The Embankment re-opens in style; Bedford’s landmark riverside pub brought back to life by award-winning team, ready to burst back onto the Bedfordshire scene as a great local and a great place to eat, party and stay 26th March 2009: The Embankment has been given a brand new lease of life. This wonderful pub sitting on Bedford’s beautiful riverside re-opens today after an eight week refurbishment, during which every inch of the late-Victorian building has been lovingly restored to create a really great place to eat, drink, party and stay. After taking on the lease of the imposing mock-Tudor fronted hotel from Bedford’s family-owned brewer, Charles Wells last year, award-winning independent pub company Peach has set about turning it into a really welcoming pub with rooms and a friendly bar where you can enjoy a delicious plate of freshly cooked, seasonal food and a perfectly chilled glass of wine or simply sit down and read the paper over a decent pint. The huge bay windows of the bar overlook the new terrace and, just beyond, the beautifully maintained Embankment Gardens and the River Great Ouse. For anyone who can’t tear themselves away from the stunning river view, there are also 20 really comfortable bedrooms all with en-suite facilities, where you’ll be sure of a good night’s sleep and in the morning a fine breakfast to set you up for the day. The Embankment’s the ideal place to stay if you’re in town just visiting, on business or up for the weekend, as well as being a great pub serving good food and drink all through the day. “We’re thrilled to be re-opening the doors of this historic pub and looking forward to welcoming back existing guests and to sharing with new ones everything The Embankment has to offer,” says Andrew Coath, former British Institute of Innkeeping’s Licensee of the Year who runs two other award-winning pubs in the area, The Black Horse in Woburn and The Swan at Salford, as well as taking on The Embankment. “This is a fabulous pub and it’s been a privilege to have had the chance to bring it back to life and create a local to be proud of, a place you can meet friends for a drink, eat a good meal and hold fantastic parties.”
Christophe Perney has been appointed new head chef of The Embankment Hotel in Bedford, the third site, acquired last May, by Peach joint venture partner and former BII Licensee of the Year Andrew Coath. Christophe qualified in France and trained in Paris under Joël Robuchon and then at the Park Lane in London before relocating to the UK. Moving to North London, he went to work at Chez Tonton in Barnet and then at Sopwell House in St Albans, before deciding to set up the first of three businesses as Chef-Patron in Hertfordshire. The Waggoners near Welwyn, The Tilbury in Datchworth and The Boot in Chipperfield all reflected his classic French background and growing passion for working with British seasonal ingredients. Attracted by the prospect of holding sway in the kitchen whilst having the support and energy of a vibrant company like Peach behind him, Christophe joined the new team being built by Andrew at The Embankment. Since taking over the 20 bedroomed hotel, pub and restaurant in May, that team has already reversed the fortunes of the site. A major refurbishment is now underway to restore the riverside venue and open a totally new-look Embankment at the end of March.
As previously announced The Theatre Royal Haymarket is launching its next season with the production of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot under the artistic directorship of Sean Mathias and staring Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart. Waiting for Godot will tour the UK prior to its opening in London in April. Designs are by Stephen Brimson Lewis and lighting is by Paul Pyant. Waiting for Godot is produced by the Theatre Royal Haymarket Company in partnership with Duncan C. Weldon Productions Ltd.
The show is set to tour to Milton Keynes Theatre on the 16th – 21st March 2009. The Theatre Royal Haymarket is delighted to announce that as part of the Company’s commitment to involving young people and our close association with Masterclass (www.masterclass.org.uk) we will be offering the opportunity for two young individuals from the Milton Keynes area to take a featured role alongside the cast of Waiting for Godot. Ian and Patrick are looking forward to working in rehearsal with two boys at each venue on tour and we hope that this opportunity will provide an invaluable learning experience for two young aspiring actors. The Company is looking for two boys to play alternate performances and will be auditioning for the parts in open auditions on the 9 – 10th December 2008. They will be playing the age of 10 years but the auditions will be open to boys up to 15 years of any ethnicity. DDay One of auditions will be Open Auditions and Day Two will be recalls for successful applicants from the first round. Every boy who is auditioning needs to be available for both of the auditions days, the dates of the performance in March and be on call for up to two weeks before opening night. For the successful boys rehearsals will take place the week before the production’s arrival at the venue. They will be conducted by Paul Warwick-Griffin, the assistant director for the production. Ian and Patrick will then rehearse with the boys on the Sunday afternoon before opening night on the Monday. All boys that are interested in auditioning need to get an audition pack from the Milton Keynes Theatre by visiting www.trh.co.uk . In this there is a registration form which they need to fill in and return information about the audition and a piece of dialogue which they need to prepare. The open auditions will commence at 3pm with the last auditions being held at 7.30pm. Each boy will audition in a group of up to 20 and it will last for half an hour. All boys and their parents or guardians are warned that there could be long waiting times due to the numbers auditioning. Boys are allowed to turn up on the day if they haven’t registered though waiting times could be longer. Waiting for Godot follows two consecutive days in the lives of tramps, Vladimir (Patrick Stewart) and Estragon (Ian McKellen), who divert themselves by clowning around, joking and arguing, while waiting expectantly and unsuccessfully for the mysterious Godot. Beckett’s Waiting for Godot exploded on to the London stage over 50 years ago when it shocked as many people as it delighted. Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart, both renowned Shakespearean actors at Stratford-upon-Avon, in the West End and on Broadway, first worked together in Tom Stoppard’s Every Good Boy Deserves Favour for the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1977 and more recently in the X-Men films, as Magneto and Professor X. Each of them has established their own iconic screen persona, as Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings and as Star Trek’s Jean-Luc Picard. Ian McKellen makes his Beckett debut as Estragon. He will play alongside Patrick Stewart following their onscreen rivalry in the X-Men films. McKellen has previously collaborated with Sean Mathias who has directed him as Uncle Vanya, the Captain in Dance of Death and as Widow Twankey twice. Since he started acting in 1961, he has worked non-stop on stage and screen. For the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Companies, McKellen has produced and acted in plays old and new, most recently on the RSC’s world tour as King Lear. He produced and wrote the screenplay for his Richard III and was nominated for an Oscar for Gods and Monsters and for Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings. He recently played in Coronation Street and has just completed ITV’s remake of The Prisoner. Patrick Stewart is currently playing Claudius/Ghost in Hamlet for the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford before transferring to the Novello Theatre later this year. Earlier this year he won an Evening Standard Award, a Critics’ Circle Award, a TMA Theatre Award, a Theatregoers’ Choice Award nomination, an Outer Critics Circle Award nomination, a Laurence Olivier Award nomination, and a Tony Award nomination for playing the title role in Rupert Goold’s Chichester Festival Theatre production of Macbeth which subsequently transferred to the West End and then Broadway. His many other appearances for the RSC include The Tempest and Antony and Cleopatra both in Stratford and at the Novello Theatre. His other London theatre credits include A Life in The Theatre and The Masterbuilder and in New York his credits include Whose Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Ride Down Mount Morgan and The Tempest. Stewart performed his acclaimed, award winning one-man show, A Christmas Carol, both in the West End and on Broadway. His many film and television credits include the X-Men films, Moby Dick, King of Texas and King Lear, as well as his role as Jean-Luc Picard in the Star Trek series. Stewart was made an OBE in 2001.
We are holding a Golf Day in remembrance of Dee Hemindinger, one of our great supporters at The Swan and Black Horse and whom we worked with on many occasions supporting her work raising funds for Macmillan care in MK..
We really hope you are able to join us.
Charity Golf Day Friday 7th November Millbrook Golf Course in aid of Macmillan.
The day is £55 per person with all proceeds to Macmillan. There will be Bacon Sandwiches and Coffee to start and soup and a sandwich for lunch followed by dinner at The Black Horse Woburn. There will be prizes for the best place team of 4 as well as the longest drive on a par 5 and nearest to the pin on par 3.
All bookings must be made by 1st November from our website www.blackhorsewoburn.co.uk/NewsEvents.asp
Please see The Millbrook website for directions and their dress code. www.themillbrook.com
Milton Keynes Conference 2008
Inside Ex Milton Keynes is now in its 5th successful year and is a business-to-business event which has been acclaimed to be an unparalleled success by visitors and exhibitors. Held for the second time at the impressive STADIUM:MK on the 7TH NOVEMBER 2008, the event will kick off with THE BIG BREAKFAST networking event, sponsored by CREDIT SUISSE, which will include a presentation from MICHAEL O’SULLIVAN Head of UK Research and Global Asset Allocation for Credit Suisse.
There is an extensive exhibition with a cross section of excellent trading opportunities and plenty of scope to meet new clients. Our celebrity guest speaker at our CHARITY LUNCH event, sponsored by BARCLAYS COMMERCIAL, is TEDDY SHERINGHAM MBE, so if you or you have clients that would like to join us for a very entertaining afternoon please get in touch to book your places. We are also very pleased to have the BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE TROPHY at the event and there will be photo opportunities with Teddy and the Trophy prior to the lunch event.
During the afternoon we have an excellent FREE MARKETING SEMINAR with TONY ANDERSON, one of the UK’s top marketing experts, who has worked with companies including Thomas Cook, British Airways, EasyJet and EGG. Don’t miss out on this years Inside Ex Milton Keynes, booking now, for what is proving to be the prime event in the business calendar.
Please call 01908 545 380 to find out more.
If you’ve ever dreamed of driving an Aston Martin, Ferrari, Lamborghini or Bentley, then Experience Supercars is just what you’re looking for. The owners of this company are incredibly passionate about what they do and believe these cars should not be just for the rich and famous. Why not take a look at their wide range of cars for either that special gift, anniversary present, wedding hire or as they say, just for the hell of it! Hire prices start from around £390.