A specially curated guide to help you enjoy the next 48 hours (or more) in Bristol

HAPPY NEW YEAR  |  THE YEAR OF THE METAL OX

Today marks one of the globe’s biggest annual festivals, celebrated by a fifth of humanity, and a mostly virtual affair in the UK this year.

The Chinese New Year 2021 animal is the ox. Each year has an animal sign in the Chinese zodiac (literally 'circle of animals') which is based on the Moon and has a 12-year cycle. However, there is also a cycle of five elements — wood, fire, earth, metal and water — which together creates a 60-year cycle. So in 2021 it’s the year of the metal ox, which hasn’t happened for 60 years.

The ox is the second of all zodiac animals. According to one myth, the Jade Emperor said the order would be decided by the order in which they arrived to his party. The ox was about to be the first to arrive, but the rat tricked the ox into giving him a ride. Then, just as they arrived, the rat jumped down and landed ahead of the ox. Thus, ox became the second animal.

The Travel China Guide illustrates that those born in the year of the ox (including those born in 1913, 1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997 and 2009) are known for being diligent, persistent and honest. Famous individuals born in the year of the ox include Barack Obama, George Clooney and Malala Yousafzai.

VALENTINE'S RECIPE  |  CHOC FULL OF LOVE

Chocolate has been credited as having mystical aphrodisiac qualities since the days of the Mayan and Aztec cultures. It's the seductive gift at the start of the affair and the classic, comforting standby that helps mend the ensuing broken heart. Casanova apparently ate tons of the stuff before frolicking with his conquests... and when we learn what's in it, it's easy to understand why: chocolate contains phenylethylamine and serotonin, both of which are chemically mood-lifting agents which produce the euphoric effects often associated with being in love. So... if you fancy igniting a fire in the belly of a 'special someone' or just treating yourself kindly this Valentine's Day, this is the recipe for you.

Ingredients
185g unsalted butter
185g good quality dark chocolate (minimum 70%)
85g plain flour
40g cocoa powder
50g white chocolate
50g milk chocolate
3 large eggs
275g caster sugar

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC/gas mark 4. Grease and base line a shallow, square baking tin, approx. 20cm in diameter.

2. Cut the butter into cubes, break the dark chocolate into chunks and place both ingredients in a heatproof bowl. Set the bowl over a pan of just simmering water (but do NOT let the bowl touch the water) and heat gently, stirring occasionally with a metal spoon, until the chocolate and butter have melted. Remove from the heat and set the mixture to one side to cool to room temperature.

3. Chop the white and milk chocolate into neat little chunks. Sieve the plain flour and cocoa powder into a large mixing bowl.

4. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar together until pale, thick and creamy, by which time the eggs should have roughly doubled in volume and your whisk should leave a temporary trail on the surface of the mixture.

5. Pour the cooled dark chocolate and butter mixture over the egg 'mousse' and gently fold with a metal spoon or spatula until thoroughly combined. Hold the sieve over the mixing bowl, re-sieve the cocoa and flour mixture into the mix and fold in again – as soon as the ingredients are combined and the mixture looks a bit 'fudgy', you're done.

6. Stir the white and milk chocolate chunks into the mix and tip the batter into the prepared tin (as it's quite a thick batter, a spatula will help here). Level the top and bake for 20–25 minutes. The brownie is cooked when the top has a papery crust, the sides are just starting to come away from the tin and a knife inserted into the middle comes out slightly moist.

7. Allow the brownie to cool completely in the tin before removing, placing on a plate and cutting into squares... or heart shapes.

8. Serve with a generous dollop of thick cream, dusted with cocoa powder. The brownies will keep in an airtight container for up to one week and can be frozen (tightly wrapped in cling film) for up to a month.

WEEKEND WINE  |  PRODUCER OF INTEREST

Hailed as one of Spain's most innovative producers, Ramón Bilbao was established way back in 1924, when Don Ramón Bilbao Murga set up his home in the heart of Rioja's wine region. Today Ramón Bilbao creates some of the finest wines in Spain and is celebrated world-wide for its excellent bottles. Here are just five wines from a beautiful selection at The Great Wine Co.

Albariño
On the nose, tropical notes of pineapple and passionfruit interspersed with golden apple and stone fruits mix with white floral aromas. The palate is refined with unctuous notes of apricot and mango, and a delicious tropical fruit finish with a refreshing acidity. £13.95

Rioja Crianza
This wine is amazing, with aromas of fresh dark fruit, such as blackberries and blackcurrants and hints of blackberry. It has a lovely ripeness and generous fruit character, whilst retaining good structure. One of The Great Wine Co’s best red wines around the £10 price point. £11.95

Rioja Viñedos de Altura
A wine that portrays the beautiful fruit produced by high-altitude vineyards: in this case 50% Tempranillo from La Rioja Alta and 50% Garnacha from La Rioja Baja. This has lilting violet and plum aromas, and vibrant, intense fruit on the palate. Medium-bodied and supple-textured, it is both full of personality and dangerously easy to drink! £16.50

LaLomba Rosado 'Finca Lalinde'
This wine's intricacy, finesse and balance makes it possibly the finest rosé we have ever tasted. Combining feather-touch delicacy with enormous personality, it displays delicious juicy blush pear fruit, tempered by savoury bay leaf aromas, electric-bright acidity and a genuine impression of 'minerality'. Bone dry, yet with fabulous flavour intensity and sustain, this is a masterpiece. £25 (£49.50 for a magnum)

Monte Llano Blanco Rioja
Pale lemon in colour with green hues. On the nose aromas of tropical fruits such as banana and citrus fruits can be found. The palate is fresh, vibrant and fruity with a balanced acidity. £10.95

Discover more Ramón Bilbao at The Great Wine Co

Stock up and order online with free delivery on all orders over £50.

ON THE BOX  |  A MOVING STORY

Set five years after the end of the American Civil War. A veteran who travels from town to town reading the news undertakes a perilous journey across Texas to deliver an orphaned girl to a new home.

Based on the novel of the best-selling same name by Paulette Jiles, the Western movie sees Jason Bourne director Paul Greengrass reunite with Tom Hanks for the first time since Captain Phillips.

Starring Helena Zengel, Neil Sandilands and Elizabeth Marvel, News of the World is Netflix's latest must-see movie.

Watch it on Netflix here

SMART TECHNOLOGY  |  PURE WATER, CLEAN BOTTLE

This is a light-weight self-cleaning water bottle with its very own water purification system. By using UVC LED light, Grey Ark Tech have developed a system to clean both the water and the bottle itself.

The light eliminates up to 99.9999% of bacteria, bio-contaminants and germs that can cause odor when using an average reusable bottle. This leaves us with clean, refreshing water.

The sleekly designed bottles are insulated and vacuum sealed, meaning they will keep the contents hot or cold for up to 12 hours. The LED temperature display tells you the exact temperature of your water and there’s also the option to turn on a reminder setting - to let you know when it’s time to hydrate again. It’s sustainable, sterile and smart.

Priced at £80 - find out more and shop at Grey Ark Tech

MUSIC  |  NEW LAUNCH

Bang & Olufsen have recently introduced the Beosound Level – a portable wireless speaker that delivers on both impressive sound and equisite design.

The speaker intelligently changes its tuning to deliver the same listening experience in any position, in any room. That means you can stand it upright in the kitchen, lie it flat on a table or hang it gracefully on your wall, and the sound quality doesn't change.

Using materials that 'soften technology' the speakers add a touch of high-end Scandinavian style to any home.

£1,099; bang-olufsen.com

TAKE FOUR  |  SWEET TREATS

It's time for pancakes!

Pancake Day, or Shrove Tuesday (this year on 16 February), is the traditional feast day before the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday. Lent, which is the 40 days leading up to Easter, was traditionally a time of fasting and on Shrove Tuesday, Anglo-Saxon Christians went to confession and were absolved from their sins, or 'shriven'.

On a practical level Shrove Tuesday was the last opportunity to use up eggs and fats before embarking on the Lenten fast and pancakes offered the perfect answer.

The pancake has a long tradition and is featured in cookery books as far back as 1439. The tradition of tossing or flipping them is almost as old: "And every man and maide doe take their turne, And tosse their Pancakes up for feare they burne." (Pasquil's Palin, 1619).

The ingredients for pancakes can be seen to symbolise four points of significance at this time of year: eggs for creation; flour as the staff of life; salt for wholesomeness; and milk for purity.

A traditional English pancake is very thin and is served immediately. Golden syrup or lemon juice and caster sugar are the usual toppings for pancakes. Below Melissa Blease offers us some other tempting ideas.

OBJECTS OF INTEREST  |  ROLEX  IN COLOUR

Over the last 12 months a riot of avant-garde colour has burst into watch design like never before. Rolex has always had a playful side since the late Sixties when it started adding joyful colours and tones on its enamel Stella dials. Forty years on, five new colourful dials have been added to the new Oyster Perpetual 36 line up.

Incredibly cool with unisex appeal – thanks to the mid-sized 36mm case – the range will look great on any wrist. The new hues are: coral red, yellow, green, turquoise blue and candy pink. All have Chromalight displays, which means that these dials are super bright in the daytime but also have a beautiful lume and are perfectly legible in the dark too. The classic stainless steel Oyster bracelet, domed bezel, super self-winding movement and waterproof quality – up to 100 meters – are all what you'd expect in this thoroughly modern classic. £4,450.

For availability and more details contact Mallory, an official Rolex retailer.

NEWS FROM THE CITY  |  HANDMADE CRAFTS

By Olivia Cowell – teacher at Cotham School.

In July 2019, before carrying out my teacher training course, I was inspired to do some international volunteering in education, and volunteered at Excel school in a disadvantaged neighbourhood in Nairobi.

In April 2020, I received a letter from one of the students in Kenya, explaining the hardships endured by those at Excel. Everything the school has worked hard for over the last six years could be taken away...

The letter tugged at my heart strings and I knew I had to do something. I set up the business 'Hope for Excel', and launched an Etsy shop selling handmade cards and soap. The response has been overwhelming! Since July 2020, I have raised over £6,000. This money has been donated to allow the children to receive two meals every day, and pay for the tuition of certain students if their parents lost their jobs. It costs just £10 to send a child to school for a month in Nairobi, but unfortunately for some this is too much.

To find out more, visit hopeforexcel.etsy.com

MARCH ISSUE  |  A MESSAGE FROM THE TEAM

HIDDEN HISTORY  |  WW1 SOLDIERS

A collection of historic images showing wounded First World War soldiers enjoying winter sports have been re-discovered at Longleat.

The photographs, taken in 1917, show soldiers skating and tobogganing on Half Mile Pond – a large lake next to Longleat House on the Wiltshire estate.

One of the images depicts four wounded soldiers pushing a makeshift toboggan across the frozen lake. Another shows the relief hospital ward in the State Dining Room.

The South West recorded large snow falls of up to 14 inches in the winter of 1917. A temperature of -19.4c was recorded in Wellington on 7 February and, even as late as April, it was still -5c in some areas.

The first patients to be treated at Longleat were 31 Belgian soldiers who had fought to defend West Flanders after the retreat of the British Expeditionary Force.

A hundred beds were put up in the Saloon and State Dining Room, nurses were moved into the Bachelor Rooms on the top floor of the house, a bedroom was turned into an operating theatre, and the Red Library transformed into a sitting room for the convalescing soldiers.

Longleat was one of the first stately homes to become a hospital, opening its doors on 7th November, less than three months after war was declared. It remained operational until January 1919 caring for a total of 2,044 soldiers, including victims of the 1918-19 Spanish flu pandemic.

Soldiers recovered in comfortable surroundings and even enjoyed a full programme of entertainments.

There was a debating society, which met in the Green Library every Monday, concerts, plays and sporting events. Much of this is recorded in the Longleat Lyre, a magazine prepared by patients containing news, poems and stories.

The Thynne family also contributed to the war effort in others ways.

Lady Kathleen Thynne was secretary of the Longleat hospital throughout the war. In late 1916, she also worked serving soldiers at a canteen in northern France. Her sister, Lady Emma Thynne, worked as a lathe turner in a munitions factory at Eynstone in Kent.

John, Viscount Weymouth and heir to Longleat, was killed aged 20 in February 1916 at Hulluch, and Lieutenant Colonel Lord Alexander Thynne DSO, youngest brother of the 5th Marquess, was killed in September 1918 near Bethune.

longleat.co.uk

GET ON COURSE  |  AT THE LEMONADE PRESS

Recently launched independent lithography studio The Lemonade Press, based just off Gloucester Road, is the brainchild of Catherine Ade. 

Unique to the area, the studio offers lithographic printmaking, plate graining and courses in lithography and monotype as well as services to experienced lithographers.

The studio works closely with artists to realise their ideas and during the first national lockdown, collaborated entirely remotely with artists by mailing out a lithographic stone and tuche washes. Participants then made their image on the stone and posted it back to the studio for the prints to be made. The collaboration was completed using Royal Mail and Zoom.

Catherine will be running workshops and courses throughout the year, starting in  March with one and two-day Introductions 

- Monotype Course - Weds 3rd March 2021 (1 day course)

- Plate Lithography Course - Weds 10th & 17th March 2021 (2 day course)

- Stone Lithography Course - Weds 24th & 31st March 2021 (2 day course)

For more information and to register visit: www.thelemonadepress.co.uk

Look out for...

ON THE BOOKSHELF  |  A GRIPPING READ

SCHOOLS DIARY  |  VIRTUAL OPEN DAYS

Virtual Events at Badminton School

Senior and Sixth Form Open Morning: Friday 26 February from 9am.

For prospective girls and parents interested in all year groups at Badminton School from Year 7 in Senior School through to Sixth Form (ages 11 - 18 years old).

Book your place here

INTERIORS  |  EDITOR'S PICKS

BRISTOL PROPERTY  |  ON THE MARKET

This is a highly attractive Grade II* Listed family property, much loved and improved by the current owners over the last few years. The house has a handsome Georgian red brick façade, dating to the late 18th Century. Internally there are numerous retained period features and classic light-filled proportions typical of the Georgian era, yet accommodating all the modern conveniences a family of today might need. The open plan kitchen and dining room are a wonderful space; high ceilings, period plasterwork and plenty of space for dining and socialising. The kitchen enjoys an expanse of work space, a large central island and a comforting gas fired AGA.

From the dining room, a door leads out to the sunny rear courtyard, and to the gated parking beyond. Further along the entrance hall is a useful rear hall, with a fabulous retained butler's pantry along with an ingenious 'spyhole' cut through the stairs to spot who might be coming in the front door. The rear hall also houses a useful downstairs cloakroom with w.c.

Upstairs, the first floor is a spectacular space, split between the formal drawing room to the front, with its shuttered triple sash windows, high ceilings with detailed plaster work: and the spacious rear sitting room. The room can easily double as a fifth bedroom. 

From the hall and first floor half-landing is access to a private roof terrace, walled on all sides and complete with sash windows. This is a fantastic space for a drink or meal, but does have the consent to cover and bring "back in" to the house. 

Above, the owners have dressed the second floor as a master suite, complete with a fabulous bedroom to the rear and fully fitted dressing room to the front. The dressing room could easily convert back to a fourth bedroom. The owners have spared no expense with the shower room, with a sensational walk-in shower cubicle with "book-matched" oversize marble slabs. 

On the top floor lie two charming double bedrooms, and a stylish more contemporary bathroom complete with a separate walk-in shower. 

The lower ground floor is privately accessed from either the front or rear is a useful self-contained two bedroom apartment.

Outside, to the rear, the house enjoys a sunny south-westerly orientation. At present, the rear is divided between a courtyard garden and extensive parking. To the front, No. 4 has been granted use of the well-maintained communal gardens.

Price on application, for further details contact Rupert Oliver estate agents.