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Local Milford on Sea News Story Archives

8th April 2010 - Thursday | Milford on Sea Food Week Diary
My wife awoke startled this morning as I shouted ‘I’ve done it!’ at the top of my voice. What have you done she asked blearily. ‘It’s sunny, my shorts have worked, I’ve done it!’ I repeated. She took a swing, but with the restriction from her nightie she missed. Mum & friends are going home today, so we have a treat in store for lunchtime, but before that my wife thought a walk along the beachfront was in order. I joined in, but as they got halfway through their marathon trek I made a weak excuse & disappeared to ‘learn how to taste wine’ at Braxton Gardens. Shorefield also had another fun day running. Now peckish, I returned to collect the family & we made our way to Verveine Fishmarket Restaurant. The restaurant was full and the food exquisite. We all had the full three courses with all the special extra touches the team took so much care over. The world felt a great place to be, & it got even better when Gary insisted on paying, which I think was his way of trying to repay me for causing my morning headache.

Over the road the RNLI were having a very well attended Cheese & Wine Lunch with a Quiz. Late afternoon Mum & friends were off on their way home & I suggested to my wife an afternoon tea at Polly’s Pantry. Although she didn’t reply I could tell by her snoring that she was a bit too tired to go out just yet.

The evening was a bit of relay to take photo’s at various venues. First stop was Westover Hall Hotel where we were greeted by trees decked in Spanish Flags & bunting around the door. As we entered the Spanish guitarists were in full swing & champagne was flowing. The dining guests looked very smart & were already creating a party atmosphere. I tried to discreetly take some photo’s, but that is quite difficult when you are six foot two & of portly build. (Portly?, porky more like.) Next stop was the Folk Club & Chilli Night at South Lawn Hotel. When we arrived the chilli had already been served and a floor singer was up on stage. I got quite confused as to what he was singing about, but the sixty or so folk music aficionado’s seemed to understand. My wife reckoned it was about his dead dog & cider. I am not sure she was right, but before we could find out we were off to our next venue. Our final stop of the night was at Bon Appétit where we fortunately got a table to enjoy the late night Sweet & Savoury Crepes Evening. We decided to have one of each kind, and there are no prizes for guessing that I had the sweet one. By now it was getting a bit too late to make Verveine’s Tasting Banquet, so we called it a night with a swift night cap in The Smugglers.

Today’s weight: 19 stone 12 lbs | See the photo’s & stories from each day at:
www.milfordonseafoodweek.org/2010-diary

9th April 2010: Friday | Milford on Sea Food Week Diary
Blue sky, shorts on, I was ready for another day munching across the village. I headed for the start of the ‘Make More Room for Food’ Walk. The assembled crowd seemed keen for an energetic ramble, & I mused about joining in. But, on reflection they looked a bit too keen at walking for me, so I decided to go for a bacon sandwich in Polly’s Pantry instead. My mate Dave was due to arrive for the night, so unfortunately no time to get to the First Friday Charity Lunch. The plan for the afternoon was to enjoy the Pudding Afternoon at Westover Hall, my wife had decided to miss this one as she is not a chocoholic (I know, she’s very strange). Dave’s eyes however lit up at the idea, so the two of us skipped up Park Lane to the hotel. I guess it looked a bit odd, but Dave seemed to enjoy it, & the exercise was good for me. A menu greeted us with around twenty pudding choices, from which we could select two each. Over a coffee we made our selection & waited in anticipation. When they arrived, each dish was art on a plate, which came as no surprise when we learned that the chef had been trained at the Michelin starred Le Gavroche Restaurant in London. In my normal style a hiccup occurred when my phone rang to tell me the skip for the Food Market was arriving in the village. By the time I had returned fifteen minutes later, Dave had eaten his two puddings. In fact to be more accurate he had eaten one of his, & the banana one I was particularly looking forward to. To make matters worse I had wanted to take photos of them all for the website. Dave’s yelp as I kicked him in the shin was only heard by the closest waitress. Ignoring his pain, I tucked into his sticky toffee pudding and my amazing chocolate stove. Yes, a model stove made out of dark & milk chocolate, filled with chocolate mousse & complimented with two chocolate saucepans containing two fruit sauces. All of the puddings were exotic & delicious creations. As we left we gave our compliments, Rachel told us no one has so far been able to eat a complete chocolate stove, little did she know that I had left an empty plate.

Tonight people were also arriving at South Lawn Hotel to enjoy the ‘Chefs Fish & Seafood Night’ & Westover Hall were hosting a sold out ‘Five Course Gourmet Evening’. As we drove past the village green we spotted Dave Gregory’s village minibus operating a free shuttle bus service that was taking people up to Braxton Gardens. On arriving, there was no available parking spaces & the closest we could park was near Lytton Lawn Touring Park. I suggested calling a taxi, but Dave & my wife thought it would be fine to walk to the concert. On arrival we found there had been an unfortunate hiccup with the cocktail & canapés, but the assembled crowd of around 200 were still in good spirits & spread across the gardens in anticipation. As the choir paraded onto the floodlit terrace everyone became very excited. The outdoor performance gave the night a special atmosphere, as our local choir demonstrated their fine harmonies & impressive solo’s. The fine dry evening had a slight spring chill, but no one seemed to notice, as after every song the audience burst into rapturous hand warming applause. During a minor technical microphone hitch, a wag in the crowd started an impromptu acapella song & he was soon joined by other members of the audience in party mood. It was impossible for anyone there on the night not to have been proud of the new choir we now have in the village.

On the way home we grabbed a takeaway pizza from Piccolo Mondo. Once home, we opened one of the bottles of Row Ash Red wine we had bought on a Food Week special offer from WineShak, the wine had been made in their own Wickham Vineyard in the countryside near Southampton. Not normally someone who would buy English wine, I was very pleased to find it had the flavour of a good French Beaujolais. The evening then took its expected course, as Dave & my wife encouraged me to stay up late enjoying more drink & conversation. I think I will regret this in the morning.

On the way home we grabbed a takeaway pizza from Piccolo Mondo. Once home, we opened one of the bottles of Row Ash Red wine we had bought on a Food Week special offer from WineShak, the wine had had been made in their own Wickham Vineyard in the countryside near Southampton. Not normally someone who would buy English wine, I was very pleased to find it had the flavour of a good French Beaujolais. The evening then took its expected course, as Dave & my wife encouraged me to stay up late enjoying more drink & conversation. I think I will regret this in the morning.

Today’s weight: 19 stone 14 lbs (Scales creaking a little bit) | See the photo’s & stories from each day at: www.milfordonseafoodweek.org/2010-diary

10th April 2010: Saturday | Milford on Sea Food Week Diary
I woke up regretting the night before as predicted, but I was pleased to discover my shorts were still working as another clear blue sunny sky greeted me in the morning. Dave was up bright & early, as he was off to the FA Cup semi final after breakfast. I was ready for another day meandering around the village on a food hunt. On my travels around the village all week I was now regularly bumping into the same people that had been at the many events. A few looked at the big bloke in shorts quite suspiciously, I think they may have been concerned that they had gained a personal stalker during Food Week. Undeterred by the strange looks I may get, I popped into the village for a bacon sandwich at Polly’s Pantry.

At the Church Hall, Judith was once again holding a cookery demonstration on ‘Cooking for 1 or 2’. Yet again we had another well attended event & I played my part by sampling all of the food available. At one stage I became a bit concerned that she was making cooking these meals look a bit too easy, fortunately I never retained any of the information & can continue to rely on my wife being in charge of our kitchen. (If anyone would like to see Judith’s recipes, they are now in the ‘Village Recipe Book on the Food Week website – www.milfordonseafoodweek.org/recipe-book)

At lunchtime our friends Steve & Liz arrived to stay for the weekend. As we had lunch in the garden at the Smugglers Inn we were about to receive some very unexpected news.... Liz was pregnant! Fantastic news, but I never thought I would see a forty something confirmed bachelor chatting about the merits of terry towelling nappies. So many unexpected great things have happened this week. Over on the village green we were entertained as we watched Lindsay, sat in a bath getting covered in baked beans. The kids seemed to really enjoy the fun & making a tomato mess. Apparently she doesn’t do this every weekend, but the way she enjoyed it I’m not so sure. I heard later that Lindsay raised £303 for the Women for Women Charity. Next stop was ‘Michelle’s Vegetable Patch’ to see how she successfully grows vegetables in Milford on Sea. The front of her family home in Keyhaven Road held no clue to the great work she had done in her back garden. Michelle enthusiastically explained to the hoards of visitors about her experimental growing methods, whilst the chickens at the end of the garden just happily clucked away.

The evening was enjoyed by many attending the meal in the Church Hall, prior to the ‘Music for Spring Concert’ performed by Milford Musicale in All Saints Church, the Five Course Gourmet Evening was also taking place at Westover Hall Hotel. We opted for a takeaway curry from Zaika, a bottle of wine & an early night ready for the Food Market tomorrow morning. Well that was the plan, but at well past midnight we had failed on the ‘early night’ bit, & the bottle of wine had expanded into a variety of alcoholic beverages. With friends & a wife like mine I never learn.

Today’s weight: 19 stone 15 lbs (Scales really struggling now) | See the photo’s & stories from each day at: www.milfordonseafoodweek.org/2010-diary

11th April 2010: Sunday | Milford on Sea Food Week Diary
Shorts have had a long week, but they were still on duty for the last day. Today was an early (if what fuzzy headed), start as I arrived in the High Street at 7.30am. The local residents had done a great job in keeping the High Street clear of cars overnight, so we were immediately ready to start setting up the arriving market stalls on the village green and in the closed High Street. The first Milford on Sea Food Market opened at 10am & immediately throngs of people started to arrive. It soon became clear that in addition to the locals, large numbers of people were attending from outside the village. All of the stalls were buzzing as they presented their wares & it was great to see people so interested in the local produce available. As the day continued, the crowd just kept growing & it was not long before people could only shuffle between stalls. The village was vibrant & there was a great atmosphere everywhere. All day our squadron of raffle ticket sellers attacked visitors from every direction, obtaining any loose cash they could from unsuspecting market goers. Around midday a reader of these pages arrived & introduced himself. It was Rick, an ex-resident of Milford on Sea, who had travelled over specially from his home in Germany, he had also been joined by his sister from France. Oh yes, Milford on Sea has international appeal! Rick (who used to be called Rex, but that’s a long story), had generously bought me a large glass keg of his local German beer to enjoy. The Plonkers were now in full swing with their cider enhanced agricultural music & every hot food stall had constant queues for hours. Our local village shops had enthusiastically supported the Food Market & many had opened specially for the Sunday, so it was great to see them also doing a brisk trade. Our local restaurants, cafes and pubs also happily fed the hungry visitors, & available tables were at a premium. By mid-afternoon many of the stalls sold out of stock, as no-one had really expect the number of people who came to visit. We estimate over 5000 passed through the Food Market. Whilst feeling a bit daft in my (far too small) high visibility waistcoat, I chatted to lots of people during the day. I was particularly pleased to hear from some local B&B owners that they had some extra bookings this week from people who had just come to visit the Food Week. Some had even already rebooked having discovered the pleasures of Milford on Sea for the first time. I also discovered from Katie that the Food Market had been mentioned in the church service this morning, how good to have an endorsement in such high places. When telling my wife, I asked her if she thought the Vicar might do a quick advert for this website next week, but she didn’t reply and just wandered off muttering ‘Why did I have to be the one who was lumbered with the village idiot.’ In the late afternoon we decided it would be fun to have the local children draw the winning raffle tickets. All went well until one little lad decided the ticket he drew could be kept, as he ran back into the crowd to Mum & Dad. A few seconds later he was dragged back by his brother & sister, but he still used all the strength he had until I could prise the ticket from his hand.

As the market drew to a close, & the stalls packed up, it soon became clear that the great team effort had created a magnificent close to an exciting first Food Week. Also all of the visitors had kept the market area clear of litter, this may seem a silly point, but to me it shows a respect for our village by everybody that came. With so many visitors to the Food Market from outside of the area we hope that many will continue to return having now discovered the delights our village has to offer. Our charming little seaside village certainly eats well & knows how to throw a party, perhaps Rick Stein and Padstow should keep one eye our vibrant community, as we are looking to get on the map fine food!

As we sat in the warm sunny Sunday evening with our friends Colin & Trish, and Steve & pregnant Liz, we enjoyed Rick’s German beer & reflected on the fun we had all enjoyed during the week. My wife even liked me for a little while. It was pretty special to spend time with my Mum, many friends & neighbours. It was also heart-warming to see the whole village pull together to make everything happen, and to see the joy on people’s faces at lots of events was a complete delight. Food week has gone way beyond our expectations in terms of support and popularity, and despite us both aching in muscles we did not even know we had, it has been really rewarding to see everyone having a great time.
 
Today’s weight: 0 stone 0 lbs (Scales only go up to 20 stone! & have now exploded) | Off to plan Milford on Sea Diet Week now.

*Steve has done a ‘You Tube’ montage of images from the Food Market. To watch, please visit:
www.milfordfoodweek.org/food-market-you-tube