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The widow of Lord Lucan died from a cocktail of drink and drugs after diagnosing herself with Parkinson’s disease, an inquest heard this week as Coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox recorded a verdict of suicide. Police discovered 80-year-old Lady Lucan’s body after forcing entry into her London home last September where she was found on the dining room floor with a pill bottle under her body. Here, Tyne O’Connell, in a piece published in the current edition of Savile Row Style, pays tribute to her friend.

The widow of Lord Lucan died from a cocktail of drink and drugs after diagnosing herself with Parkinson’s disease, an inquest heard this week as Coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox recorded a verdict of suicide. Police discovered 80-year-old Lady Lucan’s body after forcing entry into her London home last September where she was found on the dining room floor with a pill bottle under her body. Here, Tyne O’Connell, in a piece published in the current edition of Savile Row Style, pays tribute to her friend.

The huge popularity of historical war films is set to continue early in 2018 with the release of World War II drama, the Darkest Hour. Once again, Winston Churchill is centre stage as we see Hitler close in on Britain during the early years of the conflict.

Historical accuracy is central to these period productions, no more so than in how the main characters are dressed, so it was no surprise that director Joe Wright and costume designer Jacqueline Durran turned to  Henry Poole & Co, the real-life tailor to Churchill, to make sure everything was correct.

“We at Henry Poole were honoured to be entrusted with creating suits for Gary Oldman and Ben Mendelsohn, who play Churchill and King George VI respectively,” said the firm’s MD, Simon Cundey. “Just as the former Prime Minister had regular fittings at Henry Poole & Co, we also fitted his on-stage character Gary Oldman on set during rehearsals.”

Oldman wears a dark grey flannelled chalk stripe suit and what might be described as a “lounge morning suit”, while Mendelsohn wears a double-breasted lounge suit in mid blue worsted and a royal Naval undress uniform as an Admiral of the Fleet. The cloths used are exclusively sourced in Britain with Oldman’s and Mendelsohn’s bespoke attire cut in the period correct manner.

Simon adds: “The Churchill Chalk Stripe flannel, which we made especially for Churchill in 1936, is still one of our House exclusive Hall of Fame fabrics and is still manufactured by Fox Brothers, as it was back then, exclusively for Henry Poole.”

The huge popularity of historical war films

German designer Andreas Anetseder is celebrating after winning the German Design Award 2017 for his development of the Krempel, four flexible plastic strips which combine to allow people to keep hot food plates away from kitchen surfaces.

Andreas clearly loves the fun of design and is obsessed with the Krempel. The invention combines functionality with style as you can turn it into three shapes and three different sizes – a pillow, a circle and a fish. The smart trivets which hold the plastic strips together are made of a hard-wearing material that can withstand temperatures of up to 220°C.

Andreas spent a year and a half working on the Krempel’s design, trying out wood and metal before deciding on plastic. The Krempel, which weighs in at 72 grams, is the big brother to the Krempelino which weighs 25 grams and is ideal for a steaming coffee pot.

The 54-year-old interior designer developed the idea after working with Horst Fleischmann, professor of interior design at the FH Rosenheim, in the 1980s. The high-grade plastic he ultimately chose is about 50 times more expensive than commercially available plastic and is also used in high-performance water pipes and overhead luggage lockers.

For his next creation, Andreas is looking into making glasses with solid bases in a range of colours. He had noticed that several countries around Europe served up beers in different glasses while many clubs and bars in Germany were not so inventive and didn’t use such a wide selection of glasses.

oha-design

 

German designer Andreas Anetseder is celebrating after

Richard and Margaretha Purdey

James Purdey & Sons celebrated its annual Purdey Awards for Game and Conservation in the Long Room at Audley House in Mayfair where the presentations were made by farmer and TV personality Adam Henson.

Richard Purdey this year retired from his duties organising the Purdey Awards. James Horne, CEO of Purdey, and the Duke of Wellington, Chairman of the Awards Judging Panel, presented Richard with a commemorative silver plate to acknowledge all that he has done for this special event since taking over the running of it in 1999.

Speaking about this year’s winners, Richard said: “What particularly singled out the winners of this year’s awards and impressed the judges most was their willingness, irrespective of size or resources, to reach out to their local communities to involve them in the work of their shoots, or to explain proactively via social and local media how their shoots’ habitat conservation work also creates long term benefits for all countryside lovers and users.”

The Gold Award was won by the Bywell Shoot, Northumberland, for their work in turning a reared pheasant shoot into a wild game shoot with a sustainable population of wild grey partridge and pheasant. On accepting the award, Alan Edwards, head keeper, said: “This award is combination of a lifetime’s work. Care, attention and love of the land working towards a multitude of different habitats and species …What we ’ve done can be achieved by an awful lot of people in this country, you just need to go out and look at what you’ve got, cherish and nurture it and you’d be surprised what can happen in a short space of time.”

Duchess of Devonshire, Adam Henson, Duke of Wellington

Brewery Farm, Suffolk, won the Silver Award for their extensive work on the farm’s biodiversity. The Bronze Award was given to Lindisfarne Island’s Wildfowling Club for its work in having a wholly sustainable operation on the land, which also supports a public nature reserve.

To illustrate the versatility of game, canapés made by Oliver Gladwin of the Gladwin Brothers restaurant group, such as wild mallard wellington and BBQ sweet and sour pheasant were served. Laurent-Perrier again supported the event by providing champagne for the toasts.

Photographer: Gemma Reynolds

 

 

 

 

 

[caption id="attachment_4197" align="alignleft" width="267"] Richard and Margaretha