the 3rd

Thursday) at St Andrews Church on

Kimbloton Road and would welcome

newcomers to join them. Although they

do embrace the traditional forms of po-

etry, most of their work is more modern

free verse. “Poetry can be more descrip-

tive than prose,” said Sarah Davies, one

of the Basement Poets. “It allows you

to be freer with language and has less

constraints. We believe in poetry for all,

so please come along and nd out more.”

The Basement Poets will be taking part in

the Bedford Book Festival. Go to

bedfordbookfestival.co.uk for more

details.

If you would like to nd out more about

the Basement Poets, please

email [email protected]

Tim Barron: Big Man with Small Instrument


BIG LUNCH 2

Midland Road

If you live in the Midland

Road area of town, why

not get involved in the Big

Lunch 2 that is taking place

on Alexandra Road on

Sunday 31 July from 2pm –

5pm?

Organised by the Midland Road

Residents’ Association, it is a great

chance to meet your neighbours, enjoy

music and games and get involved in

the rafe.

The Residents’ Association gets

involved in a number of community

activities including street clean ups,

bulb planting and gardening projects,

working closely with the Commu-

nity Safety Forums and encouraging

residents who live in the immediate

areas either side of Midland Road

to get involved in area improvement

projects.

August bankholiday Bedford-based fest fun!Want to get into the summer festival spirit

but don’t want to drive for miles to an

inevitably muddy eld in the middle of nowhere? Then don’t! You can get that

festival vibe without setting foot outside

the Shire this August.

For those of you who like your music

of a certain vintage, then the renowned

Twinwoods Festival in Clapham can’t be

beaten. Celebrating its 10th birthday, why

not step back into the 1940s from 27 – 29

August and you can swing, jive and jazz

yourselves dizzy.

www.twinwoodevents.com/

For something more contemporary, Old

Warden’s Rhythm Festival boasts a stun-

ning line-up from 26 – 28 August. We

don’t have enough space to list everyone,

but if Buzzcocks, Toots & The Maytals,

The Blockheads, Imelda May, Dodgy or

Hazel O’Connor oat your boat, then get

Biggleswade bound for some bank holiday

dancing action!

www.rhythmfestival.com/

Festinho! is a laid-back family friendly

festival at Hinwick House near Podington

in aid of Brazilian street children. Tickets

are only available until 15 July, so get

your skates on if you want to get your

groove on to Dr. Alex Patterson (The

Orb), The Heavy (think P-Funk), electro

My Tiger My Timing, Babyhead for a

skanking good time and nu-folk aplenty.

From 26 – 28 August, you can get ve

tickets for the price of four if you get in

quick! http://festinho.com

More info on all these events in next

month’s issue…

FESTIVAL FEVER

The Mansion House hoststhe Rhythmn Festival

Finally...

Congratulations to the Castle Road

Community Society for saving St Cuth-

bert’s Church Hall and keeping it in the

community. Good work fellas!

Clanger_july2011

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