He wowed the judges of ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent with a magic show like no other, and is now a household name, enjoying sell-out shows across the UK. But Ben Hart says it’s in Winchester that he’s most looking forward to performing this Spring, with his one-man show gracing the stage in his home city, at Theatre Royal.
In 2002 Theo Mezger immersed himself in an unusual retirement project: creating the finest ice cream using local ingredients, which he lovingly named after his wife.
What started as a hobby in his home just outside Winchester impressed family and friends so much that he began to supply local pubs, starting with The Chestnut Horse.
Word spread and Jude’s won the first of many Great Taste Awards for its vanilla ice cream.
Meet Simon Claridge from Claridge Fine Art on Southgate Street, whose dazzling diamond-dust art works have been snapped up by celebrities the world over.
They’re the sort of thing you can easily imagine hanging in a celebrity pad (Rod Stewart, Claudia Schiffer and Nick Faldo all have ‘a Claridge’). But they’re brilliantly executed too, and would be equally at home on a Winchester wall.
Julian Eardley knew he wanted to be an actor as soon as he was old enough to climb onto a stage. As Theatre Royal Winchester’s ongoing pantomime dame he has performed in more silly frocks than he can remember, and this year takes to the stage once more as Dame Dottie in Beauty and the Beast.
“Playing a dame is rather like taking on the maternal role in a pantomime but with a good measure of feisty comedy thrown in,” he says. “Because there is so much audience participation, every show is different and that adds to the fun of it. You just never know what might happen on stage.”
“Hat Fair is a bit like letting your cheeky cousin loose in Winchester,” says festival director Andrew Loretto. “It’s playful, it’s fun and it’s full of surprises, but most of all it empowers local people to celebrate and re-imagine where they live.”
Celebrating the street theatre and music that have added colour to the city for centuries, Hat Fair was conceived as a busking festival in 1974. It’s now the UK’s longest-running festival of outdoor arts, and attracted over 53,000 people last year with 120 live performances.
When Paul Bowler of Winchester Distillery delved into his parents’ drinks cabinet at the tender age of 12, the first thing he came across was a rather old bottle of Gordon’s Gin.
“It was surprisingly palatable,” he says with a smile. “Even as a student, when cider and black was about as sophisticated as it got, I always liked a gin and orange.”
An appreciation of quality when it came to drinking stayed with Paul, who after 20 years working in London in IT decided to rethink his career and indulge his passion for gin.