A rare day of sunshine!

I couldn't believe my eyes when I woke up on Saturday! Sunshine streaming through the bedroom curtains! Yes, it was Farmers' Market day!

For a long time we always used to boast that it never rained on a Farmers Market Saturday but that proud claim bit the dust quite a while ago. And last week's forecast suggested that we'd all need wellies and sou'westers to keep dry. But no! We had superb weather all day and everyone had a great time.

We've now got signs on all roads into town and emblazoned with the 'This Saturday' stickers. And the new Farmers' Market website is now up and working. Just a few more ways in which Stone Food and Drink Festival promote the Farmers' Market.

And it's good to see how local groups and organisations are now using the Farmers' Market to promote themselves. Stone in Bloom have been very prominent over the last few months as have the Stone Music and Arts Festival. But next month their events will be over so it will be  time for Stone Food and Drink Festival to get out there to promote the October event!

Two days at the County Show

You can bet your shirt on it, can't you? It will rain for two days whenever the County Show takes place! Pity I didn't put a bet on it earlier in the year! Yes, it rained - and it rained!

Thankfully, we had booked the stall for the Stone Food and Drink Festival  inside the Food Hall so we were sheltered from the elements. And the fact that it was so miserable outside ensured that people came indoors in their thousands. We were there to promote the Food and Drink Festival and handed out over two thousand leaflets. We received a great response and met dozens of people who enthused about our Festival. Scores of them also entered a free prize draw we were running to win a pair of weekend passes. A very worthwhile event even if I do need a week to recover!

Jack Taylor, our young chef prodigy, came down both days to help us and, lo and behold, on Thursday had somehow managed to get himself invited to go up on stage and do a joint cookery demonstration with Sarah Gayton from Taste of the Moorlands! What a double act! I think we've found our 'star' turn for the Festival in October!

And to finish the show on a high note - what better than Lymestone Brewery winning third place in the Best Stall in Show category? Well done, Viv!

No cause for concern!

I have to admit it - I am very protective so far as the Stone Food and Drink Festival is concerned. So when I was told a few days ago that Newcastle Borough Council was organising a Food Festival this weekend I felt it my duty to check it out to see if we were under threat!

Demonstrating to a packed audience!

I hadn't read or seen anything about it so I carried out a Google search. Nothing on the Borough Council's website - just a fleeting reference on a third party site. No adverts or posters and I heard nothing on Radio Stoke. Perhaps my informant had made a mistake?

A trip to Newcastle was called for and so this morning Janet and I parked on the Midway car park and set off to investigate. Outside the Guildhall we could see a few stalls. In fact I counted nine! This turned out to be the "Bumper Farmers' Market" that was listed in a flyer I was handed! And Allan Jones and Ruby Rainey, our Taste of Staffordshire award winning chefs from Keele Hall, were giving a cookery demonstration to a crowd of at least a dozen!

So I don't think we need worry too much about competition from Newcastle! But to promote this as a Food Festival will give other food festivals a bad name.

Taste of Staffordshire Awards night

What a great night we had last night! It was the awards night for the Master Chef and Young Chef competitions organised by Taste of Staffordshire at The Moat House at Action Trussell.

This prestigious event is the highlight of year for chefs around the county. The six finalists in each section  had been hard at work in the kitchens at Stafford College all day being judged. Then they had to wait until the cheese and coffee was being served before finding out how they had fared. That must have been nerve racking for them.

Three of us from the Food and Drink Festival were there -  Charlotte our marketing and PR guru, Collin Taylor our compere and myself - to introduce ourselves to the chefs and to invite them to appear at the Food and Drink Festival in October.

We were treated to an amazing meal from Mat Davies and his team at the Moathouse and then came the awards ceremony presented by our old friend and former Radio Stoke personality Janine Machin. We were delighted when it was announced that Rosanna Moseley from The Bistro at Aston Marina was the runner up in the Young Chef competition. A great result for the fabulous team down at the marina. And then the winner was declared - Ruby Rainey from The Terrace Restaurant at Keele Hall who was sitting with her mum at our table! A fantastic result.

Afterwards we had chance to speak to most of the contestants and they were all eager to demonstrate at Stone in October. So we're going to have an array of talent on display, I promise you!

If only we had a Castle!

It's grossly unfair. Ludlow and Stone are both market towns with long pedigrees. Both are about the same size and both have a great sense of community. But I'm jealous - Ludlow has a castle and we haven't!

So that's how butter's made!
(Castle walls in background)

I've been going down to Ludlow for many years to attend their various festivals which are all held within the castle walls. The castle provides a fantastic backdrop and atmosphere to all their events. And the walls are still tall and strong enough to provide a secure site - no metal security fencing there!

We can do events in Stone as well as anywhere but a castle really would add that missing magic ingredient! Oh well, we'll just have to make do with Westbridge Park!

These thoughts were prompted by our visit to the Ludlow Spring Festival on Sunday - another great event where I was able to sample the renowned Butty Bach from Wye Valley Brewery with Dave Hicks in the Real Ale Tent. A great show with over 60 local food producers (many of whom will be at the Stone Food and Drink Festival this year), over 140 real ales and a couple of hundred classic cars looking superb in the warm sunshine.

Of course, the visit was purely a fact finding research trip for the Food and Drink Festival! It's a hard job but someone has to do it!

That's it till after October!

It's great fun and really satisfying  being involved in helping to organise the Stone Food and Drink Festival. But it does have one major drawback. Most of the hard work has to be done between now and October. So the prospect of Jan and I getting any time away during the summer is virtually nil.



"Looks like Spring has arrived"

So that is why, over the last few months, we've hardly been at home. And I suspect that our caravan break at Chatsworth last week was probably the last time we'll take time out until the Festival is over.



"Oops! Spoke too soon!"

We had a lovely time in Derbyshire - made even more memorable by the snow that fell last Wednesday. On Tuesday we toured the house and gardens at Chatsworth House in Spring-like weather and then we woke up to snow on Wednesday morning! What's happening to our weather?

But we're back home now. The caravan has been cleaned and is back under its cover. And you'll probably see a bit more of me around town as we now start to put the show back on again.

Exciting times ahead!

I love meeting people with a passion for Staffordshire and who, like me, believe that small is beautiful! Today I met such a person - Emily Whitehead who is the inspiration behind an amazing website, Simply Staffordshire. Emily wants to get Simply Staffordshire members involved in the Uttoxeter Food and Drink Festival (and, I hope, the Stone Festival in October) so we met up at the Racecourse this morning to discuss various ideas with her.

Most of her members are small producers and businesses who have been handpicked by her to ensure high standards. As she spoke, I could almost hear echos of Brian Blundell in my ears! Like Brian, she believes that it will be the small local businesses that will do most for the local economy. She, too, believes that we should be proud of our food and drink heritage.

Emily clearly has some very useful PR and marketing skills and I have no doubt that Simply Staffordshire is going to become a business to watch. It's going to be good working with her.

Great excitement!

Over the last few weeks, I've been heavily involved in helping to organise a new food and drink festival at Uttoxeter Racecourse in June. The events team at Uttoxeter contacted us a couple of months ago and asked if Stone Food and Drink Festival would be willing to work with them to put on a summer festival and we were only too pleased to help. Indeed we were honoured to think that they valued our input so highly.

Obviously we had to negotiate an appropriate financial arrangement with them and we were able to do so on the basis that Stone Food and Drink Festival would receive all the benefits accruing from our involvement. So it's been full tilt ever since!

This morning I popped over to Uttoxeter to have an updating meeting with Dan Whitehead and came away 'on a high'. Both Dan and I had been receiving exactly the same positive responses from traders and public alike. Bookings for stalls are well above expectations and a couple of hundred entrance tickets have already been sold online!

We're lining up several meetings for next week with more traders and a couple of potential sponsors. Busy times ahead! And the beauty of it is that all the work involved is being done in tandem with our own Stone festival. So we all benefit!

So which was best?

This week I've had the pleasure of eating in the sister restaurants - The Wayfarer and the Swan with Two Necks. On Tuesday there was a Food and Drink Festival working lunch with one of our sponsors. At one o'clock the restaurant was over two thirds full and everyone seemed to be enjoying their meals. I love The Wayfarer and am delighted it is continuing to do so well. We've dined here in the evenings before but this was my first time for lunch. The lunch menu is  most unusual and brings a totally different meaning to the word 'baguette'! I thoroughly recommend the crispy battered haddock variety!

Then last night Jan and I went over to the Swan with Two Necks. An almost full car park was the clue to the fact that they were busy. However that in no way diminished the wonderful experience we had. Initially we were shown to a table in a rather dim corner. Whilst in our younger days a table for two away from the crowd lit by a flickering candle may have had its attractions, at our age the eyes are slowly letting us down! We  need to be able to read the menu and see what we're eating! With no trouble at all, we were moved to another table and then spent a most enjoyable evening eating some outstanding food. I had the grilled mackerel starter (well cooked, firm and very tasty) followed by the belly pork main dish. Wow!

So of the two venues, do I have a favourite? No. They're both great restaurants serving great food at reasonable prices. But above all, it is so obvious that the management takes customer service seriously in both venues. All the staff were efficient and knowledgeable - and so friendly. These restaurants are an asset to this area. If you haven't been yet, then I can recommend them both. You won't be disappointed.

And my diet? Well, last weekend I totted up a weight loss of one and half stones since New Year's Day but I think I'll stay off the scales for a few days now!

Top Totty for me, please!

I can't believe the furore caused by the sale of Slaters Top Totty ale in the Strangers Bar of the House of Commons. As everyone will now know, a totally unknown politician - Kate Green, shadow spokesperson for Women and Equality - objected last week to the cartoon (see picture right) of a bikini clad blonde on the pump clip of Slaters fabulous ale! And by alleging that it 'demeaned women', the parliamentary authorities banned Top Totty immediately!

Well, I think this incident proves that there are some MPs who don't live in the real world. If this spokesperson believes that she has struck a blow against sexism on behalf of other women, she should speak to people outside the Westminster bubble. Perhaps the Telegraphs opinion poll - over 90% believe the ban was wrong - should convince her that she's spending too much time at her desk. Get out, lady, and get real!

And what a coup for Slaters, one of Staffordshire's fabulous craft brewers! They couldn't buy that amount of publicity! (Just take a look at their website!) Top Totty has always been a favourite tipple of mine. It sold out by Saturday evening at last year's Stone Food and Drink Festival. And now that the whole country has heard of it, I can see that the brewery will be going into overtime and, perhaps, expansion to cope with demand!

Incidentally, another favourite brewery of mine, Wye Valley, produces a lovely tipple called Dorothy Goodbody! If Ms. Green ever set eyes on that pump clip she'll need immediate CPR treatment from Vinnie Jones!

Now the Food and Drink Festival has recently been pondering on who to invite to open the 2012 Festival! I wonder if Ms. Green will be doing anything during early October!

Sad news

Last week John Moss passed away after a short illness. He will be sadly missed in Stone.

His name will not be very familiar to many people in Stone but he has probably done more for the town than most over the past few decades. Ironically, he was not a resident of the town but lived in Clayton yet spent most of his time involved in various Stone community projects.

Principally, John's greatest achievement has been in his work on the canal. One of the founding members of the North Staffordshire branch of the Inland Waterways Association, John was assigned the Stone section at a time, in the 70's and 80's, when the canal was in a pretty derelict state. Over the years John has quietly badgered away to achieve what is, today, one of the town's crowning glories. Surfaced towpaths, solar lighting, moorings, public sculpture, notice boards, leaflet boxes and so much more - all thanks to John.

But he was also heavily involved in other town groups. He was a founder member of Stone in Bloom and played a major role in helping to organise the annual bonfire and fireworks display.

And the involvement of which he was most proud was, of course, the Food and Drink Festival - which is how I first came to meet him. The idea of holding a food and drink festival was conceived between John and the late Brian Blundell over eight years ago. They persuaded me and others to get involved and the rest, as they say, is history.

I spent an hour with John the day before he died and he was still thinking of ideas for this year's Festival!

He really was one of Stone's unsung heroes. A man of ideas who had a real passion for Stone. But a modest man who never sought publicity. A rare breed.

We shall all miss him.

A 'buzzing' Farmers' Market!

Stone's Farmers' Markets just get better and better! And by all accounts, from shoppers and traders alike, Saturday's market was the best yet!

A huge crowd turned out to enjoy the chilly but dry day under a beautiful blue sky. By mid morning the High Street was heaving and stall holders were doing a roaring trade. Stone Town Band played carols outside the Crown Hotel. You could avail yourself of the offer of a Free Hug (I declined!).  An accordion playing busker supplemented the live music on offer. And you could take in the aromas of smoking kippers and frying burgers. What a wonderful festive atmosphere!

By midday, several stalls were selling out fast! And come early afternoon, many stall holders were packing up to go home - all with smiles on their faces! And chatting to some of them it became obvious all had done well. As one said "it was just buzzing today"

And the good news is that there will be a Farmers' Market in January!. For several years past, the first Saturday in January has always fallen within days of New Year so we've never had a market in January. But this time there's almost a full week in between. So it has been decided to continue with 'the first Saturday in the month' format - so put Saturday 7th January in your new diaries now!

It's a mucky job but someone has to do it!

A lot of people think that putting on a food and drink festival is just a question of a few committee meetings during the year and a bit of rushing around in the weeks before hand. If only it were that easy!

For a start, there's so much research that needs to be done! Like attending similar events and picking up tips from other shows. New chefs, new products, new stall holders, new ideas etc. etc.

So last Thursday I had to go to the NEC and traipse around the BBC Good Food Show and on Saturday another long drive to the Ludlow Medieaval Fayre. And some people think this is fun!

Seriously, I spent two great days out. The Good Food Show is the biggest show of the year and I was able to pick up several good contacts. Not as big as last year's show - a sign of the times - but  some interesting new faces. And Ludlow was great fun as usual. It also gave me chance to meet  up with and share a couple of pints (from the Ludlow Brewing Compnay) with Dave and Phred, our electricians.

We are constantly trying to improve our festival to avoid it ever being said that it's always the same. That's why these trips are necessary. So it looks like I'll be on the road again a few more times before next October!

A tale of two breweries

One of the few bonuses of being the chairman of Stone Food and Drink Festival is that I, necessarily, have to keep my finger on the pulse of the local scene regarding anything to do with food or drink!

So when, as happened a couple of years ago, I heard that a new brewery was about to open on the old Bents site on the Mount estate, I was round there in a flash. I quickly introduced myself to Brad and from then onwards we've been the very best of mates. At the time, he was worrying himself silly as to whether his very first brew as Lymestone Brewery would be ready for that year's Food and Drink Festival but he need not have worried! It was and the rest, as they say, is history. Lymestone has gone from strength to strength and Brad is now about to expand into the vacant unit next door. It has given me great pride and pleasure to have been able to watch the growth and success of Lymestone and to have kept in touch with Brad and Viv along the way.

And the same can be said for our other local brewery, Titanic. A few years ago, we had a daft idea of having a beer tent on Westbridge Park during the Festival.  So, on the off chance they might be interested, I arranged to meet Dave Bott in the White Star in Stoke to discuss the idea. Well, I've never stopped admiring the bloke since then. Yes! He would be very keen to sponsor the beer tent! Yes ! He would be willing to sponsor the Real Ale Trail! Yes! What was the question? And then he dropped a quiet little question into the conversation. 'Can you keep a secret?', he asked. And that was when I first learnt that Titanic had just signed the papers for the Royal Exchange pub in Radford Street! The first Titanic pub outside the Potteries! Then, a year or so ago, I was invited to the opening of The Sun in Stafford where I've spent several happy hours since.

And then yesterday lunchtime I shared a seafood platter and a bowl of chips in the latest Titanic venture - The Roebuck in Leek. A super plateful in great surroundings. Dave has applied the Titanic treatment to a very old and quirky building and I'm in no doubt it will be a great success. Even on a damp Monday lunchtime almost every table was taken with diners choosing from a very appealing menu.

So I feel I have a very close and personal connection with the success of both Lymestone and Titanic breweries. Whilst, sadly, we see some pubs closing down, it's great to see our local real ale breweries bucking the trend. Long may they continue to do so - and I shall continue to do my bit to support them!

The big 'Thank You' party

I've already mentioned in previous posts what a superb band of volunteers we have in the Food and Drink Festival. So it was only right and proper that we should hold a little 'get together' to say thank you to them for all their help they have given us this year.

Choosing a venue was easy! Brad and Viv at Lymestone Brewery didn't even have to be asked. Without any solicitation, they actually offered the brewery to us and also offered to provide the beer! You don't turn down offer like that! So last Thursday, we entertained fifty lovely people who thoroughly enjoyed the free beer, Staffordshire lobby and sandwiches. And we signed up a couple of new volunteers for next year as well!

A great night was had by all. Thanks to Brad and Viv. And when it was all over, my dear wife did admit that I had managed to organise a p****p in a brewery!

Wayfarer soon to re-open

I've just seen that the Wayfarer Inn is recruiting staff for the re-opening of the restaurant within the next few weeks. Up to sixty vacancies need to be filled. Whilst many of these jobs will be part-time, it is fantastic news for the local food and drink economy.

In my opinion, we have been proved right in proclaiming Stone as being the Food and Drink capital of Staffordshire. The late Brian Blundell, over eight years ago, first proposed a Food and Drink Festival in Stone in order to  promote the local economy by emphasising Stone's assets namely it's pubs and restaurants.. And look what's happened since!

We now have restaurants of almost every nationality and flavour to choose from. And new restaurants have opened eg Chicos in town and The Dog and Doublet a couple of miles down the road at Sandon.
And now the team from The Swan with Two Necks is about to open the Wayfarer!

The town now has it's own brewery, Lymestone, up on Meaford Road and last year we had four town pubs in the Good Beer Guide.

And as a direct consequence of the first Festival and as a direct result of the Food and Drink Festival committee continuously promoting it, we also have the best Farmers' Market in the region.

I think Brian would be well pleased with the progress that we have made -  thanks to his vision.

What a team!

On Wednesday evening almost thirty volunteers from the Food and Drink Festival turned up at Christchurch Annexe for a debrief meeting. A fantastic turn out bearing in mind that it was billed purely as a business meeting and was not held on licenced premises!

Without exception, every comment and proposal was positive and constructive. No cross words and no point scoring! What a fantastic meeting.

We all came away on a high. A lot of 'tweeks' to be made next year and loads of new ideas. But more importantly, it is obvious that the Food and Drink Festival now has a large, solid band of volunteers who are all  intent on working together to make next year's Festival an even greater success.

A big thank you to them all!

Last year's news today!

This week's Stone Post has just dropped through the letter box and I can't believe what I've read on page two! According to The Post, the crowd on Westbrige Park this weekend "were entertained by those popular TV chefs - the Hairy Bikers"! Perhaps someone should tell the 'reporter' that the Hairy Bikers were here last year - not this!

Words fail me!

Wow! What a Festival that was!

What a fantastic week! The sun shone, the crowds came out and Stone had the biggest party of all time! Without a shadow of doubt, this was the biggest and best Food and Drink Festival of all time.

The set up went without a hitch. A team of volunteers worked tirelessly to get the site ready for opening on Friday. Then over the weekend the Festival itself ran like a well oiled machine. And then on Monday and Tuesday this week everything came down smoothly and now Westbridge Park is back to being a playing field again.

But the memories of this Festival will live in the minds of thousands for a long time to come. Brilliant sunshine for the entire weekend and the happiest and friendliest atmosphere of all time. I said I would try to keep a photographic record but, as usual, was always doing other things! But if you want to see some superb photographs go to A Little Bit of Stone's website to get an idea of what happened last weekend!

Packed cookery demonstrations, a sell out by Saturday evening in the beer tent, foot-tapping music outside all day and everyone smiling and enjoying themselves. Oh yes! This was one to savour!

So to all who helped make this such a fantastic weekend I say a massive 'Thank You'. This was the easiest Festival yet to organise. No panics, arguments or dramas! Just a superb band of helpers who just calmly got on with the job. We have a team to be proud of. And now we're already talking about next year! Yes, put the dates in your diary now - October 5th to 7th. It might even be better than this year!

Lobby versus Scouse!

Antony Lucas and I tuck in!

It was only right and proper that the 'Lobby versus Scouse' night at The Pheasant should be officially scrutinised last night!

Image courtesy of the local website at http://alittlebitofstone.com/ which will also be posting pictures of the Festival on a daily basis.

Thanks Jamie.