iir


VALLEY FEATURE ne w and it s a


of an English wine list - believed to be the first in England - has been far more enthusiastic than even the most optimistic projections. Customers at the popular


Worston country pub have been delighted with the chance to support English


bnq T


he reception by the general public to the Calf's Head's launch


.vineyards and astounded by


. the quality available. . The story began when co- proprietor Pam Mediey sug­ gested to project manager Patrick O'Reilly that they should try and emulate the food industry by promoting "iocal" wines. It was no sooner said than


■ done as Patrick and Pam's husband, Chris, set off to the


, southern counties of Eng­ land, travelling 1,000 miles to


l i Y O U K I


■ source some excellent wines. The mostly family-run


vineyards were delighted to receive them and encour­ aged the pair to try other winemakers to get as much variety as possible. Hav-


■ ing taken the time to travel round England to meet the winemakers, the difficult'part of creating an all-English list was not finding quality wines, but instead deciding which were so outstanding they had


to be one the list. With more


■ than 400 vineyards through­ out England, mainly in the southern counties, there is a large volume of good quality wine. English wines now win awards against many long established wine producers. Patrick said; "The red


wines are softer and easy to drink and there is even a red wine which is served chilled and proving to be very popular. The whites are fruity and well-balanced and the rose wines equally delicate and dry, creating a fine easy , drinking pink wine." There is'a selection of


sparkling wines, too, and as one English winemaker told Patrick, the French are lucky as the rich vein of chalky soils in the south runs under the English Channel - right into the Champagne region. The Flint Valley from Den-


or le yM , little Greene and


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Plaster and light weight covings by GopleKandArtiine including panel


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CALF'S Head owners Chris


and Pam Med­ ley and man­ ager Patrick O'Reilly are


Specialist Decorating Centre Trade and Retail X


Mon - Thur 8am - 5.30pm • Fri 8am>5pm . Sat 8am - 3pm


• Email to: info@dewhurstdecoratingsupplies.co.nk 88-92 Scotland Road, Nelson, Lancs, BB9 7XJ


Tel 01282 692570/612078


dispelling the myth that


England can­ not produce fine wines to compete


' with the rest of the world. (A070610/46)


Superli selection'tY' prwalicoverings'always


fn.sldcR anB to order d Morris B Co 7Zofftny,lB


Graliain&Braiiinij'Artlioyse


bies Wine Estate, the largest English vineyard, is crisp, clean, and dry with a long fin­ ish. An example of a slightly sweeter English wine Vessel IV comes from Carr Taylor,


which also has a wine made from the Alexis grape similar in style to a sauvignon Wane. The Biddenden Vineyard


r r . \ \


is supplying white, red and sparkling wine to the Calf's Head. The vineyard was ' founded by a textile baron ' from Rochdale, who took on an orchard in Kent when the textile industry was floun­ dering and a generation on the family is producing fine English wines from the vines planted within this estate.


CALF'S Head manager Patrick O'Reilly raises an appropri­ ate glass to National English Wine Week. A070610/4f


Red wines also come from


, the Furleigh Estate on the Jurassic Coast of Dorset. This is a young vineyard that is al­ ready producing some of the best English red wines Patrick and Chris found.


One wine is Jim'Pitcher, a


"shirazish" style,' named after the vineyard manager and is quite a rarity as he can sell all that the winery produces quite easily. Another one is Tyrannosaurus, a superb ex­ ample of an English vineyard producing a quality red wine. Patrick and Chris found


the enthusiastic approach to wine making of the owners, Ian and Rebecca, refresh­ ing, with them producing excellent wines, deep crimson in colour yet light and easy drinking. ;


The Stanlake Park Wine Es­


tate in Twyford, near Reading, is represented by three wines. The Madeleine, a white off dry with hints of apricot and lime is a favourite, while the Kings Fume is of superlative quality and competes with quality oaked chardonnays. "The quality of English


wine is excellent and can match the characteristics of the more well-known Euro­ pean and New World wines," said Patrick. "Last year was a good year


for growing grapes in England so next year the quality should be superb," he added. If you have the opportu­


nity, raise a glass to those supporting home-grown products and English busi-


Jim and Ella in Lingfield 1940.


m s story o and war


years ago contained old photo­ graphs, telegrams, two set of bul­ lets... and almost 300 love letters. The correspondence, sent between


A


April, 1940, and August, 1945, be­ tween Jim Allen and his beloved Ella Bradley, recounted his day-to-day life as a member of the Irish Guards dur­ ing the Second World War. "My father died in 2003, but it


wasn't until 2008, prompted by a feature on the radio, that I felt I was ready to further investigate the con­ tents of the suitcase," said Virginia. "I began to compile and edit the


letters and scan in some of the , artefacts. "It took me almost two years to


complete the project. In a strange way it seemed to take on its own mo­ mentum and gradually developed into a nioving and heart-warming story." Virginia's labour of love has now


•resulted in a "Jim's Story; A Case of Love and War", the true story of a Lancashire lad and his fiancee as they dealt with the separation of war. "The letters are beautifully written,


very romantic yet humorous at times and full of fascinating details about life as it must have been for many during the Second World War," said Virginia, a former primary school teacher who has lived in Wilpshire for' the past 35 years. In most instances in the book


Virginia has reproduced her father's letters word-for-word, and to help the reader she has also included some background information to put the writings into historical context. Conscripted to the Irish Guards


in Surrey, Jim wrote details of his uniform and the daily routine of life


The items in the suitcase that started the story


in barracks saying his "feet are sore


from stamping". In a later letter, in response to a


question from Ella about whether he liked dates, Jim's sense of humour - and romantic side - shone through; "I am afraid I don’t care for them very ■ much. The best dates I like are those


with you!" ■ From Caterham he moved to Ling-


field, Surrey, before returning to his original base to discover it had been


1:4 Author Virginia Aighton


n old, small brown suitcase given to Virginia Aighton by her father Jim some


bombed and machine gunned. He married Ella after she left East


Lancashire to join him in Caterham. She took a job in a local hairdressers, but eventually returned north. Jim's preparations for the Nor­


mandy landings meant he was not allowed leave even to see his newly born baby daughter. In a letter sent from France after her birth, he wrote; "Look after my daughter well and tell her one of these days her Daddy will be home for good." After being wounded in action, Jim


returned to Britain and spent time recuperating at Calderstones, Whal- ley, before being transferred to Alder Hey at Liverpool. In one of his last let­ ters, sent from Scarisbrick Hall near Ormskirk, he wrote of his longing to be home for good; "I do miss you so very much and I am just longing for the day, which I know is not very far away, when we will be together for" always. It's just like coming to the end of a very long journey. Goodnight my darling. I do love you so very much." Jim was discharged on October


12th, 1945, after five years and 192 days - his military conduct was cited as "exemplary". He returned to the printers Naylers where he continued to work until his retirement until 1981. Ella died in 1991 and, sadly, in •


October, 2003,16 days after confront­ ing an intruder in the home he had shared with Ella, Jim died, never recovering from the injuries he had . sustained. ■ A limited edition of Virginia's


book has now been printed by her fa­ ther's former company. Priced £7.99 it is available at a number of local outlets including the Tourist Informa­ tion Centre in Clitheroe.


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VALLEY FEATURE


Calf's Head owners Chris and Pam Medley and man­ ager Patrick O'Reilly who promoted the National English Wine Week. A070610/4b


Sgt J. Allen's squad of the Irish Guards, April 1941


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