Jumat, 06 Juli 2012

Me and my school photo: James Martin remembers being quiet and fairly shy

Me and my school photo: James Martin remembers being quiet and fairly shy

By Roz Lewis

PUBLISHED: 16:53 EST, 6 July 2012 | UPDATED: 16:53 EST, 6 July 2012


This is a picture of me aged seven at Amotherby School in Malton, North Yorkshire. I was a pupil there from the age of five to 11. I was quite quiet and fairly shy, and very well-behaved.

My family were farmers on the Castle Howard Estate, near York. I spent a lot of time playing or helping my dad farm chickens and pigs, so I was used to seeing animals as food from early on.

By the age of seven I’d already been given a chef’s coat and a set of knives as a birthday present, and it was very much on my mind to work as a chef. On Sundays I’d help my mum make the roast, and when I visited my gran I’d bake with her.

James Martin remembers being quiet and shy at school

James Martin remembers being quiet and shy at school

I was very practical and liked being creative. Making model cars and doing Saturday jobs to earn pocket money were my forte. Academia, alas, was not. I was severely dyslexic, which was only discovered five or so years ago, when I was trying to read the autocue for the first time on Saturday Kitchen. So school was an ordeal at times. I was hopeless at spelling but had no idea why. I dreaded English classes as I’d have to write out a hundred times all the mistakes I’d made in my essays.

By the time I’d moved on to the local comprehensive, Malton School, I was being put in the lower achievement classes. It was depressing, and to compensate I focused on the things I could do. I enjoyed cricket and rugby and was in the school teams, but unfortunately I didn’t get on with my cookery teacher, Mrs Parker. I was convinced she didn’t like me because I could cook better than her, and I ended up flunking cookery, purely because the dyslexia meant I was rubbish with w ritten work.

Ironically James didn't get on with his cookery teacher

Ironically James didn't get on with his cookery teacher

I left school with only one GCSE, in art, and looking back, I feel sad no one realised I was dyslexic and gave me the help I needed. But then I went to Scarborough Technical College to study catering, and my life improved dramatically. My saviour was a teacher called Ken Allanson. Within two days of being there, he’d taken me aside and told me I had the makings of a very good chef. It was a tonic to my soul.

With Ken as my mentor, I was top of the class for the next three years. Our end-of-year exams were judged by high-profile chefs such as Antony Worrall Thompson and Brian Turner, both of whom offered me jobs when I left college. I decided to join Antony at his restaurant One Ninety Queen’s Gate, in London’s Kensington. I worked in the capital for three years, then moved to Hampshire, where I became head chef at Winchester’s Hotel Du Vin.

I was ‘discovered’ for television when Loyd Grossman came into the restaurant one evening with a TV executive pal, which led to me being offered a spot on Ready Steady Cook. After that, my media career went from strength to strength. I’m a very lucky man. If I hadn’t had Ken to enthuse and inspire me, I’m not sure where I would have ended up in life.

James Martin is head judge of the Red Tractor Beef And Lamb Make It With Mince Challenge.

Visit  www.simplybeefandlamb.co.uk/makeitwithmince.

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Tony Hadley: Frank Sinatra is my inspiration. I love his music, but more that that, I find inspiration from his life

Tony Hadley: Frank Sinatra is my inspiration. I love his music, but more that that, I find inspiration from his life

By Tony Hadley

PUBLISHED: 16:53 EST, 6 July 2012 | UPDATED: 16:53 EST, 6 July 2012


We ask a celebrity a set of devilishly probing questions â€" and only accept THE definitive answer. This week: Spandau Ballet singer Tony Hadley


The prized possession you value above all others…

My baby grand Yamaha piano. My wife Ali bought it for my 50th birthday, in 2010. It cost £10,000 so it was incredibly generous.

Tony Hadley of Spandau Ballet says Frank Sinatra is his inspiration

Tony Hadley of Spandau Ballet says Frank Sinatra is his inspiration

The unqualified regret you wish you could amend…

I was too trusting when I was younger, especially of certain people in the music business.

The way you would spend your fantasy 24 hours, with no travel restrictions…

I’d have breakfast with all the family [Tony has five children: Thomas, 28, Toni, 26, Mack, 21, Zara, five, and five-month-old Genevieve] at Blues restaurant in Camps Bay, Cape Town. I’d then float over the Earth in space before landing back at my home in Buckinghamshire for a roast-rib-of-beef lunch with my family and friends. Then Ali and I would get the deckchairs out at a villa we love in Sardinia and have a gin and tonic or two in peace. I’d end the day with tapas and rosé wine at Ramon’s in northern Majorca.

The temptation you wish you could resist…

A kebab at 3am when I’m travelling back from a show. I love them but I have to watch my weight. I’m 16-and-a-half stone at the moment. His most cherished moment is playing the Albert Hall with Spandau in 1983

His most cherished moment is playing the Albert Hall with Spandau in 1983

The book that holds an everlasting resonance…

When I was eight I discovered The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe by C S Lewis and it made me fall in love with reading.

The priority activity if you were the Invisible Man for a day…

I’d visit Area 51 [the secretive US air force base in Nevada] and find out if we’ve been visited by aliens.

The pet hate that makes your hackles rise...

I loathe litterbugs and I’m pretty vocal if I see someone do it.

The film you can watch time and time again…

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang because it has everything â€" great music, magical scenery, a rags-to-riches story and a car that can fly!

Breakfast with family in Cape Town is the perfect scenario for Tony

Breakfast with family in Cape Town is the perfect scenario for Tony

The person who has influenced you most…

Frank Sinatra. I love his music, but more than that, I find inspiration from his life. He hit rock bottom, yet he dusted himself down.

The figure from history for whom you’d most like to buy a pie and a pint…

William the Conqueror. I’d love to know what motivated him to invade England and what vision he had.

The piece of wisdom you would pass on to a child…

Be open-minded so you can always see the other side of the coin.

The unlikely interest that engages your curiosity…

Logging! We moved into a new house last summer with two acres of land and quite a few trees, which I maintain. I bought a chain saw, a helmet and special leggings and boots. I’m a scary sight in all the kit.

The treasured item you lost and wish you could have again…

An orange plastic Beatles guitar I had when I was five. It got lost a long the way and I wish I’d looked after it.

A baby grand Yamaha piano is his most cherished posession

A baby grand Yamaha piano is his most cherished posession

The unending quest that drives you on…

To succeed. I admire people who are content, but I need to keep striving.

The poem that touches your soul…

In Flanders Fields by the Canadian Major John McCrae. It’s poignant and distils the horror of the First World War.

The misapprehension about yourself you wish you could erase…

People expect me to be up myself because of all those moody Spandau Ballet publicity photos. But I’m really friendly.

The event that altered the course of your life and character…

Signing the Spandau record deal with Chrysalis Records in 1980 when I was 20.

The crime you would commit knowing you could get away with it…

I’d break into the vaults underneath the Vatican and root through all the archives.

The song that means most to you…

Sinatra’s That’s Life. It always lifts my spirits and reflects my take on life.

The happiest moment you will cherish forever…

Playing the Albert Hall with Spandau in 1983. When I was 17 I had gone there with my mum to watch Frank Sinatra. I managed to get backstage and he spoke to me. I told him that it was my ambition to be a singer. He said, ‘I hope you succeed, son’, and shook my hand. I remembered that when I did the sound-check before that gig. I had fulfilled a dream.

The saddest time that shook your world…

Also when I was 17, my nan Rose died of stomach cancer. I was absolutely devastated.

The unfulfilled ambition that continues to haunt you…

I’d love to star in a wham-bam Hollywood action movie and get an Oscar.

The philosophy that underpins your life…

Look after your family and friends and be a decent person.

The order of service at your funeral…

I’d like people to dress as if they’re going to a concert, so it won†™t be too sombre. I don’t believe in the afterlife, so I don’t want anything too religious, but maybe someone can tell a few anecdotes about my chaotic life. They can play Pretty Vacant by the Sex Pistols during the cremation and I’d like people to file out to Monty Python’s Always Look On The Bright Side of Life. 

The way you want to be remembered…

Here lies a good bloke. And he could sing a bit, too.

The Plug… Tony is supporting Cadbury Dairy Milk Postcards campaign as part of its London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games sponsorship. Visit www.cadburypostcards2012.co.uk.

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A trip down the River Dart: The Wildlife with Monty Halls (and Reubs!)

A trip down the River Dart: The Wildlife with Monty Halls (and Reubs!)

By Monty Halls

PUBLISHED: 18:00 EST, 5 July 2012 | UPDATED: 16:54 EST, 6 July 2012

The weather down here has been pretty grim of late.

We’re supposed to be in the most gentle and benign part of the year, with misty mornings and golden dusks, so why, when I looked out over the harbour the other day, did it look like a monsoon in Delhi?

Why are all the gulls flying backwards and upside down? And why do I have to put on wellies just to take Reuben for a walk, my face spattered by raindrops the size of lightbulbs?

Monty Halls at home in Dartmouth Devon

Monty Halls at home in Dartmouth Devon

The River Dart transforms after the  big storms, turning into a great, turgid, slothful leviathan.

As it has done for millennia, it scours and strips the banks of all loose material, spewing it into the sea in a series of eddies and whirlpools.

En route it sluggishly passes my door, laden with sticks and seaweed turning lazily in water as dark and thick as chocolate.

It was in just such a gap after the latest downpour that one of the local lifeboat crew invited me out kayaking.

Hayden is a paramedic by trade, and as such sees more drama in a single week than most of us do in a lifetime. Incidentally, I think paramedics are criminally underpaid â€" these are the people on the very frontline, who crawl through the wreckage to hold a clammy hand, who are first on the scene when the bodies are twisted and torn. It seems to me that if we value life they should be some of the best-paid people in Britain, not the worst.

'We duly set out as the sun was dipping below the horizon, with the town just settling into its nocturnal patterns behind us'

'We duly set out as the sun was dipping below the horizon, with the town just settling into its nocturnal patterns behind us'

That aside, Hayden is a very good kayaker, and has the tatty, floppy hat to prove it. He suggested the splendid idea that we should paddle through the dusk and into the night. We duly set out as the sun was dipping below the horizon, with the town just settling into its nocturnal patterns behind us.

The street lights were beginning to glow, with the occasional babble of conversation from a soggy beer garden drifting across the water towards us.

There’s something particularly evocative about sounds travelling across water at night, giving them a tinny, exotic feel â€" even if the sound in this case is the ripples of laughter in response to a rude story told over a pint of Old Badger’s Behind.

We paddled upstream to the tiny hamlet of Dittisham, stopping for a quick half at the Ferry Boat Inn (this was, after all, a survival situation).

Turning back downstream, by the time we reached Old Mill Creek it was properly dark, the tr ees on the bank shadowy and imposing, reaching out over the water’s surface like dense rainforest.

This isn’t as far-fetched as it may sound â€" when The Onedin Line (remember that?) was being filmed, they used this creek to represent the Amazon. It’s a tranquil spot of calm eddies and estuarine mud, the realm of herons and the occasional otter.

As we were turning to paddle home, Hayden suddenly gave a shout. ‘Wow,’ he said, ‘quick, turn your torch off.’ Having absolutely no idea what to expect â€"  a crocodile possibly, a poisoned arrow winging out of the undergrowth? â€" I did just that. And suddenly I was paddling on what looked like a comet blazing through the night trailing a fiery twisting tail.

As the flooded river had scoured all  the nutrients from the bank on its path  to the sea, it had created an intense plankton bloom. In response to our paddles breaking the surface, and the kayaks ploughing their furrow along the river, the plankton was glowing with phosphorescence.

This mysterious green light is a biochemical reaction to disturbance, and in all my travels I had never seen it as intense as it was on this river, on this particular night.

And so Old Mill Creek echoed to the laughter and shouts of Hayden and myself, our every paddle stroke a fiery footstep that propel led us through the darkness.

The lights of Dartmouth could be seen behind the headland, the unmistakable halogen hue of civilisation, as in a dark creek beyond the sight of the town we carved glowing embers in a river that had suddenly become a furnace, brought to life under our keels.

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Miranda Kerr's 'drugged up baby' comment sparks backlash from furious mothers

Miranda Kerr's 'drugged up baby' comment sparks backlash from furious mothers

By Victoria Wellman

PUBLISHED: 16:29 EST, 6 July 2012 | UPDATED: 17:16 EST, 6 July 2012

Miranda Kerr's recent suggestion that epidurals negatively impact a baby at birth have caused a backlash from mothers and parenting websites.

The Victoria's Secret model and wife of Orlando Bloom told Harper's Bazaar UK that she opted for a natural birth because she didn't want her son, Flynn to be 'drugged up'.

But what was most likely intended as a loving dedication to her son, has stirred controversy among those who see the medically flimsy argument as a dig at mothers who have chosen pain relief during labour.

Happy and alert: Miranda Kerr has revealed how her choice to forgo an epidural was motivated by her belief that her baby would be 'drugged up' at birth

Happy and alert: Miranda Kerr has revealed how her choice to forgo an epidural was motivated by her belief that her baby would be 'drugged up' at birth

Adding to the furor was Kerr's flippant assertion that she 'wanted to give him the best possible start in life I could.'

One commenter on MailOnline griped: 'What a stupid thing to say. Firstly it's factually incorrect and also it's really insensitive. Some people have no choice but to go down the epidural route.'

Another reader compared the statement to Gisele Bundchen's famous quote about breastfeeding, a parallel that was also drawn by popular parenting blog, Cafe Mom.

'Seriously, what is it with these models? Are she and Gisele comparing notes or something?' Wrote mother, Mary Fischer in a 'Rant' post. 'I was in labor with my son for 24 hours, and I actually wound up having an epidural and a spinal block to manage my pain.

'And you know what? When my little guy made his entrance into the world, he was about as alert as newborn babies can possibly get.

'Even the nurses were all commenting on how "present" he seemed in the moment.'

Christine Proudfit, MD, Assistant Professor of Maternal Fetal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, NYU Langone Medical Center backed up the sentiment.

'Seriously, what is it with these models? Are she and Gisele comparing notes or something?'

She told MailOnline: 'The wonderful thing about an epidural is that because it works by directly bathing the nerves of the spinal cord with anesthetic medication it can provide excellent pain relief for a laboring mother without any medication getting into the bloodstream of her baby.'

Highlighting Kerr's inaccuracies she continued: 'Careful studies have shown no effects of epidurals on babies soon after birth or in the long-term, and such safety concerns should not be used as a reason to not get an epidural.'

However, other pharmacalogic pain relief methods such as narcotics, she continued, can have an immediate impact on a baby's breathing efforts when given intravenously. 

Ayla Yavin, an acupuncturist specializing women's health and pregnancy in New York, supported the distinction made by Dr Proufit.

She told MailOnline: 'Labor is possibly the most intense and potentially empowering event in the woman's life. It is because of this that every woman must choose the type of labor that is right for them based on their own research and self knowledge.

Giddy up! The 29-year-old's comments have angered mothers and critics

Giddy up! The 29-year-old's comments have angered mothers and critics

'Epidurals do have side effects but mostly on the mother herself, not the baby. Narcotics such as Demerol (frequently given in labor) have a much stronger effect.'

Either way, said Ms Fischer, 'pregnant women should respect each other for their individual choices when it comes to childbirth instead of tearing each other down and trying to make each other feel inferior.

'It's all well and good that Miranda wanted to go the natural route when she had her son, but choosing to forgo an epidural doesn't make her any sort of martyr, and it doesn't make her any better than moms who decide having an epidural is the best plan for them.'

In fact, according to AmericanPregnancy.org, 50per cent of women who give birth at hospitals opt for the epidural, the goal of which is to 'provide analgesia, or pain relief, rather than anesthesia which leads to total lack of feeling.'

The most glaring advantages of doing so is to give a mother a chance to rest and recuperate from a long labour and stay positive and focussed on the birth itself.

As another MailOnline reader pointed out: 'If the mum gets stressed, so does the baby and it can have serious implications!'

Here's what other readers have said. Why not add your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards.

The comments below have been moderated in advance.

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She really is just so full of herself.

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He has an extremely cute wee chubby face which I think are theee sweetest, and shame on anyone saying otherwise.!!

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Dudettes, if you made the choice to take the epidural, you made a choice that was right for you and if someone else disagrees, I guess you have to take that. Epidurals were not available where I live when I had my kids, but I was a hippy and wanted all natural. And I am proud of that; I try not to judge others, but hey -- thalidomide anyone? I kind of think natural things should be done naturally -- and that includes labour and delivery and breastfeeding. But you can choose your own; just don't come down on those who made different choices and feel proud. Your defensiveness comes across as guilt. But you need to accept that taking any kind of drugs during pregnancy, labour, delivery, and whilst breastfeeding will indeed have a negative impact on your baby. Deal with it.

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For those of us who labour for 48hrs or more without giving birth due to various factors, the epidural is a life saver. I can categorically state that I would have gone insane from the never ending pain without it. Miranda was very lucky to have a straightforward delivery without complications. She has no idea how birth is for those with narrow pelvis' , huge babies, babies presenting in the wrong position etc. I am sure she wouldn't have said what she did if she had more experience. No point getting upset with her, she is a model ,she is not paid for her opinion!

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Has this woman EVER said anything intelligent? She should seriously just shut up and look pretty

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I recall reading those three reader comments today, and am happy DM has presented this side of the issue. It's a pity we have to be the ones to add fact and reasoning to some celebrity opinions, but the majority of posters seemed willing and able to give Miranda Kerr valuable information. I can think of few times in a woman's life that are as intimate and personal as labour and childbirth. Within reason, (it's my humble opinion) that her decision should be just that: Her decision, guided by her own instinct on what is right or wrong for her child, and herself.

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ummm I bet she has about size nine feet hence wider pelvis hence easier childbirth. fact!!!!

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Miranda is actually a very nice woman. I don't think she made it as a dig to anyone, she just wanted a 100% natural birth. Leave her alone.

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It was pretty obvious in the original interview that she was talking for herself, and not making recommendations....

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Gorgeous looking but thick as two planks

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