Yoga World and Pesto is one year old. Happy birthday, dearest blog: I wish I could bring you metaphorical cake and candles – um, candle. 27 posts, 125 comments, and, to me, a staggering 7352 page views (I know that isn’t a lot in the greater scheme of things, but I never thought it would do as well as it has). Continue reading
This weekend sees the return of the annual Luton CAMRA beer festival at Hightown Community Centre, which started last night and runs until Saturday, 22 February. The Bricklayers Arms also gets in on the act with a further selection of guest ales, in case the 100-odd ales and 30-something ciders officially on offer aren’t quite enough to wet your whistle.
Sad news: one of the beautiful trees at the junction of High Town and Hitchin roads has fallen down, uprooted by recent storms. I am not sure when it happened exactly, but it’s gone: ripped cleanly and completely at the roots.
If your new year’s resolution is to eat less, lose weight and save money on eating out, you’ve come to the right place. Only one week in to 2014, Luton has delivered generous municipal support designed to galvanise your intentions for post-festive restraint in the form of news, released yesterday, that no fewer than 16 of our local eating establishments achieved a round and umami-rich zero in respect of food hygiene, as assessed by Luton Borough Council in conjunction with the Food Standards Agency. Continue reading
Happy new year, everyone, and welcome to another year of aspirational Luton living. To ease you into 2014 (and back into work, for those who are), Yoga World & Pesto presents the first part of my round-up of Luton-found signs. First up, it’s the Luton News, who prove time and again that no news really can be good news. Enjoy! Continue reading
The Buddha taught us that change is the only constant in life. Now there’s a man who never lived in Luton. Here in Lutopia, change teases and torments us like a chorus of pug-nosed Satyroi casting seductive backward glances from the Hertfordshire horizon.
Hertfordshire: where deer and stockbrokers roam free.
Why, hello there, dear reader. You’ve been feeling a little neglected of late, and not without cause. I didn’t mean to go away for so long, and you were always on my mind.
I’ve had a very interesting few months – happy, busy and life-changing – and now I bring you news. Continue reading
In a way I take comfort from the way that some people readily presume that I am dead if I haven’t posted in a while. Certainly, that’s the approach taken by my mother, who recently got quite worried given that I hadn’t posted on Facebook for a couple of days, and hadn’t updated this blog in over a month. I apologise to all: I’ve been busy (rather than dead), and my conscience is all the more pricked for having missed this year’s annual High Town Festival over the weekend of 15-16 July, which I learn from the Friends of High Town was super-plus good.
High Town (or ‘Hightown’) Festival sign in front of the now sadly fire-ravaged premises of the former pub, the Railway Tavern.
I have a little joke (mostly with myself) that I bust out almost every time a friend of mine (and occasionally a date) does me the great honour of coming to see me in Luton. Meeting them at the train station (since I should not like to leave them unchaperoned), I say, ‘Would you like me to give you the tour of Luton? Don’t worry: it won’t take long.’
After ranging as far as Luton Hoo in my last post, my thirst to share Luton’s exotic outposts with you, dear reader, remains unslated. In which vein, a focus on Stopsley seems long overdue. I was tempted to include this post within my ‘café culture’ series (series of one…) because I do have a review to make of Coffee Express, but I’m going to save that for later.
The real star and focus of this piece is the Fair Deal World Shop, Luton’s very own fairtrade store, dedicated entirely to selling ethical goods (food, cleaning products, homewares and gifts) and proving that it is just about possible to sustain an avowedly ethical business within Luton. The Fair Deal World Shop is an unexpected treasure, and it needs our support.
Small but marvellous: the Fair Deal World Shop, in Stopsley village.
Yoga World & Pesto 