Abena Bailey Features

Making beauty queens

Miss Hertfordshire organiser Sue Waite told me about pageant life and the women going for the beauty queen crowns of today.

 Last year's Miss England winner backed the student protests against tuition fees and the year before that the reigning Miss England – nicknamed Combat Barbie because she was a soldier - replaced the swimsuit category of the competition with a sportswear round.

What is going on? The old beauty contest model of scantily clad girls wishing for world peace has been replaced with intelligent and confident young women.

As well as modelling jobs, crown holders are getting column inches in newspapers and are taking on tough challenges that could well break their manicured nails.

Take Suzi Cummings, from St Albans, who was Miss Herts 2008. She is now a fully qualified fire-fighter while Miss England 2009, Katrina Hodge, is a Lance Corporal.

The competitions have officially become about more than just beauty.

Driving this new way are scores of organisers across the country who not only coordinate the regional contests from start to finish but also guide and nurture the young beauties.

Miss Hertfordshire organiser Sue Waite said: “Girls of today are very confident and know what they want and how to achieve it.

“Life for them is definitely not about getting married and having children early, as it was in my day.

“The main aim of the pageants these days is to show that beauty is not just on the surface. It goes a lot deeper. The bathing beauty is a thing of the past. Brains and confidence are major factors in the competitions of today.”

Sue has the exclusive licence in Hertfordshire to fast track her winners to the Miss England finals and this year is expanding her affiliation by introducing Mr Hertfordshire and sending 17 to 27 year old men from the area to the Mr England finals.

Her  first contact with the wannabes is by phone, letter or email, when they make inquiries or apply to enter. Next Sue will meet them at first round auditions.

After this point the heat is on. Rehearsals get under-way and girls panic about all kinds of problems from dress and sponsors to charity events and nerves.

There is a lot riding on it for them. Winning Miss Hertfordshire puts them through to Miss England and after winning that the next step is a chance to compete for the Miss World title and its $100,000 prize.

While the contestants fret over this Sue single handedly keeps organises the big show when a panel of judges picks a winner from the 40 contestants.

To get to this stage it takes five months of hard graft; finding a venue, sponsor, which this year is The Galleria, entertainment, prizes and judges.

Sue does it all alongside her full time job working in a corporate role for Honda.

Before running Miss Hertfordshire she felt nervous addressing even a small group of her work colleagues but now she is the person impressionable young women look up to and seek advice from.

She said: “I am in constant touch with girls for the three months leading up to the final and by that time I do feel as if I have gained 40 daughters.

“It's mainly nerves that they come to be about so I tell them that if I, a woman in her fifties, can get up on stage and present to the crowd then they, being young and beautiful, also can.”

For many of the hopefuls entering Miss Hertfordshire is the first step in realising their dreams to become models, actresses and television presenters.

At this year's finals at The Gordon Craig Theatre, in Stevenage, on June 12, the judges will look for a woman who has poise, beauty and naturalness.

It's a new kind of x-factor. The winner will be humble, ethical and elegant. They will be a role model to their peers and raise money for chosen charities as well as attend events and model. It's still about beauty, but with a purpose.

 

 

The Pyrenees wellbeing break you will love

 

I took the ultimate feel good break in the French Pyrenees and it was amazing. I relaxed in natural mountain springs, ate the finest regional food, had massages, yoga sessions and healthy picnics in the alpine forests. Lush!

I flew from London Gatwick to Toulouse where I stayed overnight before journeying for two hours to the Ariege mountains.

Before long I was enjoying a shiatsu foot massage while laying in a natural hot spring quite a way up the famous mountain range. Without cliché I thought to myself, 'this is the life'.

I couldn't believe that somewhere a few hours away people would be toiling at their desks and stressing in their cars. This was a kind of bliss no amount of chocolate cake or cheeky glass of wine could achieve.

It was the first day of discovering the well being aspects of holidaying in this region of France and I liked it.

 For a start Midi-Pyrenees is the fourth region in France for balneology. The mountains, which separate France and Spain, have an abundance of sulphur rich springs dotted over them. The springs attract many visitors in the summer time and are well known for their healing properties. Like I mentioned, they are sulphur so you d have to get used to the slight egg odour but that didn’t stop me loving it.

While I was bathing in the mountain spring I noticed that someone had left candle wax remnants on the rocks -  obviously a romantic evening had been had here. Note to self: Next time take the man.

It’s easy to find these wonderful little spots in Ariege. There are cable cars, roads, cycling routes and walking paths up into the mountains, which dominate the landscape.

I took a hike up to the springs with well being specialist Vincianne Olingers and Olivier de Robert, a local history guide and story teller. As we walked up the mountain side - taking in deep breaths of fresh air - Vincianne spoke about, and pointed out the natural bounty of flora and fauna in the area. Farmers here work with traditional methods.

We saw ancient looking storage houses for crops and drinking troughs for horses. Less use of insecticides is noticeable from the thriving wildlife. Vincianne said bears and wolves roamed deeper in the forest. Luckily all I came across were various colourful species of butterfly and majestic birds flying overhead. Along the way we stopped for a picnic of breads, meats and cheeses. You can look at the scenery while sipping champagne or put together a healthy replenishing snack if you please.

Since I chose to fill up on carbs I was glad when Vincianne found a clearing where she guided us through a tai chi session. The sloping landscape; dark green foliage against a brilliant blue sky backdrop; seemed to intensify the experience.

Feeling full of vitality after the trek, I needed to chill out so we headed to Ax-Les-Thermes. This town is well known for it spa attributes. It has 60 or so hot sulphurous springs.

Like in the mountains the waters are 38 degrees C and the townspeople and visitors soak their feet in the warm waters of the fountains and water pools dotted about. We walked through the ‘smoking alleyways’ - so-called because of the hot waters running below the streets - into the town square to Les Bains du Couloubret..

The first sight when you walk into the ground floor of the bath is a huge pool surrounded by columns and filled with jacuzzis, hydro-massage nozzles, water jets and there’s also a variety of hot and cold water baths and a steam room.

Upstairs I found sauna rooms, including an oriental area with a seductive hamman. There were four treatment rooms for massages and scrubs. I spent a lot of time on the roof spinning lazily around the whirlpool in the open air basin and taking in the sights of the mountains. I had become quite attached to them by this time.

That night I stayed at a small independently run hotel Le Chalet, which sits on the river bank in Ax Les-Thermes.

It’s a small scale operation with 19 rooms. The same man who booked me in, brought my wine and served my food. Chef and patron Frederic Debeves concentrates on what he does best - the food. He has had a Bib Gourmand, from the Michelin Guide, at Le Chalet for the past four years now. His food was exquisite.

 

When my guide showed me the itinerary for the day I merely glanced at it with the knowledge that whatever had been chosen, going by past experience, it was going to suit me well, so I didn’t read the word 'canyoning' properly. My eyes saw 'canoeing' and I had imagined drifting along a river somewhere.

You can imagine my shock when I found out that I was going to be scrabbling over rocky rapids, abseiling down cliff edges, sliding down waterfalls and jumping off high ledges into deep pools for the rest of the afternoon. What happened to mind body and soul pampering?

I was anxious at first and I had to have a word with myself.

The wet suit I was wearing was buoyant, so the fact that I can only really swim on my back (I doggy paddle like Mr Bean on my front) didn’t matter. All I needed to do was follow the instructions of Montcalm Aventure guide Jean-Marc Gibelin,  a tough no-mess French adventurer, who didn’t suffer wimps gladly, and I would be fine..... I would be just fine. ...And I was!

I rose to the challenge and even coped with a few terrifying moments. There was the time when I ended up hanging upside down from a rope tied to a cliff edge, after I let out too much abseil rope. There was also the moment when I lost my nerve while climbing - without a harness - up a huge slimy slippery rock. I found myself frozen to the spot, gripping onto the rock face for dear life and holding back the tears before I pulled myself together. I also nearly cried (well one tear fell) when I had to jump a good eight metres into a pool. Jean-Marc and the rest of the group egged me on. We cheered when I finally jumped, and then Jean-Marc came and rescued me when I started to hyperventilate in the water.

Yes I loved the hot springs, but I assure you, I am no water baby. I canyoned in a group of four brave men and four gutsy women - well three, one chickened out after the first jump and went back to the centre for a cuppa. I didn’t want to wimp out. It was a mind over matter exercise getting through the ordeal and I tell you something I’d do it again. The exhilaration of completing the course, going beyond my boundaries and succeeding was immense. I suddenly understood what the benefit was. It was about testing myself and pushing my limits.

Now can we go to the spa please?

My guide shouted that we were going to have dinner and have an early night. I shouted back in agreement - everyone shouts after canyoning because the adrenalin makes you act like a drunk person in a nightclub.

That evening I had a long soak in a bubble bath at the B&B Les Villas d’Onost and threw on a camisole top, silk scarf and jeans for dinner at La Table D-Arconac, a tiny mountain village restaurant that served local cuisine. It had round wooden tables and stony walls and the waiter rushed around serving home cooked dishes and bottles of home-made wine for us to try. After a succession of rustic dishes and dessert, he planked a bottle of l'eau de vie (a strong spirit) in front of us.

I woke up the next morning with a fuzzy head.

The B&B was made up of two large contemporary farmhouse-style houses - marble floors in the tiled bathroom and pretty cushions dotted about.

I knew breakfast was being served in the main house so I popped over. With a knowing look, owner Christian Brissard, placed a cereal bowl filled with strong black coffee in front of me and smiled.

I left for Cauterets in south west Lourdes where I was to visit the beautiful Gaube Lake near the Vignemal summit, which is the highest peak of the Pyrenees.

As well as being a popular spa destination, it is also a major ski place so there were plenty of cable cars to take people up into the mountains.

In the spring and summer time the area is awash with wild flowers. June is when it is at its most gorgeous and people travel from Japan and America just to see the amazing sights. A hike around here cleared my head. The surrounding peaks, pines, waterfalls and meadows, carpeted with edelweiss and buttercups, gave me the urge to break into song. Cattle grazed on the flat areas and people stopped in the hot sun to take photographs or laze on the rocks.

We ate local fish at the mountain inn on the edge of the Gaube. I could see a glacier cutting through the moutain peak in the distance. Apparently you can walk to Spain from here in less than a day.

We took a slow walk back down. It was very rocky and required careful footing but after my previous experience canyoning it was no problem.

The Cauteret Thermes in the town is more of a clinical style spa. I went there for a few hours break. Among other things it has individual hydro massage baths and jet showers as well as Jacuzzi pools and treatment rooms for massages and beauty treatments. There were rooms lined with sinus clearing contraptions. The therme looked like a hospital and the therapists wore white coats.

I sat in the hydro bath and quickly noticed it had the sulphuric benefits of the mountain springs.

I was staying nearby at the Lion d’Or Hotel, which is the prettiest place I have ever stayed in my life. If you want character, this place has bags of it.

The Lassarre family, who have had it in their family for four generations, have carefully decorated it in 19th century style. A large chiming grandfather clock overlooks the reception. The dining room has small tables laid with quaint patterned cloths, brass pans hang on the walls and there were even frilly prams dotted about the landings.

It was everything I've ever imagined of old style France. There were even cross stitch signs on the doors in my room and an antique phone by the bed.

The following day we found the time to drive to Argeles-Gazost for one more flirtation with the Pyrenees waters. During the summer a hair raising white water rafting experience can be had here but I joined a group for a gentle mini raft down he Gave de Lourdes.

It was a peaceful end to a life changing trip. The sights, sounds and physical experiences certainly gave my mind body and soul the revamp it needed.

 The websites you need to book this experience

www.tourism-midi-pyrenees.co.ukVisit website

www.ariegepyrenees.com

www.tourisme-hautes-pyrenees.com

 

The gardening gym near you

The BTCV Green Gym is one of my favourite community projects in Hertfordshire.

It is a unique programme where volunteers come together regularly to improve local green spaces.  Through physical activities, Green Gym sessions help to improve fitness, while providing opportunities to learn new skills and meet people in a friendly outdoor setting.

The Green Gym in Watford is a partnership between BTCV, Watford Borough Council and the Harlequin Centre, and since its launch in June 2010, has welcomed over 75 volunteers.  Many come from the local area, with some coming from further a field, including Berkhamstead, Stanmore and St Albans. 

Sessions are free and open to all adults, regardless of age, experience or fitness levels.  A variety of activities allows volunteers to rotate between tasks, try out different tools and work at their own pace.  Each session starts and finishes with a few minutes of gentle warm-up exercises and cool-down stretches to get muscles warmed up and reduce the risk of injury.  The break half way through the session is a chance to socialise with tea, biscuits and a banana!

The Green Gym takes place every Tuesday and Thursday 10am until 1pm.  To book a place, call BTCV on 01923 278220 or email [email protected].

Cheat winter with a fake beach experience

There is a beach on Watford high street!

It sounds unlikely doesn't it? Well the wonders of modern technology – in this case a Swedish invention - means that the simulated beach experience is the ultimate spa treatment for dull days.

The Spa at Presence, on the high street, in Watford, has a beach room available for hire.

Sand, sun loungers and palm trees set against a backdrop of Thailand set the mood.

A light breeze comes from a fan and a recording of waves lapping up on the shore, birds singing and monkeys squawking adds to the experience.

Most importantly three huge real sunlight lamps suspended overhead replicate natural sunlight at a steady temperature of 30 degrees C while filtering harmful UV rays to a safe level.

Result – you do not have to use to much of your imagination to pretend that you are sunbathing in an exotic location. Plus regular use will give you a safe tan.

I tried it out and thought it was good for a sunshine copycat and it certainly kept my seasonal affective disorder symptoms at bay.

The beach is available for one to four people at a time and starts at £20 for 25 minutes. Book on 01923 237869 or visit www.thespa-at-presence.co.uk

Water fitness at Champneys with friends

We love going for a workout with mates and I recently made a great night of it at Champneys Tring with some movers and shakers from Hertfordshire; Danielle Dawson of Gorgeous Lingerie boutique, in Tring,  April Banbury, the reigning Miss Reading and hair and beauty salon PR guru Alastair Gourley.

These people all know how important it is to look good so when I told them that Champneys had launched group spa evenings we decided to try a thalasso circuit session followed by dinner.

They had no idea what a thalasso circuit was - Alastair described it as a “newfangled jet power massage workout thing.”

In fact it's an aerobic workout in a mineral-rich warm pool that has hydrotherapy jets to stimulate and tone the muscles. Think of it  like working out while having a massage and skin treatment at the same time.

Our therapist, Kerrie, guided us through a set of exercises that used aqua mitts, water weights and foam noodles.  We each did a different one for five minutes then moved to the next.

Pushing the foam water weights down into the water worked as a resistance exercise to tone arms and stomach muscles.

Determined to achieve Gwyneth Paltrow arms, I donned the mitts and repeatedly pushed against the jet streams of water.

I used the noodles as an aqua bike – basically it held my body up while I did a cycling motion with my legs. I also toned my midriff with seated leg exercises, let the large water jet massage my neck and shoulders and finally relaxed in the warm water while cool water jets stimulated my muscles.

While the workout sculpted our bodies the water itself, which contains magnesium, zinc, sodium, potassium, silicon, copper, iron, iodine and sea salt, treated the skin and soothed muscles.

The minerals increase metabolism and improve circulation so helps to flush out toxins and purify the body and skin. It helps combat cellulite and improves conditions such as eczema while the exfoliating sea salt gives super soft skin.

At dinner – melon and raspberry coulis, seared pink sea bream and spice prune and pear cake with vanilla cream – we drank gallons of water, as advised by Kerrie.

The general conscientious was that we all had fun, bonded with each other and did our bodies some good too.

Visit www.champneys.com

Abena Bailey at home with...Jennifer Worth

Best-selling author of Call the Midwife, Shadows of the Workhouse and Farewell to the East End, Jennifer Worth invites Abena Bailey to her home, in Hemel Hempstead, for coffee.

“I do an awful lot of thinking when I'm out cycling in the countryside. Ideas come to me when I'm miles away,” Jennifer told me as we sat in the cosy living room of her Victorian town house.

At 75 years old she has a love of the outdoors and regards cycling 30 to 40 miles  a good day.

“I'm a fairly early riser. In the summer I'm full of beans at 5am but in the winter it's hard to get up by 9am, but whatever time, I'm up to go cycling in the early hours when the light is coming up and there are long shadows on the ground. It's gorgeous. I wouldn't miss it for anything.”

Jennifer estimated that she cycles a good 1,000 miles a year, which is an awful lot of time to think. Her love of it comes from working as a midwife back in east London during the 1950s when her bike was her main form of transport.

“These days I ride a made-to-measure Roberts touring bike because I realised as I'm getting older – I was 70 when I bought it – having a top quality bike is easier to ride.”

As a member of the Cycling Touring Club, Jennifer has peddled the landscapes of France, Holland and plans on taking on the Rhine valley.

She said: “I must admit I am a fair weather cyclist. Sometimes I ride twice to three times a week, then not at all for three weeks if the weather is bad. I'm not going out in wind and rain!”

It was not the first time I had visited Jennifer at her home, in fact it was the fourth time, as my visits have always coinciding with her latest book releases.

In the Midst of Life, which is out now, investigates how social attitudes to death have changed and is told through the stories of people Jennifer has met and studied in her years working as a nurse.

I wanted to find out about her discipline as a writer and how she uses her time to write the memoirs.

She said: “You hear of authors who say that they have a strict regime, but not me, that would bore me to tears.”

 At home, looking out into her pretty garden that has neat boarders and a pond is one of her favourite places to get down to work.

The adjoining living room is quiet, there is no television, instead an old Blutner piano, from 1902, which Jennifer found in a Weymouth pub 45 years ago while she was there on holiday.

Her living room used to have a buzz about it when Jennifer taught piano and  held musical evenings at her home for family and friends to raise money for St John's Church roof.

In the last 10 years it has got quiet, not only because Jennifer prefers to be alone with her thoughts, but also because she often stays at her flat in Brighton. She also travels to concerts to perform with the English Concert Singers, of which she is a member.

“I have long periods when I'm not writing anything but during that time I'm thinking,” she said.

“Things come into my head when I'm cycling and I feel like I know what I need to do.

“By the time I get down to writing it's usually all done in my head, I can write straight off for hours on end with almost no corrections – apart from The Midst of Life, which required a great deal of change.”

Not one for typing, Jennifer loves the feel of a fountain pen nib on paper and has handwritten all of published works. Her husband Philip enjoys typing them up, which Jennifer says he finds it relaxing.

What is evident in all of the real life stories about the people, who Jennifer met while working as a nurse, midwife, ward sister and night sister, from 1953 to 1972, is that they are extremely vivid.

“I have a very retentive memory,” she explained.

“I don't have to write notes to myself all the time because if I've thought of something, it's there to stay.”

 

In The Midst of Life by Jennifer Worth is published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson and is available in book stores now.

Rupert Pennefather

Did you know that principal ballet dancer of The Royal Opera House, Rupert Pennefather, was once the underdog of Tring Park School for Performing Arts?

I had a chat to him over the phone to find out more and the story goes that he was always struggling with academic work and lacking in confidence but determination took him to the top.

After being assessed out of White Lodge – the Royal Ballet's school for gifted dancers - and expelled from Tring Park performing arts School, in Hertfordshire, one could say his journey to the world's most famous stage was an unconventional one.

“It was just after the second year at White Lodge when things changed. I liked the training but I was very home sick; I missed my twin sister a lot and it didn't feel like it was the right time for me to be in a boarding school. I was assessed out and ended up going to a normal comprehensive school in Maidenhead. I fell back in my training because I wasn't doing it every day, like I had been at White Lodge. Twice a week at the local dance school just wasn't enough, not if you are training to be a professional ballet dancer.

“I went to my parents and told them that I needed to go to another dance school. The fact that I was a dancer at a comprehensive school wasn't going down well with some of the other students there. I wouldn't say I was bullied, it wasn't anything terrible, but there were a few incidents and some people at the school who I was best off avoiding. It was around this time when I auditioned for Tring.

Rupert was among of the school's first submissions of boys.

“On my first day everyone was friendly and welcoming. I was surrounded by dancers and we thrived on encouraging each other.”

Tring Park was very different to White Lodge. It's curriculum was triple threat – dance, drama and music. Rupert settled into dance and acting classes but it was his academic career that was causing the problems.

“I think I was disruptive in class because my heart was only for dance. I wasn't doing so well academically. I was struggling in lessons because I had dyslexia. To me the learning disorder was a big thing. I made me impatient and gave me too much energy. It wasn't a good mix, not to mention that I was an immature 14 year old.”

Despite extra support from tutors Rupert fell behind in his school work and found himself in a catch 22 situation; the more he fell behind the more he rebelled; and he became nothing but a nuisance and eventually was asked to leave during his GCSEs.

“People at Tring were very supportive. Some of the other boys had the same problems as me and some of the dance teachers understood where we were coming from.

“There was a warm atmosphere at that school. I loved it and I didn't want t leave, it wasn't my choice to leave, I would have stayed.”

Rupert's notoriety as a disruptive teen was common knowledge and his dance began to suffer. By his own admission he was 'pretty average'.

“Well, I was asked to leave White Lodge (assessed out) so if anything there was a feeling of insecurity about my dance. I worked harder because I wanted to get better.”

Rupert attended senior associate classes at The Royal ballet School, in Covent garden once every two weeks: “I was scared when I left White Lodge that I would be forgotten about. I wanted to show them that I could get there. My main goal was to get into the upper school.”

But when he failed to audition for an end of year performance at Tring Park, it was the last straw.

“I was talking and joking around and generally not giving the teachers the chance to teach the other children in lessons and in the end, the school called in my parents.

“My last day was really sad. I remember waiting in the  car while my mum and dad spoke to the head, who told them that they thought the school wasn't right for me. Looking back, it was probably the best thing to have happened because it gave me the opportunity to go into private lessons with Julie Rose, who was a soloist at The Royal ballet at the time. She gave me a lot of encouragement and made me believe in myself.”

Men's clubs and halls became Rupert's new  locations for dancing in. Julie would hire them out, clear the tables, put a barre up and prepare the floor with cola to make them sticky enough to dance on.

 A year of intense training with Julie involved daily workouts at the gym as well as ballet classes in preparation for the audition for the Royal Ballet's upper school.

“I hadn't seen the other boys from White lodge for three years by that time and I had to work as hard as I could because I didn't know what level their dancing was at,” Rupert explained.

“Maybe that was a good thing because I was imagining them to be amazing and perfect. Those  thoughts inspired me to work as hard as I did.

“When I got into the school I automatically set myself a new target, which was to get into the company.”

Rupert joined The Royal Ballet in 1999, was promoted to first artist in 2004, soloist in 2005, first soloist in 2006 and principal in 2008.