Thursday, 5 May 2011
Monday, 21 June 2010
Services Directory for NW10 & NW6
Garden Design and Maintenance:
Ryan and Rui are excellent and trustworthy - make sure you book them in advance as they are super busy:
http://www.randrgardenlandscapes.co.uk/services.html
All DIY needs : carpentry, painting etc
Neil is trustworthy and works to a very high standard
http://www.kensalgreencarpenter.com/
Paintings:
Orlanda has a studio in the area and exhibits her beautiful paintings frequently:
http://www.orlandabroom.co.uk
Jewellery Design:
Amanda creates beautiful designs using semi precious stones:
http://www.miajewellery.co.uk
Used a good local service? Let me know so I can add them to the directory
Ryan and Rui are excellent and trustworthy - make sure you book them in advance as they are super busy:
http://www.randrgardenlandscapes.co.uk/services.html
All DIY needs : carpentry, painting etc
Neil is trustworthy and works to a very high standard
http://www.kensalgreencarpenter.com/
Paintings:
Orlanda has a studio in the area and exhibits her beautiful paintings frequently:
http://www.orlandabroom.co.uk
Jewellery Design:
Amanda creates beautiful designs using semi precious stones:
http://www.miajewellery.co.uk
Used a good local service? Let me know so I can add them to the directory
Sunday, 11 April 2010
Weekends Away, Restaurants with Rooms, Foodie Weekends
I'm doing a list, its so hard to find a website that has them all in one place and when you decide on a weekend away, invariably its a lastminute thing and you don't have time to be faffing around for hours on the web, so here you are:
Barnsley House, Cotswolds
Stunning location, gorgeous spa
Pebble Beach, Hampshire
Open air restaurant serving divine food with views of Isle of Wight
The Mill at Gordleton, Hampshire
Harvest House, Hampshire
The Bear Hotel, Berkshire
The Royal Oak, West Sussex
Jeakes house, Rye, West Sussex
Swan House, East Sussex
The Gallivant Hotel
Camber Sands , West Sussex
Limewood Hotel, Hamps
Spa and outdoor pool
Wingrove House, Friston, East Sussex
Plantation House, Norfolk
The Swan Inn, Surrey
The Fish House, West Sussex (Tried and tested 10/10)
private-hire hot tub gazebos in the garden, huge 42" tvs in rooms
Priory Bay, IoW
Foxhills Hotel, Surrey
nice spa!
The Hart & Garter Hotel, Windsor
Great Spa
The Trout at Tadpole Bridge, Cotswolds (on the hot list)
Gorgeous cosy rooms, divine food on the river
The Hand and Flowers , Bucks (on the hot list)
Some rooms with patio hot tubs!!
Windfalls Boutique Hotel, West Sussex
Perfect for Gatwick Airport
The Bull Ditchling, West Sussex
The Strand House, Rye, East Sussex
Hotel Terravina, Hampshire
Outdoor Pool!
The Miller of Mansfield, Reading (Tried and tested 10/10)
Gorgeous Rooms, idyllic setting
The Bath Arms at Longleat, Wiltshire
Gorgeous Rooms and idyllic setting
Jesmonds of Highworth, Wiltshire (Tried and tested 9/10)
Gorgeous big rooms, lovely outdoor terrace, divine menu
The Cary Arms, Babbacombe Beach, South Devon
Modern Rooms and cottages on the sea
The Elephant at Pangbourne, Berkshire
Quirky Luxury
The Hamptons, Ilfracombe, North Devon
Boutique Beach Chic
The Master Builders, Hampshire
Old School Boutique with boats
The New Inn at Coln, Cotswolds
Boutique idyllic, exceptional food
Beechfield House Hotel
Outdoor heated pool
The Urban Beach Hotel, Bournemouth
Thirty Two, Cotswolds
http://www.thirtytwoltd.com/
139 Bath, Bath
http://www.139bath.co.uk
The Halcyon, Bath
http://www.thehalcyon.com/
Clifton House, Bristol
http://cliftonhousebristol.com/
Plush Hotel, Bristol
http://bristol-airport-hotels-plush-hotel.com/accommodation/
Alderman Apartments (self catering), Bristol
http://www.alderman-apartments.co.uk/bristol-serviced-apartments.html
139 Bath, Bath
http://www.139bath.co.uk
The Halcyon, Bath
http://www.thehalcyon.com/Clifton House, Bristol
http://cliftonhousebristol.com/
Plush Hotel, Bristol
http://bristol-airport-hotels-plush-hotel.com/accommodation/
Alderman Apartments (self catering), Bristol
http://www.alderman-apartments.co.uk/bristol-serviced-apartments.html
The Hoste Arms, Norfolk
The Burnham Market, Norfolk
West Stoke House, West Sussex
Sat Baines, Nottingham
L'Enclume, Cumbria
Michelin Star Restaurant
Les Bouviers, Dorset
The Christchurch Harbour Hotel, Dorset
Oak House No 1, Cotswolds
The Greenbank Hotel, Cornwall
Chilston Park Hotel, Kent
Deans Place, Sussex
Great Fosters Hotel, Surrey
Stunning food, outdoor pool, croquet lawn
Langshott Manor, Surrey
Nutfield Priory
Stunning with spa
The Powdermills Hotel, East Sussex
Outdoor pool
The Old Posthouse, Oxfordshire
Outdoor pool
The Kings Arms, Oxfordshire
The Old Parsonage Hotel, Oxfordshire
The Swan at Ascott, Oxfordshire
The Kingham Plough, Oxfordshire
The Red Lion, Warwickshire
Cross O' Th' Hill Farm , Warwickshire
The Howard Arms Ilmington, Warwickshire
The George Hotel, Warwickshire
The Whitehart Royal Hotel, Glouc
Moonfleet Manor, Dorset Coast with pool
Soar Mill Cove Hotel, Devon coast with pool
good search engine
CORNWALL
St Michael's Marazion
Blue Horizon Marazion
West Croft Guesthouse
The Old Quay House
The Rosevine
Trevalsa Hotel
Boskerris Hotel
Boscastle House
StMoritz Hotel
If you have had a bad experience at any of these please let me know so they can be binned!
Tuesday, 24 March 2009
Dawn Butler Brent South Labour MP Scandal
MP with two homes minutes from Commons claims £37,000
A GOVERNMENT whip was today embroiled in the growing expenses row after claiming thousands of pounds for a second London home despite already having one within 10 miles of Westminster.
Assistant government whip Dawn Butler has claimed £37,245 in taxpayers' cash in two years to pay for a second property.
The Labour MP for Brent South has a house in Wembley, aboutnine miles or a 32-minute Tube journey to Westminster, and a home in Stratford, about eight miles or a 24-minute Tube ride.
She was today facing questions over why she needed the two homes, which are almost exactly the same distance from the Houses of Parliament. Her office has stressed in the past that she moved into the Wembley house after being elected in 2005 to allow her to serve her constituents.
Ms Butler is the second government member to come under fire this week over second home allowances after it emerged Employment Minister Tony McNulty claimed £60,000 for a house in Harrow where his parents live.
Opposition MPs and Ms Butler's neighbours today criticised her housing arrangements.
Greg Hands, Tory MP for Hammersmith & Fulham, said: "These allegations raise further questions. Gordon Brown needs to get a grip on his ministers and their expense claims."
Mark Jansen, 26, who lives two doors from Ms Butler's Stratford home, said: "Most taxpayers can't even afford houses at the moment and yet an elected MP, who is meant to represent us, has two. That just doesn't seem fair, especially in the current financial climate."
Ms Butler claimed £15,442 in second home allowance in 2005/06 and £21,803 in 2006/07. As an assistant government whip, she is entitled to an annual salary of nearly £90,000 including her MP's entitlement of £63,291. Her total expenses' claim, which includes staffing, office, travel, postage, second home and other costs, was £285,356 over two years.
Ms Butler bought the three-bedroom, mid-terrace Wembley home for £250,000 in 2006. It is now valued at about £260,000. Her two-bedroom terrace Stratford home, believed to be the family home she lived in before becoming an MP, is worth around £235,000.
Neighbours today said she is rarely at the Stratford home. Jose Gomes, 40, has lived next door for 14 years. He said: "I used to see her all the time, now I only see her every couple of months. Her brother's here occasionally."
Her neighbours in Wembley said they regularly see her and that she spends the majority of her time there. Speaking at her Wembley home today, Ms Butler declined to answer questions from The Standard about her use of the second home allowance. She said: "I totally resent you coming to my private home. Have some respect. How dare you."
Her spokesman has previously justified the expenses claim and said: "When she was elected she moved straight into the constituency and the [allowance] helps her to do that."
The Prime Minister has backed an inquiry into MPs' expenses by the Committee on Standards in Public Life, and has sought to widen it to include work carried out by politicians outside Parliament.
A number of Tory frontbenchers have lucrative directorships which have been criticised by other MPs.
Assistant government whip Dawn Butler has claimed £37,245 in taxpayers' cash in two years to pay for a second property.
The Labour MP for Brent South has a house in Wembley, aboutnine miles or a 32-minute Tube journey to Westminster, and a home in Stratford, about eight miles or a 24-minute Tube ride.
She was today facing questions over why she needed the two homes, which are almost exactly the same distance from the Houses of Parliament. Her office has stressed in the past that she moved into the Wembley house after being elected in 2005 to allow her to serve her constituents.
Ms Butler is the second government member to come under fire this week over second home allowances after it emerged Employment Minister Tony McNulty claimed £60,000 for a house in Harrow where his parents live.
Opposition MPs and Ms Butler's neighbours today criticised her housing arrangements.
Greg Hands, Tory MP for Hammersmith & Fulham, said: "These allegations raise further questions. Gordon Brown needs to get a grip on his ministers and their expense claims."
Mark Jansen, 26, who lives two doors from Ms Butler's Stratford home, said: "Most taxpayers can't even afford houses at the moment and yet an elected MP, who is meant to represent us, has two. That just doesn't seem fair, especially in the current financial climate."
Ms Butler claimed £15,442 in second home allowance in 2005/06 and £21,803 in 2006/07. As an assistant government whip, she is entitled to an annual salary of nearly £90,000 including her MP's entitlement of £63,291. Her total expenses' claim, which includes staffing, office, travel, postage, second home and other costs, was £285,356 over two years.
Ms Butler bought the three-bedroom, mid-terrace Wembley home for £250,000 in 2006. It is now valued at about £260,000. Her two-bedroom terrace Stratford home, believed to be the family home she lived in before becoming an MP, is worth around £235,000.
Neighbours today said she is rarely at the Stratford home. Jose Gomes, 40, has lived next door for 14 years. He said: "I used to see her all the time, now I only see her every couple of months. Her brother's here occasionally."
Her neighbours in Wembley said they regularly see her and that she spends the majority of her time there. Speaking at her Wembley home today, Ms Butler declined to answer questions from The Standard about her use of the second home allowance. She said: "I totally resent you coming to my private home. Have some respect. How dare you."
Her spokesman has previously justified the expenses claim and said: "When she was elected she moved straight into the constituency and the [allowance] helps her to do that."
The Prime Minister has backed an inquiry into MPs' expenses by the Committee on Standards in Public Life, and has sought to widen it to include work carried out by politicians outside Parliament.
A number of Tory frontbenchers have lucrative directorships which have been criticised by other MPs.
COMMENT: I have my owns views on Dawn Butler, having written to her last year about the complete waste of money/paper/energy I believe the dull Brent Magazine to be, I received what can only be described as a rude and patronising response and subsequently her comments to the press, above, are of no surprise to me at all. The woman is a complete con-artist, she clearly thinks she is entitled to squander our money for her own selfish purposes, despite the fact that Brent has one of the highest council tax rates in the UK. She needs to be sacked.
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