The Inn at Penallt


Monmouthshire Supper Club


Paul Fosh pictured in action and below


Paul Fosh Auctions may be the biggest and best but we know that we can do even bett er...


R


egular readers of this page in Monmouthshire County Life will know that I am a keen runner.


Not ordinary running though but the more, how do I say, unconventional type. It was therefore far from unusual


that the other week I found myself in the depths of mid Wales ready for the off. I was taking part in a 50-mile Might Contain Nuts organised ‘run’ starting out from the idyllic mid Wales town of Langurig and ending at Glasbury, near the border town of Hay on Wye. The route roughly followed the River Wye, starting near its source but including a cheeky little diversion into the Elan Valley. These runs are up and down and


over and even under everything that is in your path covering a sinew stretching, muscle gnawing, and lung heaving 50 miles. The route rises some 2,000 metres over its length which about twice the height of Snowden (from sea level). The run is such a long distance and over such testing terrain that it requires as much mental strength as well as physical (some would say more).


This was my first 50 mile event.


The winner covered the distance in around an amazing seven-and-a-half hours while others came home around midnight having taken 16 hours to cover the course. I came somewhere just the wrong side of the middle of the 100 entrant field. I was pleased to have completed the


gruelling event but not so pleased with my position. I would have preferred to have come further up the field than I did and in a faster time. I’ve done well and achieved target


or PBs in other events and was comfortable in my achievements. However, and here’s my point, I didn’t want to carry on with these events secure in my repeated success but wanted and needed to test myself on more challenging events and across longer distances, continually pushing to improve. I am now targeting a 100 mile event next year. Paul Fosh Auctions is always


striving to do better, to reach the next milestone in our progress and development. We are recognised as the biggest and most successful auction house in Wales and that’s great. It’s a solid and recognised achievement but we’re not one to rest on our laurels. We could sit in our lofty position and feel very happy with our position and rest but that’s not for us. We’re always looking to improve to


go one better to achieve more and be even better for us as a business and for our customers both sellers and buyers. We constantly look at new ways to reach fresh business highs through the use of new technology, social media and marketing. Through this we strive to serve


our existing customers even better and also to reach out to new areas of potential business growth which may, for example, be developing even now on the back of the UK Government’s newly introduced Help to Buy scheme.


THE Monmouthshire Supper Club was on its travels again recently when we were very grateful guests at the Newport Food Festival Supper and were able to sample Michelin starred chef Hywel Jones’ cooking. Hywel, who lives in Newport (which, if you’re asking,


and as everyone local knows used to be in the county of Monmouthshire), is head chef at Lucknam Park and is a patron of the city’s food festival. The evening got off to a really sparkling start when we


were greeted at the main entrance to Newport’s distinctive indoor market with a glass of sparkling Monmouthshire- made perry and a mini feast of tasty and intricate canapés made by Hywel himself. The upstairs of the indoor market, which is in the


process of having a rejuvenating facelift, was the remarkable venue for the festival supper. Confit of salmon, Hywel’s take on the traditional gravlax,


salad of autumn vegetables cobnut praline and truffle mayonnaise, started us off before a truly stupendous fillet of Welsh black beef braised oxtail and Carmarthenshire ham, potato terrine, smoked onions and wild mushrooms which were all sourced form the suppliers just downstairs in the market hall, was presented as the main course. The dessert, a medley of sticky toffee pudding like


you’ve never seen, bitter chocolate bar, cannelloni of roast apples with Captain Morgan rum and raising ice cream was a revelation. The delicate macaroons served with the coffee was the ultimate piece de résistance. How did Hywel Jones and his local team, drawn from


Coleg Gwent catering students, manage to deliver such a sumptuous, five star feast in the challenging surroundings of the indoor market? Frankly, I don’t know but he and they did and what’s more they did it with aplomb. Well done. It was a memorable fabulous evening enjoyed by all. Monmouthshire Supper Club was also at large in the


heart of the current county of Monmouthshire recently when some of our number did something a little bit different by experiencing a tasting menu with a twist at the wonderful pub restaurant The Inn at Penallt between Chepstow and Monmouth. This establishment is the end result of owners Jackie and


Andrew Murphy spending a full three years searching the length and breadth of the Wye Valley, seeking out a pub with potential to become the traditional pub and restaurant they wanted to run serving locally sourced produce. The inn, in the heart of the Wye Valley, staged a Humble


by Nature evening with produce from near neighbour TV personality and naturalist Kate Humble. The produce for the evening’s meal, at the two AA


rosette inn, was all created using produce from Kate’s Monmouthshire farm or from leaves and other natural and native stuff that had been foraged in the fields and hedgerows nearby. So it was that we all enjoyed meals such as wild nettle soup, glazed with curry cream, smoked goose breast from nearby Madgett’s farm, Elderflower sorbet and cheese from Lower Gockett Farm as well as lamb produced from Kate’s farm. The evening was a huge success with the food excellent


along with the warm and welcoming general ambiance of the place. Bon apetit and au revoir.


www.paulfoshauctions.com 75


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