A perfect setting: The Mansion House Old Warden Park

Tea and tours at The Mansion House

Hundreds of VIPs and guests from across the County were treated to tea, cakes and tours of The Mansion House, Old Warden Park on Thursday 23rd September.

Celebrating its relaunch, the country house opened its doors to invited guests to tour the historic building and enjoy a fabulous afternoon tea. Whilst relaxing to the sounds of a harpist many guest faces were captured on paper by a roving cartoonist.

Tours of The Mansion House were conducted by Cyril Thomas who has worked at the house, originally as the footman, for nearly 50 years and knows every inch of the building which dates back to 1872.

Guest Anna Viola of Heart Radio said: “What a wonderful afternoon, a lovely traditional cream tea served by white-gloved waitors. A real treat!”

Shuttleworth Park was relaunched as The Mansion House (on Thursday 23rd September) - the leading country house venue for weddings, private hire, corporate hire and parkland events in the local area.

www.themansionhouse.org

tel 01767 626200

Face to face with the magic and mystery of legend

Pic captions:

(1) Jeffrey Tribe, Arts Advanced Practitioner at Bedford College.
(2) Giant Ralph, the seafarer’s nightmare.

Bedford College Arts Advanced Practitioner, Jeffrey Tribe, has an eye for faces - in the most unusual places.

His ability to see profiles and portraits of human faces in the rocky edges of the UK coastline led him to work the idea into an art project. Faces of legend from kings to dinosaurs, warriors to whirlpools, each with an intriguing story to tell of the mysteries of the sea and surrounding coastline.

With the help of Google Earth, Jeffrey Tribe has discovered 12 human heads emerging from the British coastline, as presented in his project, Headlands. Each coastal face is shown alongside a narrative based on the location and in the form of iconic cigarette cards. The amazing images are exactly as seen on Google Earth, with no retouching. So famous have his "coastal faces" become that they have been picked up and published in the USA and India.

Jeffrey explained: “I came up with the idea when watching the BBC weather on TV. I noticed that parts of the coast had features resembling faces. On closer inspection (via Google Earth) I noticed they really were there. The narrative on the reverse is based upon the locality the face was located.

“This is a personal project that now has a life of it’s own - spreading around the web and posted on several sites and blogs including the Dallas Times and a newspaper in India.”

To find out more see
http://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2010/august/headlands-google-earth-uk-coastline-faces

A meal for two for someone wonderful

Not one but two rosettes have been won by Bedford Swan's restaurant......

Bedford Swan Hotel is celebrating having the only restaurant in town to have TWO AA Rosettes by offering a celebration meal to two individuals who themselves deserve a winner's rosette.

Recently the restaurant, overlooking The Embankment, became the first in Bedford to be awarded double rosettes by the AA, there are only two venues in Bedfordshire which have achieved the same distinction: Luton Hoo and The Inn at Woburn.

Said Bedford Swan General Manager Dominic Mills: "We are delighted that our restaurant is in such top class company and we would like local people to come along and have lunch or dinner with us. To encourage people to remember that the restaurant is open to non-residents, we are running a special competition for local people who deserve a rosette."

Nominations for people who have gone the extra mile for the local community, who have raised money for charity, or who are simply the best mum or daughter are sought. Simply email your story to: swanrosettes@hotmail.co.uk

Two Prizes of a meal for two in the award-winning restaurant to include starter, main course, dessert, coffee and complimentary bottle of wine and soft drinks.