AT LAST! A NEW YEAR EDITION OF THE WSJ FOR ALL OUR READERS & FEEDERS
Firstly I’d like to start with a massive thank you to all of you kind enough to have visited us over the festive period, some of you, either by design or accident/bad luck, attended more than one Christmas party. (Obviously suckers for a good bit of stuffing).
So, a New Year - and I’m embarassed that we’ve already sailed past Easter!
What’s new for The Walls and our customers? Lots of you (or perhaps I delude myself), must be thinking that the WSJ has ceased to be! Has its author been struck down with some hideous post-Crimble writer's block?
On this occasion the truth is way duller than fiction - fact is, that not only have we been fantastically busy, but also we have been waiting for some key elements of a major event to gel before cranking up the old Gestetner and hitting the streets with the first edition of 2008...
ANDY LEAKE: TRIBUTE SHOW CASE
8th and 9th May 2008
Mr. Andy Leake 1966-2007
We now have the dates and information regarding prices, formats and details of the “Andy Leake Music Foundation Showcase”. The charity is a proper grown-up affair and its aims are to provide tangible support and encouragement for children wanting to learn music and mastery of musical instruments. This support might involve financial support for lessons or help with buying instruments etc. etc. We hope to have some good flyers available for the evening.
Dates for the two evenings are MAY the 8th & 9th. The shows will be the same on both evenings and so will the food. It will be possible to buy tickets for either or both. It always sounds like crying wolf, but we know already that both nights will be seriously over-subscribed and the sooner you book the better.
As this is a charity evening you have my word as a complete cad and scoundrel that we are only covering our immediate costs out of the ticket price and the residue is all going to the charity. Tickets are £25.00 and of this a massive £15.00 goes to the charity. There will also be the opportunity to contribute obscene amounts of money to this noble cause in a variety of novel ways on the evening, apart from your much appreciated support in buying tickets.
Andy always had a heart substantially bigger than his pocket and he would give away almost anything he had (and often things he didn’t have or weren’t his to give), even to someone he’d only just met. This of course providing he thought he/she was a deserving cause. His parameters of a deserving cause were massively wider than mine. His natural and enduring innocence insured that he only saw the good in people long after they’d emptied his cupboards, slept with his girlfriend and permanently borrowed his guitars, cars or boats. Of course this generosity was always expected to be fully reciprocated, so that on the numerous occasions when Andy broke one of life’s many rules, he expected the same understanding that he was prepared to show to be lavished upon him. He never got the hang of this and as such had to rely mightily on his overactive charm glands to get him out of many, many holes and scrapes. Enough of my melancholic rhetoric, but we miss him so.
Detail for these evenings is as follows: DOORS OPEN: 7.00 p.m. DINNER SERVICE: 7.30 p.m. prompt! SHOW STARTS: 9.00 p.m.
Mains
Slow roast shoulder of kosher pork with apple sauce and stuffing
Cracked black pepper salmon fillet with cucumber crème fraiche
Mushroom, spinach & feta risotto cakes with rich tomato sauce
Seasonal vegetables & potatoes
Puddings
Scottish whisky and chocolate mousse
Lemon cheesecake with honey and lemon drizzle
Vanilla ice cream with espresso and toffee sauce
DAIRY PAK MOUNTAIN BIKE CHALLENGE
May the 10th sees the return of a splinter faction of The Walls Cycle Display Team in the form of Kate (my newest wife & Grand Canyon veteran) & Charlotte, (my youngest daughter), attempting the gruelling off-road challenge of the 22-mile Dairy Pak Mountain Bike Course.
Run by the Rotary in support of a variety of very worthy causes, it is a charity event and we are actively seeking sponsorship for this intrepid pair: their sponsor form can be found on the notice board at The Walls and we’d like to thank you in advance for your support.
FOOD FESTIVAL ~
12 & 13 OF JULY
This is the second year of what proved to be a very special inaugural event. Last year we had a stall on the Bailey Head but demand for stalls has been so great this year that we have decided to retreat to The Walls and let our space go to a food producer/supplier. So our stand will be outside The Walls and we will have a jazz band playing and will be offering a fiercely good value locally-sourced menu across the two days of the festival. Details to follow.
Cottage Bookings
We bring you a continual reminder that we have a very excellent holiday cottage less than a mile from The Walls. This warm and welcoming bolt-hole sleeps 4 in 2 super-king size beds (or twins), each with their own bathroom.
For full details and this year’s prices please visit our web site. So, if the thought of having to put up with dreadful, annoying relatives in your own home is too much, then post them our way!
FASHION SHOW: SHAKERS & MOVERS ~ June 12th
Voted as one of Wales’s most dynamic and promising young fashion gurus, Claire Mischevani brings a hugely trumpeted collection of lovely, lovely clothes to be shown off to best effect at The Walls.
Most of you will be aware of the keen interest I take in high fashion, if only so as to have something topical to talk to two teenage daughters about. The sad fact is that, due to the industrial injury of long-term over-indulgence, there is very little chance of my being able to appear fashionable. I can at least do my bit by helping stage exciting shows like this.
Claire’s career is on fire and lots of truly famous people are not only singing her praises but also buying and wearing her clothes.
The show will follow a “Parisienne” theme with an authentic bistro style supper served by our chic front of house team all decked out in onions, bicycles and smelling strongly of garlic & Gitanes.
Menu:
Supreme de Volaille Bonne Femme
Saumon au Poivre avec ses pommes et ses legumes
***
Tarte au Citron et Chocolat
Tickets are £30.00 to include a welcome drink, pre dinner canapés and the show. To reserve spaces please contact Claire or Lucy on O1743 366188 or Nicky on 07719 582092.
I cannot speak highly enough of the prospect of this event and how good the evening will be so, as usual, the advice is to book early. First booked get the best seats!
There is as a pre-cursor to the show: a casting day when aspiring Kate Mosses can come along and strut their bony stuff (strictly no size “0”) and attempt to impress a panel of knowledgeable fashionistas and
photographer Chris Nottingham. I believe that the lucky ones will be included in the show. Casting day is 29th of April at The Walls, 6.30pm-8pm.
FASHION SHOW: SHAKERS & MOVERS ~ June 12th
ART FOR ART'S SAKE
We’ve never just been about filling stomachs. We try hard to feed the soul in a variety of ways and this year is no different. I’d like to say a very special thank you to the art department and students from the Derwen College and Nadfas for a spectacular exhibition of art. Without a whiff of being patronising, this exhibition was one of the most exhilarating and dynamic of all the work we have displayed in our long association with exhibitions. This is not only my opinion; praise for the show has been universal, as has the rating of the standard of the work.
So, a very tough act to follow! In the last week of June, Kate’s foundation art class at North Shropshire College are displaying their final exam pieces and some of the more important examples of their course work. The show will also bring to a wider audience the amazing standard of the work of this department. There will be an open evening/day on June 26th, when tutors and pupils will be around to answer questions about the art courses available.
AGRICULTURAL SHOWS AND US
As last year, we are taking a little bit of The Walls to both the Shropshire & West Midlands Show (21st & 22nd of June) and to Oswestry Show (2nd of August).
We will really have to go some to top last year’s double first prize-winning performance but we’ve never been shy of a challenge.
Apart from wishing to take ourselves to a wider audience, it is good to reinforce the connection between food production and growing and what we end up doing with it.
The usual selection of bribes and enticements will be available on the stands, i.e. prize draws and mini cakes.
THE OBSERVER FOOD MONTHLY AWARDS ~ LATEST ACCOLADE
Being a shy retiring and sort of apologetic business means that we don’t very often go out of our way to blow our own trumpet, believing that it is so much nicer and louder when someone else does it for you. So it was very pleasing to discover that we had made it into The Observer food awards restaurant lists which appear to have something to do with one of my all time food heroes, Nigel Slater.
We were included alongside some really big hitters and proper grown-up restaurants with Michelin Stars and prices to match. It is really gratifying to know that someone out there understands and appreciates the simplicity we try to maintain. Well done to Honeysuckle for being awarded the shop section!
CHRISTMAS & THE RETURN OF THE CARD COMPETITION
Honestly this is not a wind up! In our very early days we held a very successful and well supported competition for junior Walls supporters to design a Christmas card which we printed up and used to send to our clients. Open to children between the ages of 5 and 14, this year’s competition will be to design the cover of our menus during the festive period and £50.00 of Walls vouchers will be the spectacular prize. All entries must be received by the end of September 2008.
We are coming under some severe pressure to apply ourselves to committing to prices and menus for Christmas 2008. While we struggle to come to terms with this gratifying interest in the festive season before we’ve got to spring, Rachael has made me sit down, be a good boy and focus. Full’ish details will be available before the end of April. In the meantime those of you desperate to secure specific slots should provisionally book your space and await further details.
POOL CARD AND THE INTRODUCTION OF ‘WALLS POINTS’
It’s taken me ages to come round to thinking it might be an idea to join in with this local based initiative/scheme that is firmly aimed at keeping spending within its area. Swayed by the idea that every pound spent with a local business benefits the local community by £2.50, (a piece of alchemy I struggle to understand), and as we try very hard to buy our supplies locally, it seems to make perfect sense. We are just starting to formalise a raft of bribes and incentives for all you lucky Pool Card holders. One we have all but sorted is the gifting of “Humpty” points for every £10.00 spent with us to be redeemed for Walls gift vouchers. So in essence its like active kids vouchers or Sainsbury’s reward scheme. But you get something you can eat,- hopefully! Simply fill in the application form, at our front desk, to enrol – and it’s free to join!
This subject ties in nicely with the now brewing discussions and debate about the out of town development of the Smithfield Cattle market into the anonymous ubiquitous cinema/”fun” complex complete with its national chain eateries and shops. Whilst I am “not bovvered” how many branches of the “Happy Puker” decide to open up, I just think it is a bit sad that this is the only sort of development that seems likely to attract significant support and financial backing. Now that pubs shut almost every week, once this development takes place it will be the turn of independent retailers to throw in the towel at a rapid rate. Be warned!
The pinnacle of retail therapy gratification in this part of the world appears to be the Trafford Centre, which to me, is one of the most asinine, depressing and brain numbing experience I have ever endured. The good burghers of Oswestry seem to want a watered down version of this hell, as will, I’m afraid, the majority of the towns residents- Oh dear!
Andy always had a heart substantially bigger than his pocket and he would give away almost anything he had (and often things he didn’t have or weren’t his to give), even to someone he’d only just met. This of course providing he thought he/she was a deserving cause. His parameters of a deserving cause were massively wider than mine. His natural and enduring innocence insured that he only saw the good in people long after they’d emptied his cupboards, slept with his girlfriend and permanently borrowed his guitars, cars or boats. Of course this generosity was always expected to be fully reciprocated, so that on the numerous occasions when Andy broke one of life’s many rules, he expected the same understanding that he was prepared to show to be lavished upon him. He never got the hang of this and as such had to rely mightily on his overactive charm glands to get him out of many, many holes and scrapes. Enough of my melancholic rhetoric, but we miss him so.
Honestly this is not a wind up! In our very early days we held a very successful and well supported competition for junior Walls supporters to design a Christmas card which we printed up and used to send to our clients. Open to children between the ages of 5 and 14, this year’s competition will be to design the cover of our menus during the festive period and £50.00 of Walls vouchers will be the spectacular prize. All entries must be received by the end of September 2008.
