animals – and so she thinks

Five Outdoor Dates in Kent

admin — Tue, 13 Jun 2017 09:09:51 +0000

As the Garden of England, when you’re in Kent it’s only right to get outside and play. If you’re about to plan a date with someone new, eschew the usual dinner and wine, and check out some of these ideas.

Visit the loveliest castle in the world

That’s what Lord Conway famously called Leeds Castle. It’s certainly pretty beautiful. Listed in the Domesday Book a castle has been on the site since 1119. Today there’s over 500 acres of beautiful parkland and formal gardens, a maze, activities, a lake, and of course the stunning home. Bought by Lady Baillie in 1926 for £ 180,000 (bargain!) it’s her style you’ll see as you wander round and, if things are going well, imagine your future home together.

See and save some animals

Run by the Aspinall Foundation and committed to conservation the 600 acre Port Lympne Safari Park is home to lions, deer, bear, largest herd of black rhino in the UK, western lowland gorillas, and the only giraffe in Kent. If you are a single parent dating there’s plenty of space for them to run around and animals to look at whilst you guys get to know one another without the worry having to pretend to be an alien/princess/giant mushroom. Just me as a kid?

Punt away

The River Stour passes through the whole county, but nowhere is it more lovely than in the cathedral city of Canterbury. Get a riverboat tour through the city, gazing at the old architecture and clear water. This is the kind of activity that suits everyone, from teenagers dating to over 50s dating, and everything in between. Wrap up warm in winter, bask in summer, and watch the world go by.

Enchanting Austen

Visit the stunning seventeenth century manor at Groombridge Place, take a turn around the formal gardens, get tipsy in the vineyards and lose your heart in the Enchanted Forest. The 2005 film of Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice, starring Kiera Knightley, was filmed here Groombridge Place with the manor masquerading as Longbourn. And as love stories go, that’s a pretty good one.

Seafood

Every July the seaside town of Whitstable plays host to the Oyster Festival, where Oyster lovers and just lovers both enjoy the sun, sand, seafood and whatever else that famous aphrodisiac leads to. Personally I can’t stand oysters, but champagne – yes please!

Wildlife Photographer of the Year

admin — Thu, 15 Dec 2016 20:08:08 +0000

Part of the annual cultural calendar for many, the renowned Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition from the Natural History Museum is a glorious lens into a world that we often don’t see. The complexities of our natural world and all who inhabit it become starkly apparent through beautiful shots of extraordinary spectacles and amazingly intricate activities, and the competition is a celebration of the talent and passion of the artists who participate – all 50,000 of them in 2016.

This year they set photographers the task of telling tell visual stories about society’s interactions with the natural world. Winner Tim Laman, from America, was chosen for his image Entwined Lives, which frames a critically endangered Bornean orangutan above the Indonesian rainforest. Nosy Neighbour by Sam Hobson in the UK captures the curious nature of the urban fox, whilst in India leopards can be just as familiar, as the glowing streets of Mumbai slums show in Nayan Khanolkar’s shot The Alley Cat.

Much more a familiar a sight, but rarely seen in such a way, Gideon Knight, 16, from the UK, won the Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year title for his image of a moonlit crow on a sycamore tree in London’s Valentine’s Park, an image with eerie beauty with its sprawling dark branches and silhouette against the full moon. The Moon and the crow is an image that is rightly referred to as a poem by its taker.

I’m always struck by the tenacity and patience that photographers have. Many go to extraordinary lengths to capture their image, including push ups to keep warm in the Antartic, hang gliding with their equipment, or months hiding out. But there’s also those moments of perfect serendipity. Roberto Bueno was looking to capture some rare birds, but when they failed to show, turned his attention to a small hair grass species and was struck by its ethereal beauty, resulting in this beautiful Grass at sunrise.

Once again the exhibition amazes, delights, and educates, bringing its audience closer to the world in which they live. Beautifully.

At Bristol M Shed until 5 March 2017.

Emma Jane Unsworth – Animals

admin — Wed, 05 Nov 2014 18:35:34 +0000

Life isn’t easy. Even when it doesn’t appear to be that hard. Life is what Animals, the new novel from Emma Jane Unsworth deals with, with clarity, and comically. That hazy space between teen years and adulthood, settling for and settling down, entertainment and recklessness, freedom and responsibility, and all the trappings and traumas involved within.
Living in Manchester, best friends Laura and Tyler exist in a continual cycle of hedonism, hangovers, parties and comedowns, but one thing that seem to be a constant is their unrelenting friendship. As that unwavering bond start to be tested when Laura seeks long term commitment with her partner Jim, a concert pianist, and recent teetollar, the novel explore the complexity and endurance of female friendships. Navigating life is harder than navigating the city streets in which they party, and the two girls slowly start to realise that stimulants alone will not get them through life.
But with convention and stability is personality and enjoyment really lost? Drunken exploits and wild nights out are fun to read about, but the partying never stops in this novel, and sometimes it would be nice to take a break, and the refusal to move away from relentless hedonism can make for a draining read.
Unsworth is clearly no chick lit writer, and as well as being far more than an ode to partygoing, Animals is packed with literary allusions and clever affirmations. Some of the sentences are more sobering than any of the moments experienced by the characters, and contain a strength that the individuals themselves should have, but is never fully explored.
The prose is enjoyable to read, fiery and pacy, but the plot a little lacking. When putting down the book I felt, well, nothing. Reading should not leave you with a shrug of the shoulders. But perhaps the slightly unsatisfying ending and lack of direction is deliberate. As in real life, there are no answers, and the haze continues, even as we try to find our way.