Luxmuralis: Force of Nature at Bristol Cathedral

It's the final weekend to view Luxmuralis: Force of Nature at Bristol Cathedral.

The spectacular new light show adorns the historic building in a stunning exploration of creation and the cultural significance of the four elements.

With the final day on Saturday 4 November, the show considers the relationship of Fire, Air, Earth and Water with religion, mythology and art history in its show-stopping visuals.

On purchasing a ticket to Force of Nature, visitors will also have access to the bar, with a selection of nature-inspired drinks including the Cathedral’s own bespoke gin, Chapterhouse, by East Bristol favourite, Espensen Spirit.

Until 4 November | 6.15pm - 10.40pm | Bristol Cathedral, Bristol, BS1 5TJ
Find out more and book your ticket at yuup.co

OUR NOVEMBER ISSUE IS OUT NOW!

You'll love our fabulous November magazine which features a collection of great reading by our team of wonderful writers as well as beautifully presented advertising by Bath's best businesses. 

This month, we learn all about Evolution, the incredible drone display coming to Bristol, we check out Josh Dury's amazing astro-photography, and get to know Alexandra Pickford, the globe-trotting ballet dancer. Elsewhere, we chat with journalist Polly Toynbee about her new book and get ready for the long-awaited re-opening of the Bristol Beacon. We really hope you'll enjoy the read!

15,000 copies are delivered door to door, and you can pick up a copy at many places around town – including our stands at Waitrose, John Lewis, House of Fraser and Harvey Nichols.

Read the digital version of our current issue here!

And if you would like to have a copy sent in the post every month, then we offer a postal subscription for just £33 for 12 issues, £18 for six issues or buy a copy for just £4.25. UK mainland prices. For Euro and World zone subscription prices – see our website. 

Words by Melissa Blease

Corn Dogs

Few bonfire night treats can beat the good old hot dog in a bun. But if you want to give your November 5^th traditions an explosive shake-up, consider the Corn Dog: a savoury/sweet deep-fried hot dawg delight, popular at state fairs across the USA... and currently trending on our very own shores.

Once you've mastered the art of coating a frankfurter sausage in a crispy batter and frying it, you can take your newly-discovered skills in all manner of international directions – Germany, Mexico, France, Argentina and Korea all have their own variations on the corn dog theme. But the USA version is a classic for very good reason; once tried, you may never return to the British bun format again...

Ingredients (makes 10 corn dogs)

10 frankfurters (drained if canned)
150g cornmeal or fine polenta
75g self-raising flour (plus 2 tbsp for coating the frankfurters)
2 tsp caster sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp chilli powder
1 large egg, beaten
250ml buttermilk
1 tbsp milk
600ml sunflower oil, for frying

To serve: American yellow mustard; tomato ketchup

Method

Combine the cornmeal/polenta, flour, sugar, baking powder and chilli powder together in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and add the buttermilk, beaten egg and milk. Season well, then beat well with a wooden spoon to create a smooth, thick, dropping-consistency batter. Refrigerate the batter for a minimum of 30 minutes (or up to 4 hours) before pouring into a large, shallow, rectangular dish.

Poke a wooden skewer inside the length of each frankfurter almost all the way through to the end. Using sharp scissors, carefully snip off the skewer around 5-6cm from the bottom of the frankfurter.

Tip a couple of tbsp flour onto a plate and roll each frankfurter in the flour, to lightly coat.

Heat 3cm of vegetable oil in a large, deep, non-stick frying pan over a medium-high heat until a cube of bread dropped into the oil browns within 30 seconds. Warning! Do not allow the oil to overheat, and do not leave the pan unattended.

Hold one flour-coated frankfurter by the skewer end and roll in the batter until thickly and evenly coated. Twist the skewer as you lift the frankfurter from the batter to keep the coating smooth and gently lower into the hot oil.

Allow to fry for 10 seconds then turn in the oil using metal tongs and cook for a further 2 minutes, turning again after about a minute. As soon as one corn dog is frying, prepare the second in exactly the same way and begin an assembly line; you should be able to cook around 3-4 corn dogs at the same time in a wide-based pan. When the batter is puffed up, deep golden brown and crisp, your corn dog is ready; lift each one out of the batter in turn and drain on kitchen paper before serving drizzled with mustard and ketchup.

Kanpai to Christmas!

Head to KIBOU Clifton for lunch this Christmas, and enjoy a free Japanese fizz cocktail for you and a friend!

To celebrate the arrival of the festive season, KIBOU has created a Japanese-inspired sparkling cocktail that’s sure to get you into the Christmas spirit. Plus, as an added little bonus, they’re offering the cocktail for free when you join them for lunch between 20 November and 15 December.

So, get together and start sharing the good times over a deliciously fresh platter of sushi.

Visit kibou.co.uk to book a table and claim your free cocktail voucher for you and a friend.
16 King's Road, Clifton, Bristol BS8 4AB

Portugal's Finest Wines

Portugal's individuality is both its unique selling point and the reason it continues to suffer from a lack of consumer awareness of the quality of its wines. 

A country replete with indigenous grape varieties and some of the world's most interesting blended wines, Portugal has long shunned the adoption of international varieties. The wines therefore defy imitation and possess an incredible sense of place.

Douro Old Vines Reserva – Quinta Do Crasto

This red wine has concentrated aromas and flavours, married to wonderful freshness. It is lively and juicy - with intriguing nuances of spices, Mediterranean herbs, olives and well-integrated oak | £37.50

O Oenólogo Encruzado – Casa da Passarella

Fresh, bright, citrus aromas on the nose, with a certain stony weight on the palate with minerals and a touch of saline on the finish | £29.50

Touriga Nacional – Quinta Do Crasto

Crasto's varietal Touriga Nacional comes from two of Crasto's higher-altitude vineyards, averaging 300m elevation.  This has a classy, cool blueberry, black cherry fruit character with a seasoning of vanilla, white pepper and cream | £59.50

Tinta Roriz – Quinta Do Crasto

Vivid, deep expressive aromas of fresh cherry, vanilla, oak and spice, intense ripe fruit and notes of oak. Juicy and vibrant in the mouth, with a suggestion of pleasant leafiness, backed up by deep, intense Morello cherry jam and black liquorice | £59.50

Shop for these wines and more at greatwine.co.uk

Le Chameau Ladies Iris Bottillon Jersey Lined Wellington Boot

Sale price £63

Face the rain in style this weekend with Le Chameau's Wellington Boots, sold by Wadswick.

This 100% waterproof boot is ideal for gardeners and those who need a shorter yet stylish boot. The moisture wicking poly-cotton jersey helps to keep feet dry and comfortable when worn on warm summer days. This eye catching boot is flexible and packable, perfect for your next holiday or getting caught in the rain. Available in five distinctive colours, pictured here in Rose. 

Head to wadswick.co.uk to shop

Super soft check scarf | £30

Get ready for bonfire night this Sunday with French Connection's cosiest accessories. 

A sumptuous staple for chillier days, this scarf pairs playful tasselled edges alongside a multi-coloured array of classic checks.

Shop now at frenchconnection.com

Diana Porter 9ct Fairtrade Yellow Gold and Grey Rose Cut Diamonds | £1190

An exquisite cluster of speckled grey and salt and pepper diamonds set in textured 9ct Fairtrade yellow gold on a 9ct yellow gold chain.

Shop now at dianaporter.co.uk

The new Avenger B01 Chronograph 44

Built for jet pilots, Breitling’s new Avenger watches are designed to take on the toughest cockpits and keep coming back for more. But you don’t need Air Force credentials to appreciate its bold design, exceptional resilience, and next-level functionality.

Pairing performance with sophisticated modern aviation style, the collection’s materials – stainless steel on regular models; ceramic and titanium on Night Mission – are the stuff of aviation design, while dial colours are drawn from military uniform shades.

All stainless-steel versions come with a choice of military leather strap with a folding-pin buckle or three-row stainless-steel bracelet with micro-adjustable folding clasp. Ceramic models are paired with a military leather strap with a titanium folding-pin buckle. And whether you can pull off a barrel roll or not, you’ll appreciate everything about the Avenger’s 300 meter water resistance, easy-grip functionality, and corrosion-resistant construction.

Self-winding with approx. 70 hours reserve.

For prices and more information about this exciting new range click here to visit the Mallory website.

Curated by Daniel McCabe

This week we welcome the 50th issue of one of our favourite magazines, The Funambulist. This softly academic but highly accessible French quarterly aims to provide ‘a useful platform where activist, academic, and practitioner voices can meet and build solidarities across geographical scales’. In short it’s a toolkit for collaboration and communication for those working for rights and recognition in a variety of struggles around the world. The latest issue looks at how wider public engagement with the vocabulary of struggle has led to a dilution of political meaning – terms such as Indigenous, Intifada, Blackness, Genocide, Decolonial, Queer, for example – and invites activists and thinkers to contribute subjective definitions to bring us to a more informed understanding of their use | £9.99

magalleria.co.uk 

BS3 Santa Returns

Bristol actor Stewart Wright is back in his home city by popular demand from 26 November to 23 December, offering families the opportunity to make this festive season an unforgettable one.

Wright will bring Father Christmas to life once more as he returns with a newly reworked production of BS3 Santa. Experienced at entertaining all ages with his own brand of improvisation and audience involvement, theatre meets ‘An Audience with Father Christmas’ in this 50-minute interactive show.

For more information and tickets click here.

Festival of Economics 2023

Now in its 12th year, the annual Festival of Economics returns, with economists and experts from around the world invited to Bristol to debate the key economic questions of our time. Bristol Ideas is presenting this year’s festival with the Economics Observatory to bring together economists, policy makers, academics and the public to discuss the challenges our society and economy are facing, and some of the possible solutions.

This year’s Festival of Economics will run from 13-16 November 2023 and is co-programmed by Diane Coyle (Professor of Public Policy, University of Cambridge and author of Cogs and Monsters) and Richard Davies (Professor at Bristol University and author of Extreme Economies). Topics on the agenda this year include the UK’s health and social care needs, the future of home ownership and our increasing demand for housing, the role of technology and the consulting industry in our economy, the looming debt crisis, and the burgeoning global food crisis and the inflation impacting food supply.

13–16 November | For more information visit bristolideas.co.uk

Groovy fairy bath bomb-making workshops!

Join Lush Bristol at Cribbs Causeway on 4 and 5 November for an enchanting time of creativity and fun at their Groovy Fairy Making Kit Workshops! Get ready to unleash your imagination and bring your own unique fairy to life. Immerse yourself in a pink, festive atmosphere as you embark on this whimsical adventure.

At the end of the workshop, you'll leave with a fairy bath bomb creation that will bring joy and magic to any bath. Whether you decide to keep it for yourself or gift it to a loved one, your very own groovy fairy is one of a kind.

Saturday 4 – Sunday 5 November | Times vary, check website for details
Lush Bristol, Unit 36a, Patchway, BS34 5DG
Tickets are free, reserve your spot at eventbrite.co.uk to make sure you don't miss out! 

Far Flung Collective presents Earthen at Bristol Guild Gallery

Earthen at Bristol Guild Gallery begins tomorrow, 4 November.

Four artists from Aberdeen to St Ives invite you to share their natural worlds. Devon ceramicist Bethan Jones works West Country Clay into exquisite tableware. Briony Jenkins paints the immense Scottish landscape/ Mary Scott creates abstract images of the Cornish country and Bristol's Bev Campbell makes painterly interpretations of birdsong. 

4 - 25 November | Bristol Guild Galley, 68 Park Street, Bristol BS1 5JY
bristolguild.com

Appeal to find first IVF babies conceived and born in Bristol

An unusual appeal is being launched in the West Country: to find the first people conceived and born in Bristol as the result of IVF so they can be included in celebrations to mark 40 years since the first IVF baby was born in the city back in 1984.

Although Bristolian Louise Brown, who was born in July 1978, is famously recognised as the world’s first test-tube baby, she was neither born nor conceived in Bristol and it was 1984 before the first IVF baby was conceived and born here.

Now the team at the Bristol Centre for Reproductive Medicine (BCRM) is asking for help in tracing those first Bristol IVF babies.

The appeal was launched in conjunction with the ITV West Country on the early evening news on 01 November.

Valentine Akande, BCRM’s medical director, said: “We would really love to include some of the first babies created in Bristol through IVF in the celebrations we are planning to mark the upcoming 40-year anniversary, and if possible also their parents who were brave and remarkable people - real pioneers of their time.

“It’s an impossible job for us to identify these individuals ourselves because of confidentiality issues around accessing old patient records.

“We’re very much hoping this appeal will be successful and would love anyone for whom it’s relevant to contact us at BCRM.”

IVF treatments 40 years ago would have taken place at Bristol’s first fertility centre, established in 1983 as a joint research project between the University of Bristol and Southmead Hospital, which eventually evolved into BCRM.

Anyone with any useful information is invited to email Quality@BCRM.clinic

Clifton Vale, Clifton, BS8

Offered for sale by Bristol estate agents, Rupert Oliver

9 Clifton Vale is a fabulous Grade II* Listed townhouse and the perfect family home; seamlessly blending retained period charm with a modern aesthetic and much loved, improved and cared for by the current owners. 

Stretching to some 3650 sq. ft, the house is well appointed to offer ample space for day-to-day family life, with the added benefit of a self-contained apartment which is perfect for long term guests or as an income generating asset, enjoying independent access from the front of the house. 

The predominantly freestanding kitchen is a fabulous space; lit naturally by tall shuttered sash windows, with an exit out into the garden behind. There is plenty of freestanding floor and wall mounted storage, complete with a moveable “central” island. 

A sweeping curved balustrade staircase leads up to the first floor which is home to a stunning full-width sitting room with access onto a charming canopied balcony. The views from the balcony are wonderful and is a feature enjoyed year-round by the current owners; especially given the wonderful views, sunset and balloons rising from nearby Ashton Court estate. A perfect spot for a morning coffee or evening sundowner!

This floor, as well as those above, enjoy retained stripped wooden floorboards, with working fireplaces to both first floor reception rooms.

To the rear is a versatile second reception room or fourth double bedroom – currently dressed as the owner's home office. As an extra bedroom it works perfectly however, and is finished with its own well-appointed en-suite shower room.

Across the second floor is an exceptional master bedroom suite covering the whole floor; with a fabulous full-width bedroom to the front enjoying spectacular views and a walk-in wardrobe linking the bedroom to a huge bath and shower room behind. 

Over the top floor are two further double bedrooms which are served by a shared “Jack & Jill” en-suite shower room. Across the lower ground floor is a beautifully appointed one bedroom self-contained flat; accessed via a door from the front with steps down from the front garden as well as from the main house above. 

The apartment is light and bright and enjoys good ceiling heights with access to a private terrace at the rear along with the home's original cast-iron range cooker – a stunning feature. The house is approached via a deceptively spacious west-facing front garden, with a level lawn and pathway leading to the front door of the house, whilst also offering independent access via a small set of stairs to the self-contained flat. Guide price £1,650,000.

Click here for more information and images and to see the apartment on the Rupert Oliver website.