The long Sunday lunch in Windermere..

A Windermere hotel has launched a new Sunday lunch menu – that will be served, Continental style – all afternoon.

The Cedar Manor, the Lake District’s award-winning boutique hotel and restaurant, will be offering the new “lunchtime” offering from 12 noon till 6pm every Sunday.

The aim, says owner Jonathan Kaye, is to cater for both locals and visitors who have a range of Sunday schedules.

“We know that there are people who look forward to a Sunday lunch straight after church,” said Jonathan, whose hotel is next to St Mary’s Parish Church.

“That’s where the tradition came from originally. But now there are people who want a Sunday roast after they’ve had a full day out on the hills. And there are others who enjoy the very British meal but at a later time, like they’ve had when on holiday abroad.”

The lunch menu – traditional roast beef, potatoes, Yorkshire puddings, along with vegetarian and other options – will comprise entirely of locally-sourced produce in keeping with the hotel’s policy of supporting local farmers, growers and suppliers.

“Some of our guests who are checking out on a Sunday still want to have a good meal before their journey,” said Jonathan. “Others, who are just arriving on a Sunday, want to know they can still get lunch even if their journey is delayed.”

But places are limited and booking is essential. Check the menu here https://www.cedarmanor.co.uk/sunday-lunch-cedar-manor

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Kendal artist reaches semi-finals of TV contest

A Kendal artist has reached the semi-finals of a TV  show to find the portrait artist of the year.

Catherine Macdiarmid will be seen on Sky (Arts)TV next month (April 9) competing against other artists as she paints a picture of a celebrity in London. The show is presented by Stephen Mangan and Joan Bakewell.

 

The contest is like an art version of Bake-Off, says Catherine, who has appeared in earlier stages of the show twice before. In 2014 she painted Extras actress Ashley Jensen and in 2017 her subject was the actor Ross Kemp. Both chose her portrait of them to keep.

Catherine, who was born in Kendal and lives in the town with her three children, has twice been selected for the prestigious BP Portrait Award. Her work was included in a book, 500 Portraits, published by the National Portrait Gallery.

She was elected a member of the Lake Artists Society in 2014 and is a founder member of Green Door artists in Kendal and the South Lakes.

Catherine says: “Faces are the most interesting things we see and I can’t remember a time when I didn’t paint people. I am fascinated by portraiture and how much it can disguise or reveal the inner person.

“The sitter can choose to reveal as much or as little as they want and I want to capture something of the external self as well as the inner self. It is all really about a conversation between artist and subject.”

Catherine, who is available for portrait commissions, teaches a range of art courses at the Brewery Arts Centre in Kendal, and leads art courses for HF Holidays and Higham Hall.

This summer she will have her own solo exhibition at the Brewery from August 10 until October 5.

Meanwhile, she will face competition from eight other artists in the semi-final of the TV show. The heats were filmed at the Wallace Collection gallery in London; the semi-final location will be revealed on the night.

“It’s like painting in a goldfish bowl,” says Catherine. “Artists are used to working in isolation. This is very different, when people are watching you, and you can hear snippets of conversations.”

Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year 2019, Tues April 9, Sky Arts TV 8pm

Self portrait

Time for business to act on climate change

Cumbrian businesses are being urged to follow the example of the younger generation and take action on climate change…and save costs at the same time.

A workshop run by Eco-Innovation Cumbria will ask firms to consider: do you know the impact of your supply chain on climate change?

The process is called Life Cycle Thinking and aims to encourage businesses to reduce, re-use and recycle.

“We want to provide a tool for companies to identify and reduce the resources they use to manufacture products or provide services that are sold to customers,” said Glyn Griffiths, senior project officer for Eco-Innovation Cumbria.

“Life Cycle Thinking provides a step by step approach to identify key areas for improvement. The approach will encourage working with your supply chain to reduce waste, helping to reduce CO2, with positive impacts on profit along with climate change.”

The event, at the Stonecross Manor Hotel in Kendal on March 26, is free to small and medium size companies in Cumbria. Practical workshops, delivered by the University of Central Lancashire, will be matched with networking opportunities.

It’s something that businesses can no longer afford to ignore, says Glyn Griffiths. “Life Cycle Thinking is about assessing the impact that your business activities and products have on the environment throughout their life cycle, including climate change. Incorporating LCT can bring a wealth of opportunities for your business, not only helping you to identify where you could be saving money or increasing profits but reduce your business carbon footprint and help the environment.

Devastating impact of climate change. Flood damage photo by Ashley Cooper/Global Warming Images

The event, Sustainable supply chains that reduce CO2 and cost, will include sessions on life cycle assessment for business, workshops and demonstrations, and business models.

“We are all aware how seriously younger people are taking the threat posed by climate change, when even school children are demonstration and protesting,” said Mr Griffiths. “It’s something that every business has to consider.”

Registration for the event is here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/sustainable-supply-chains-that-reduce-co2-and-cost-registration-57782446854

Top artist in Wordsworth exhibition

Cumbria’s Visual Artist of the Year, Julian Cooper, will feature in a major new exhibition opening this weekend in Cockermouth.

This Land is Our Land at Wordsworth House explores the fragile and ever-changing relationship with the landscape that surrounds us.

Julian Cooper

It includes several dramatic landscapes by Julian Cooper, a member of the Heaton Cooper family, whose work features in collections around the world and can be seen in London’s Art Space Gallery, as well as at the Heaton Cooper Studio in Grasmere. He was named Visual Artist of the Year in the recent Cumbria Life culture awards.

Force Crag Mine by Julian Cooper

There’s a collection of William Wordsworth’s personal objects, including his ice skates, and other contributors include writers Robert Macfarlane, Sarah Hall, Hunter Davies and George Monbiot, local farmers and others living and working in the Lakes.

Zoe Gilbert, Wordsworth House’s visitor experience manager, said: ‘This Land is Our Land is about nature’s power to shape us and the impact we, in turn, have on the environment. These are issues that affect us all.

“The exhibition combines the written word, stunning images, a series of specially commissioned short films and a range of extraordinary objects chosen by the participants to exemplify their relationship with this very special place.”

This Land is Our Land forms part of a year-long series of events on the theme People’s Landscapes being held around the UK by the National Trust. Wordsworth House is hosting a series of linked talks, including an evening with farmer and author James Rebanks.

For more information and to book tickets, see nationaltrust.org.uk/ wordsworth-house. This Land is Our Land is open daily, except Friday, 11am to 4pm, from 9 March to 8 September, and admission is free with entry to the house and garden.