28.03.2015 Views

NiCKED Magazine Issue #1

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

SPRING 2014 <strong>NiCKED</strong> THE POLICE LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE<br />

WWW.NICKEDMAGAZINE.COM ISSUE 01<br />

SPRING 2014 WWW.NICKEDMAGAZINE.COM ISSUE 01 £2.99<br />

ISSN 2055-0782<br />

PC<br />

CHRIS FOY<br />

_ LAYING<br />

DOWN<br />

THE LAW<br />

AN INTERVIEW WITH<br />

SERVING POLICE OFFICER<br />

AND PROFESSIONAL<br />

REFEREE CHRIS FOY<br />

_<br />

WANT TO LOSE WEIGHT? WE’LL HELP YOU CHANGE<br />

THE HABITS OF A LIFETIME<br />

_<br />

SHIFT WORK WOES HOW TO EAT RIGHT<br />

AND KEEP FIT<br />

_<br />

HOBBIES GALORE! GOLFING, WALKING, PHOTOG-<br />

RAPHY<br />

AND MUCH MORE...<br />

PLUS: TRAVEL - FASHION - COOKING - GADGETS - WILDLIFE - BOOK REVIEWS


Niton Tactical<br />

Original LED Torch<br />

Niton Tactical<br />

Mission 5 Patrol Jacket<br />

5 in<br />

ONE<br />

FLEXIBILITY<br />

Niton Tactical<br />

D-Cell Patrol LED Torch<br />

Only available from<br />

£ 30 .00<br />

WWW.NITON999.CO.UK<br />

Code: NT60001 £ Code: NT31004<br />

Code: NT60009<br />

30 .00 £ 150 .00<br />

£<br />

40 .00 Code: NT10002 65 .00<br />

Niton Tactical<br />

Niton Tactical<br />

Niton Tactical<br />

Niton Tactical<br />

Niton Tactical<br />

Black Patrol Vest<br />

Comfort Shirts<br />

Hi-Vis Patrol Vest<br />

Soft Shell Jacket<br />

Touch Screen Gloves<br />

Left handed<br />

Left handed<br />

NT32008<br />

NT32009<br />

Right handed<br />

Right handed<br />

NT32004<br />

NT32005<br />

Blue: NT24002<br />

Black: NT31007<br />

Accessories<br />

Accessories<br />

not included<br />

White: NT24010<br />

not included<br />

Sand: NT31008<br />

Code: NT40020 £<br />

60 .00 Code: NT23001 £<br />

25 .00<br />

Black: NT20007-9 £<br />

15 .00 Code: EPPTEXT £ 10 .00 Code: AA539 £ 7 .99<br />

Code: NT32004 £ 55 .00 Code: NT24001 £<br />

15 .00<br />

Code: NT32005 £ 75 .00 Code: NT31007 £<br />

75 .00 Code: NT35011 £ 15 .00<br />

Niton Tactical<br />

Niton Tactical<br />

Niton Tactical<br />

Custom Epaulettes with Heat<br />

3 in 1 Rescue<br />

Deluxe Buddy Bag<br />

Professional Instructor Belt<br />

Short Sleeve Polo Shirt Applied Letters and Numbers<br />

Key Chain<br />

Black: NT23004<br />

Navy: NT23005<br />

White: NT23006<br />

Sand: NT23007<br />

Olive: NT23002<br />

Sand: NT23003<br />

Niton Tactical<br />

Niton Tactical MISSION ll<br />

Lightweight Trouser<br />

Side Zip Police Boots<br />

FREE * on your entire order when you choose<br />

any product displaying the Hot Pick logo<br />

DELIVERY<br />

LOG ON TO<br />

VIEW OVER 3000 PRODUCTS ONLINE<br />

WWW.NITON999.CO.UK<br />

ISSUE 14 Catalogue OUT NOW TO PURCHASE<br />

OR VIEW ONLINE AT WWW.NITON999.CO.UK<br />

AND SIGN UP FOR OUR<br />

Call<br />

E-NEWSLETTER<br />

01293 549 858 or<br />

Navy: NT20010-12<br />

Sent weekly offering you<br />

email: SALES@NITON999.CO.UK<br />

THIS ADVERT IS SUPPLIED IN ADDITION TO AND FORMS PART OF OUR PROFESSIONAL BUYERS GUIDE IN<br />

Sand: NT20013-15<br />

access to exclusive<br />

WHICH OUR TERMS & CONDITIONS ARE FULLY DESCRIBED OR VISIT OUR WEBSITE WWW.NITON999.CO.UK<br />

E.&O.E. © NITON EQUIPMENT 2013. PRICES CORRECT AT TIME OF GOING TO PRESS. T&C’S APPLY<br />

Khaki: NT20016-18<br />

special offers and discount codes<br />

*HOT PICK FREE ECONOMY DELIVERY TERMS AND CONDITIONS APPLY.<br />

Black: NT20007-9<br />

FREE<br />

Pocket Buddy<br />

worth £14.99


CONTENTS<br />

48<br />

Family law<br />

66<br />

Beauty<br />

Welcome<br />

Hello and welcome<br />

to the very first issue<br />

of <strong>NiCKED</strong> magazine.<br />

If you’re reading this it means<br />

you’re probably part of the<br />

policing family and that you’re<br />

taking a quick five minutes to<br />

have a read and relax. If this is<br />

the case it means our mission<br />

is nearly accomplished.<br />

The next part of the challenge<br />

is to put a smile on your face,<br />

inspire you to try something<br />

new, or offer some advice that<br />

really can make a difference<br />

to your working week.<br />

The <strong>NiCKED</strong> team is almost<br />

exclusively made up of<br />

retired policing staff and they<br />

recognised the real need for<br />

a unified magazine specifically<br />

for police officers and<br />

their support staff.<br />

In the most part written by<br />

serving or retired officers,<br />

in this issue you’ll see a wide<br />

range of hobbies ranging<br />

from golfing to walking, bird<br />

watching to travel; and then<br />

there’s photography, fitness,<br />

business and legal advice.<br />

In short, a whole load for<br />

you to get your teeth into,<br />

but what we really want is for<br />

it to grow into the magazine<br />

that you need and want.<br />

We’d love to hear your<br />

feedback so please get<br />

in touch and let us know<br />

what you think.<br />

Christina Evatt EDITOR<br />

06<br />

Laying down the law…<br />

Chris Foy talks about his<br />

career as a police office<br />

and FA referee<br />

12<br />

Short breaks...<br />

Fancy a short break?<br />

Some ideas for the UK<br />

and Europe<br />

18<br />

Give eggs a crack!<br />

Celebrity chef Dean Edwards<br />

is on a mission to prove<br />

eggs are more than just<br />

a breakfast staple<br />

LEMON TREE MEDIA LTD<br />

The Malthouse, 48 Southport Road, Ormskirk, West Lancashire L39 1QR<br />

t. 01695 668630 e. info@nickedmagazine.com www.nickedmagazine.com<br />

VAT No. 167 021 134. Company Registered No. 08546977<br />

Copyright © 2013 Lemon Tree Media<br />

ISSN 2055-0782<br />

06<br />

Laying down<br />

the law<br />

26<br />

Get your<br />

boots on!<br />

22<br />

Mind over matter…<br />

How to lose weight and keep<br />

it off. Andy Heyes shares<br />

his story<br />

Cracking eggs<br />

18<br />

26<br />

Get your boots on!<br />

Good for the body and soul,<br />

Paul Casey talks about his<br />

passion for the great<br />

outdoors and walking<br />

32<br />

A shift in the right<br />

direction<br />

Is your health suffering due<br />

to shift work? Paul Herbert’s<br />

top fitness tips will help<br />

22<br />

Mind over<br />

matter…<br />

TEAM: Directors Mike Shaw/Paul Casey<br />

Editor Christina Evatt<br />

Photography Shannon Shaw/Lesley Cameron<br />

Staff writer Brinsley Bailey<br />

Graphics Dave Butler<br />

Concept www.nectarcreative.com<br />

Designer Chris Kniveton<br />

36<br />

Paul Herbert’s food plan<br />

A programme designed to<br />

keep your body on a regular<br />

pattern each week even if<br />

your shifts change<br />

PEFC/16-33-775<br />

PEFC Certified<br />

This product is<br />

from sustainably<br />

managed forests and<br />

controlled sources<br />

www.pefc.org<br />

38<br />

Carving a career<br />

after policing<br />

Retired but with more to give?<br />

Peter Farrington shares his<br />

start-up business advice<br />

38<br />

Career after<br />

policing<br />

42<br />

Fore...!<br />

Golf has always been popular<br />

pastime in the police service.<br />

Alan Considine tells us why<br />

golf is his perfect recreation<br />

when off duty<br />

46<br />

Golf: back to basics<br />

Never played before?<br />

Intersted in taking up the<br />

game? It’s not hard to<br />

get started<br />

Follow us<br />

online<br />

48<br />

Family law<br />

Mary Shaw offers practical<br />

advice on dealing with<br />

divorce and separation<br />

53<br />

Urban birdz<br />

It’s not just for the<br />

anorak brigade!<br />

72<br />

Fashion<br />

56<br />

Vehicle check<br />

<strong>NiCKED</strong> checks out the new<br />

Seat Leon estate and discovers<br />

it's worth a close look<br />

58<br />

Gardening<br />

A flood of ways to save<br />

waterlogged plants<br />

62<br />

The art of study<br />

Find studying for police exams<br />

difficult? Follow Jim Ferran’s<br />

programme for success. It'll work<br />

for other areas of your life too!<br />

66<br />

Beauty: ageing perils<br />

Whether you work the streets<br />

or are part of a busy office,<br />

NICKED delivers some helpful<br />

tips and advice on how to<br />

care for your skin<br />

70<br />

The Poisoned Island<br />

book review<br />

Mystery and intrigue abound<br />

in Lloyd Shepherd’s new book<br />

72<br />

Spring trends<br />

Retail therapy is always good,<br />

so now winter’s gone, it’s time<br />

to brighten up your wardrobe<br />

80<br />

Life through a lens<br />

A new series of articles designed<br />

to help you get the best out of<br />

your pictures without all the<br />

techno-babble... well for now!<br />

62<br />

The art of study<br />

84<br />

Gadgets<br />

Top six portable chargers<br />

<strong>NiCKED</strong><br />

is released<br />

Over the past months we have<br />

been asked why we decided to<br />

publish a lifestyle magazine<br />

dedicated to the police service.<br />

The answer is simple. You deserve<br />

one. We’ve worked front line duties<br />

in a busy force, so we understand<br />

the pressures and demands that<br />

the service places on ALL of its<br />

staff. Whether you are warranted<br />

or support staff, front line or office<br />

bound, shift work or a regular 9-5,<br />

in some way, at some level, you<br />

contribute, you make an effort,<br />

you make a difference.<br />

So we thought it only fair to make<br />

an effort and provide something<br />

that will entertain and inform,<br />

while at the same time be a source<br />

of relaxation and distraction.<br />

In this first issue we have chosen<br />

articles based on common<br />

themes that people we’ve worked<br />

with have enjoyed as a means of<br />

distraction or entertainment.<br />

Wherever possible we have<br />

sourced articles by current or<br />

retired police professionals for<br />

the very obvious reason that<br />

‘they know the job’.<br />

Being ‘lifestyle’ you won’t find<br />

anything that is overtly political in<br />

our commentary or articles. We all<br />

know the impact the financial cuts<br />

are having throughout the service,<br />

and we are happy to leave comment<br />

and analysis of such matters to<br />

those who are more qualified.<br />

Because the magazine is for<br />

YOU we welcome contributions<br />

for future issues. Do you have<br />

a unique pastime or hobby?<br />

Have you a skill or experience<br />

that you can share with colleagues<br />

to enhance their skill set? Let us<br />

know. We’ll be only too glad help<br />

you write an article. Enjoy...<br />

Mike Shaw/Paul Casey


MAIN FEATURE<br />

Laying<br />

down<br />

the law...<br />

COULD POLICING AND REFEREEING BE THE PERFECT PARTNERSHIP?<br />

WHEN BRINSLEY BAILEY MET WITH POLICE OFFICER AND<br />

PREMIER LEAGUE REFEREE CHRIS FOY, HE DISCOVERED THE<br />

SYMBIOTIC ATTRIBUTES THAT HELP MAKE HIM A PROFESSIONAL<br />

AT THE TOP OF HIS GAME.<br />

The final whistle blew. Ten goals were<br />

conceded. There were no cards issued<br />

and no offsides. The game was<br />

perilously wild. On 12th September<br />

1983 the Winwick Hospital grounds<br />

were the setting of a brutal baptism<br />

into the world of football officiating.<br />

The then 21-year-old Chris Foy began<br />

his day with idealistic expectations but<br />

ended his debut with a sobering dose<br />

of reality. The young builder’s apprentice<br />

from St Helens sat alone in the Referee’s<br />

changing room; silently reflecting on<br />

his performance and his future in the<br />

sport he loved. “At the end of the match<br />

one of the managers came in.<br />

He looked at me and said ‘You were<br />

rubbish. ’He was probably right. My £2.50<br />

expenses ended up on the floor.”<br />

Foy was understandably low.<br />

He yearned for the repartee and sense<br />

of fellowship that he enjoyed amongst<br />

his teammates during the prior years of<br />

weekend football. “When you play football,<br />

you always have someone around you,<br />

that camaraderie. When you’re a referee<br />

you’re on your own. ”At this point in his life,<br />

Foy was accustomed to relying on the<br />

support of his ‘great circle of friends’<br />

but for the first time, he had to navigate<br />

these issues alone.<br />

He describes his thought process like<br />

a defiant veteran who has confidently<br />

conquered the trials of his past.<br />

“As somebody once said ‘Winners never<br />

quit and quitters never win.’ It was time<br />

for me to dig deep. It would have been<br />

easy for me to walk away but I decided<br />

that if I did quit then, I wouldn’t have<br />

achieved anything.”<br />

I have had a fantastic policing career;<br />

I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve done and when<br />

I leave I’ll be pretty proud of my achievements<br />

06<br />

WWW.NICKEDMAGAZINE.COM


MAIN FEATURE<br />

Like father,<br />

I’m not<br />

saying everything<br />

we (referees) do in<br />

football is perfect<br />

but we are working<br />

bloody hard to<br />

improve<br />

like son<br />

SON OF A POLICE OFFICER FATHER AND SCHOOL ASSITANT MOTHER,<br />

CHRIS FOY WAS THE OLDEST OF THREE CHILDREN AND THE PROVERBIAL<br />

ADAGE ‘LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON’ APTLY DESCRIBES THE PATERNAL<br />

RELATIONSHIP VISIBLE IN THE HOUSEHOLD.<br />

As a child, Foy was passionate about sports like his<br />

father and it is something he still appreciates to the<br />

present day. “I’m really thankful to my Dad because<br />

he took me to watch football, cricket, rugby league,<br />

rugby union and we went everywhere watching<br />

sport and I still love sport to this day.”<br />

Like many idealistic youths around the<br />

country, Foy fantasised about becoming a<br />

professional football player. But his dream<br />

was short-lived and he accepted the limits<br />

of his ability, deciding that fun should be<br />

his paramount focus.<br />

“I think I’d be telling a lie if I said I didn’t want<br />

to be a footballer but sometimes you’re<br />

not good enough. Having said that…I really<br />

enjoyed going out at the weekend and playing<br />

football. It wasn’t a high standard but it didn’t<br />

matter because it was enjoyable and that was<br />

the most important thing for me.”<br />

At 16, with minimal qualifications, Foy<br />

found himself in the building trade earning<br />

a modest weekly wage. He had an active<br />

social life and was in a comfortable<br />

position, but he wasn’t satisfied. Change<br />

was on the cards and he looked for a move<br />

away from the 9 to 5 monotony, but was<br />

undecided on the path he should take.<br />

The unsettled Foy decided to confide in<br />

his father, who suggested the prospect<br />

of following in his footsteps. “My Dad asked<br />

me to think about joining the police and<br />

it was something I never ever considered<br />

doing…but I wanted to do something<br />

that was different.”<br />

In previous years, his father did his best<br />

to keep the negative aspects of police<br />

work out of the home and Foy understood<br />

this but was under no illusions of what<br />

joining the police would entail.<br />

“My Dad never really talked about<br />

the darker side (of police life).<br />

Obviously you can’t just deal with the<br />

lovely pink fluffy stuff, you’re dealing with<br />

things that are difficult, sudden deaths<br />

being an example and that was<br />

something he never spoke about.”<br />

Upon joining the police, Foy had found his<br />

calling and enjoyed a level of emotional<br />

fulfilment that he previously lacked.<br />

“The police officers of the early eighties,<br />

helped me tremendously with my training,<br />

education and development and prepared<br />

me for any eventuality I had to deal with…<br />

(being in the police) is something I really<br />

enjoyed”. This new environment also<br />

worked to provide the structure and<br />

diversity the young Foy craved.<br />

“Every day was challenging and you’re<br />

not stuck in a rut. It was really interesting<br />

because you’re dealing with different<br />

pressures that lead to a variety of situations.”<br />

Foy still had the ambition of becoming a<br />

referee but found at this stage in his life<br />

that it was a complicated proposition.<br />

“I just joined the police so I had to try to beg,<br />

steal and borrow time off (to referee).<br />

My probationary stage was really difficult so<br />

the refereeing and football took a back seat.<br />

(Although) I did ref locally in Liverpool so<br />

I didn’t have too far to travel from work.”<br />

The merging<br />

of career paths<br />

MOST MATCH OFFICIALS ARE<br />

KEEN TO STAY OUT OF THE<br />

SPOTLIGHT AND AVOID<br />

BECOMING THE PROTAGONIST<br />

OF THE EVENTS THAT TAKE<br />

PLACE ON THE PITCH.<br />

Foy was no different, but as a referee<br />

in the most televised football league in<br />

the world, his two career paths began to<br />

inevitably merge. Fortunately, the celebrity<br />

status that was generated served to<br />

help him in his police duties.<br />

“When I go out there in (police) uniform people<br />

see me and say ‘It’s Chris the ref!’ they don’t<br />

always see me as PC Foy. It’s amazing because<br />

they see the guy who’s on TV. In an incident that<br />

demands a police presence…being recognised<br />

has a really calming effect on people.”<br />

As Foy was becoming a more recognised figure<br />

in the game, he was predictably followed by the<br />

ever-present dark cloud of discontent that looms<br />

over all referees at the highest level. Over the<br />

years, the performances of match officials are<br />

highlighted and scrutinised as frequently as the<br />

players and managers. Yet rather than being<br />

bitter about the criticism often directed at<br />

referees, Foy is pragmatic about the decisions<br />

he has made in the past. “If I referee a match<br />

and the decision I make comes under criticism,<br />

I will watch it. If I have made a mistake I will look<br />

at it and say ‘Why have I made it?’ I have to stop<br />

that from happening again. I’ve never met a<br />

person who has never made a mistake and a<br />

lot of stuff in football is opinion based. What<br />

many people don’t understand is that in many<br />

situations the laws of the game actually<br />

state ‘in the opinion of the referee’.<br />

So when you referee a match it’s based on your<br />

opinion… and sometimes people get frustrated,<br />

emotions run high and people react in different<br />

ways. I’m not saying everything we (referees)<br />

do in football is perfect but we are working<br />

bloody hard to improve and it is a constant<br />

strive to do that.”<br />

08 09<br />

WWW.NICKEDMAGAZINE.COM<br />

FACEBOOK.COM/NICKEDMAGAZINE


MAIN FEATURE<br />

On the path<br />

to refereeing...<br />

THOUGH FOCUSED INTENTLY ON HIS<br />

POLICE CAREER OVER THE NEXT DECADE,<br />

FOY SIMULTANEOUSLY WORKED HIS WAY<br />

UP THE REFEREE LADDER AND STEADILY<br />

THROUGH THE FOOTBALL LEAGUE.<br />

Champion<br />

for respect<br />

DURING HIS REFEREEING CAREER, FOY HAS<br />

BEEN EAGER TO WORK HARD OFF THE PITCH<br />

TO ENSURE THAT THE BEAUTIFUL GAME IS<br />

PORTRAYED IN THE BEST LIGHT.<br />

On 17th December 2013 he travelled to Westminster<br />

where he was inducted into the ‘Show Racism the<br />

Red Card’ Hall of Fame for his work in schools and<br />

was clearly moved by the gesture.<br />

“It was a fantastic thing for me (to be inducted), I am really proud<br />

of it and I was quite emotional to be honest… I don’t care what<br />

colour your skin is, I don’t care what religion you are and I don’t<br />

care what nationality you are, everyone is the same…I talk to<br />

kids about citizenship and show them that racism has no place<br />

in football.” Foy is also a major advocate of The FA’s highly<br />

publicised ‘Respect’ campaign and the Premier League’s<br />

‘Get on with the Game’ initiative; both of which aim to improve<br />

on and off the pitch behaviour from grassroots to the top-flight.<br />

“Respect is massive. Everyone in football has a duty to protect<br />

the image of the game. Whether that is the club chairman,<br />

managers, coaches, players, substitutes, referees, assistant<br />

referees, everybody has a massive part to play.<br />

Referees can’t do it on their own…it is about making sure that<br />

when we play football we do it in the right way, that we play it fair<br />

but firm, and at the end of it we all shake hands” In other sports<br />

such a Rugby Union, dissent is not tolerated and the protocol<br />

whereby only the captain can speak to the referee usually works<br />

to avoid mass confrontation. I pointed this out and argued that<br />

there is still a problem in football where players bring the game<br />

into disrepute by crowding the referee whilst aggressively<br />

disputing a decision; Foy was quick to quell my claim.<br />

“From 30 matches, I will probably caution no more than five for<br />

dissent which is amazing considering how many decisions I’ll make<br />

and that’s because players are becoming more receptive. We say<br />

to club captains now that they need to take responsibility of their<br />

team and it’s working…In the Premier League we’ve had less<br />

mass confrontations than we’ve ever had before and cautions<br />

for dissent are down massively. It’s all about education and we<br />

are all working together as we know everyone has a part to play.”<br />

Where many people would<br />

see this multitasking as<br />

problematic, Foy embraced<br />

the situation he had found<br />

himself in and recognised<br />

the prospective benefits of<br />

the dualistic relationship.<br />

“A lot of stuff that police officers do is very<br />

relevant to refereeing. The two jobs have the<br />

same attributes really. From the beginning<br />

you have a uniform, you have to know the<br />

law, you have to keep yourself physically fit<br />

and you have to be able to manage people.”<br />

No regrets...<br />

“As a referee there are some great opportunities for young people now and the career path is amazing. I’ve been<br />

abroad over 40 times and I’ve visited some fantastic places through football. Been to some magnificent stadiums,<br />

been involved in some wonderful matches. I’ve been to places I’ve never thought about going to and will probably<br />

never get the chance to go again. Whatever you want to do, go for it. I’ll be able to sit in a chair at 60 and say<br />

‘I shouldn’t have done that’ rather than ‘I wish I had done that’.<br />

Foy has endured a frenetic lifestyle over<br />

the past 30 years as he juggled two highly<br />

demanding careers. As he is perched in a<br />

somewhat contemplative state, he reflects<br />

on the volume of his accomplishments.<br />

“(In the police) You walk out wearing the<br />

uniform, you’re dealing with different stuff<br />

everyday, some is challenging, some is<br />

enjoyable and some is not very nice. As a<br />

police officer there is an immense sense<br />

of pride. I could never see myself doing a<br />

9 to 5 job anymore…I have had a fantastic<br />

policing career, I have really enjoyed what<br />

I’ve done and when I leave I will be pretty<br />

proud of what I have achieved.”<br />

WHEN I ASKED FOY FOR INSIGHT THAT WOULD GUIDE THOSE WHO<br />

CHOOSE TO FOLLOW THE TRAIL HE HAS SET, HE QUIETLY PONDERED<br />

UNTIL A MOMENT OF REALISATION BREACHED THE SURFACE.<br />

During his long illustrious career as a<br />

referee, Foy has officiated in every major<br />

domestic competition and when I asked<br />

what his greatest career moment was,<br />

he answered without hesitation.<br />

“May 15th 2010, when I refereed the FA Cup<br />

Final between Chelsea and Portsmouth<br />

at Wembley. I have refereed over 600<br />

professional matches but to walk out at<br />

the home of English football, the biggest<br />

domestic cup competition in the world, with<br />

all the prestige, was just an amazing feeling.<br />

The match was controversy free and at<br />

the end to walk up the steps, see my family<br />

in the crowd, introduce my team to Prince<br />

William, get a gold medal and look round at<br />

90,000 people…that was the pinnacle ”Foy<br />

felt triumphant and exuded immense pride<br />

at his accomplishment. He stood there for<br />

a moment, gazed at the crowd and absorbed<br />

the electric atmosphere that buzzed<br />

around him. A single thought enters his<br />

mind and he produces a wry smile. “Wow.<br />

I’ve come a long way since I sat alone in that<br />

freezing cold changing room in 1983.”<br />

10 11<br />

WWW.NICKEDMAGAZINE.COM<br />

Also, you have to be cool and calm under<br />

pressure. When I go out and referee;<br />

I know the law, I’m fit and I’m confident.<br />

But my biggest strength is that I can<br />

manage people. This is more important<br />

than anything and (in both roles)<br />

diffuses difficult situations.”<br />

In 2001 Foy was rewarded for his impressive<br />

performances and became one of the<br />

original 24 referees that operated full time<br />

in the Premier League. Dilemma soon<br />

followed as he realised that he would<br />

potentially have to quit the police in<br />

order to accept the role.<br />

Foy cherished the diversity he experienced<br />

in the police but also had the desire to<br />

reach his potential as a referee. Fortunately<br />

there was compromise on the horizon<br />

and his bosses were accommodating to<br />

his predicament. “I was presented with<br />

some difficulties as I was already a<br />

full time police officer.<br />

However, Merseyside Police were really<br />

receptive to the idea (of me becoming<br />

a full time referee) and I was given the<br />

opportunity to become a ‘part-time cop’.<br />

My remit is junior schools in Liverpool<br />

south and now I have the chance to get<br />

out and speak to young people.”<br />

As a referee there are some great opportunities<br />

for young people and the career path is amazing<br />

TWITTER.COM/NICKEDMAGAZINE


TRAVEL<br />

SPRING BREAKS - BERLIN<br />

Spring breaks<br />

Image: © Press Association<br />

Image: © Press Association<br />

Let’s face it, working in the<br />

modern police service has never<br />

been more taxing. With more<br />

and more people looking for the<br />

opportunity to relax and get away<br />

from it all why not plan a short<br />

break with family or friends?<br />

Sarah Marshall, Claire Spreadbury<br />

and Tori Mayo round up some<br />

of the best properties in<br />

Europe for group getaways<br />

BERLIN IS AN INCREASINGLY<br />

POPULAR DESTINATION<br />

FOR POLICE AND SUPPORT<br />

STAFF WHO WANT AN<br />

ENJOYABLE SHORT BREAK.<br />

BUT WHY GO TO THE<br />

EXPENSE OF A HOTEL?<br />

A friendly apartment should be your top<br />

choice for a weekend break with mates<br />

to Berlin, says Sarah Marshall<br />

”If you arrive after 6pm, you'll need to<br />

collect the keys from our bar, Red Rabbit,<br />

in Friedrichshain.“<br />

That's the message I receive from my Berlin<br />

host, Lisa, who has kindly lent her apartment<br />

to myself and four friends for the weekend.<br />

When we finally reach the doorway to the<br />

drinking hole, it's well beyond midnight, but<br />

for the trendy crowd sinking beers and bottles<br />

of Club-Mate, the evening is only just beginning.<br />

A Jiffy envelope is waiting for me behind<br />

the bar, packed with keys and a batch of<br />

tantalising club flyers, and I know my trip<br />

is off to a good start.<br />

Booking an apartment is often the most<br />

comfortable and fun choice for a group<br />

of friends going on holiday, but so many<br />

properties end up being empty shells,<br />

devoid of personality, with only a sprinkling<br />

of flat-pack furniture.<br />

Airbnb, however, pose the appealing<br />

proposition of staying at a (new) friend's<br />

place - while they've (most likely) skipped<br />

out of town for a few days.<br />

And sure enough, when we turn the lock in<br />

Lisa's door, we find the radiators on full blast,<br />

coffee percolator stacked with filters,<br />

and a fruit bowl overflowing with Haribo<br />

gummy bears. It's as if Lisa had just<br />

popped out to the local Wurst stand<br />

only five minutes earlier.<br />

We all have enough fresh towels and<br />

beds that don't masquerade as sofas<br />

- even though on our first night, we<br />

congratulate ourselves on discovering<br />

a ”spare camp bed“ which in fact<br />

turns out to be a ”cot“.<br />

The position of the flat is also excellent;<br />

overlooking the East Side gallery, where<br />

remnants of the Berlin Wall remain,<br />

and close to the squatter-style bars<br />

and creative hubbub of Kreuzberg.<br />

Image: © Press Association<br />

Of course, every flat registered with<br />

Airbnb is different, with more than 34,000<br />

properties to peruse in 192 countries.<br />

And half the fun is choosing the right property<br />

and personality to match your needs.<br />

Owners are often, as in Lisa's case, plugged<br />

into the local social scene and can recommend<br />

the best cafes, bars, galleries and shops<br />

in the area. Lisa even has a giant map in<br />

her hallway, with pins helpfully highlighting<br />

her favourite haunts.<br />

But best of all, this accommodation option<br />

is more comfortable than a hostel and<br />

far cheaper than staying in a hotel.<br />

Our stay works out less than £25 each<br />

per night - and, I'm relieved to say,<br />

not one of us has to sleep in a cot.<br />

Book this apartment from £221 for<br />

minimum two-night stay (sleeps five)<br />

at www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/115345<br />

12 WWW.NICKEDMAGAZINE.COM 13


TRAVEL<br />

SPRING BREAKS - CENTER PARCS<br />

Center<br />

Parcs<br />

FANCY A SHORT<br />

BREAK IN THE UK?<br />

CENTER PARCS<br />

HOLIDAYS REMAIN<br />

POPULAR WITH<br />

FAMILIES OF<br />

ALL AGES...<br />

Keeping the kids happy is child's<br />

play at Center Parcs, says<br />

Claire Spreadbury<br />

It's not often I swing a leg over a bicycle<br />

and go for a pedal, but it's true what<br />

they say: you never forget how to ride.<br />

As I wobble about trying to find my<br />

balance and steady myself, a flash of<br />

green whizzes by. It's my four-year-old,<br />

on her bike, wearing the biggest smile<br />

you've ever seen.<br />

Travelling around on two wheels is pretty<br />

popular at Center Parcs, especially at<br />

Elveden Forest in Suffolk, as nothing's<br />

especially far away and it's all lovely and flat,<br />

so whether you're new to cycling, or just<br />

out of practice, it's fun for all the family.<br />

If you fancy a getaway for a big group<br />

of people, which also includes kids,<br />

Center Parcs is a sure-fire hit. Whether<br />

it's a generational gathering (so nanny<br />

and gramps can babysit while mummy<br />

and daddy hit the delightfully de-stressing<br />

Aqua Sana spa), or a couple of clans<br />

clubbing together to splash out on some<br />

of the higher-end accommodation<br />

(a two-storey treehouse complete with<br />

games den, Physiotherm infrared room<br />

and outdoor hot tub, perhaps?),<br />

there's something to suit everyone<br />

- and at every budget.<br />

Every type of lodge comes with its own<br />

kitchen, so you can cook up a storm for<br />

breakfast, lunch and dinner, or dine out<br />

in one of the many family-friendly<br />

restaurants in the village.<br />

14 15<br />

WWW.NICKEDMAGAZINE.COM<br />

Image: © Press Association<br />

Image: © Press Association<br />

Children (and adults) can join a plethora<br />

of activities, from quad biking or creating<br />

cupcakes, to aerial tree trekking and wildlife<br />

walks. You can even drop in for a family<br />

photoshoot if you fancy. You can literally<br />

be as busy or relaxed as you please.<br />

As I straddle the saddle for one last time<br />

before our long weekend comes to a close,<br />

it doesn't matter that my entire family is<br />

better than me on a bike. I'll be back to<br />

wobble on two wheels again pretty soon.<br />

Lodgings from £229 (sleeps six)<br />

for a mid-week four-night break.<br />

For more information,<br />

visit www.centerparcs.co.uk<br />

TWITTER.COM/NICKEDMAGAZINE


TRAVEL<br />

SPRING BREAKS - ROME<br />

Image: © Press Association<br />

Image: © Press Association<br />

Image: © Press Association<br />

Rome<br />

FOR THOSE OF YOU<br />

WHO PREFER THAT<br />

BIT OF THE MED<br />

(AND THE WARMTH)<br />

BUT DONT WANT<br />

THE FAMILY SPREAD<br />

OVER SEVERAL<br />

HOTEL ROOMS, WHY<br />

NOT CHOOSE ROME,<br />

THE ETERNAL CITY<br />

A Roman holiday is a grand choice<br />

for big families, says Tori Mayo<br />

When your base for a long weekend in<br />

Rome is the seriously chic Villa Nocetta,<br />

just 10 minutes from the centre, you may<br />

consider taking up permanent residence.<br />

This beautifully renovated villa has been in<br />

the owners' family for three generations and<br />

sits in landscaped gardens where artichokes<br />

once grew among hazelnut trees.<br />

Original marble floors and a grand piano<br />

bring a sense of classic elegance to the space,<br />

and 17th century heirloom wall coverings<br />

hang alongside portraits of Angelina Jolie<br />

and Al Pacino, taken by celebrated Romebased<br />

photographer Angela Lopriore.<br />

It's certainly enough to impress my three<br />

generations of relatives, who are here for<br />

a family gathering in grand surroundings.<br />

While my boyfriend and I spend evenings<br />

enjoying sundowners on the tower-top<br />

terrace made for two, other family<br />

members head to the basement gym<br />

or relax by the pool under the shade<br />

of Mediterranean pine trees.<br />

Each of the five guest suites has been<br />

individually styled, featuring classic design<br />

pieces, artworks and fine Italian linens.<br />

Even though a continental buffet breakfast<br />

and shuttle service are provided, as well<br />

as the option of a personal concierge,<br />

Villa Nocetta feels like a luxury home<br />

rather than a hotel.<br />

It would be tempting not to leave our<br />

new abode, but we do make it outdoors<br />

to explore the city.<br />

Ancient city planners clearly had tourists'<br />

schedules at heart, as all the major sights<br />

are within walking distance of each other.<br />

It's quite possible to peer at the Pantheon,<br />

shop in the designer stores along Via<br />

Condotti, walk up and down the Spanish<br />

Steps, or surround yourself with papal pomp<br />

and ceremony in St Peter's Square at the<br />

Vatican - all in a day.<br />

My boyfriend and I even take a tour on<br />

vintage Vespas, riding along the cobbled<br />

streets lined with candy-coloured houses<br />

and cafes, weaving through traffic while<br />

marvelling at ancient sites.<br />

My parents opt for the more leisurely Roman<br />

approach, taking it all in via pit stops in the<br />

piazza for a macchiato or an Aperol spritz.<br />

But we all end up at the Trevi fountain,<br />

where we each throw a coin into the<br />

water and make a wish.<br />

If the legends are true, next year, we'll be back<br />

at Villa Nocetta for more of la dolce vita.<br />

Villa Nocetta<br />

www.villanocetta.com; +39 06 663 7119<br />

Sleeps up to 12 people and is available<br />

from 2,900 euros per night (approx £200<br />

per person per night). Minimum stay of<br />

three nights.<br />

easyJet (www.easyjet.com) fly<br />

from London Gatwick to Rome from<br />

£28.74 per person (one-way).<br />

16 17<br />

WWW.NICKEDMAGAZINE.COM


FOOD<br />

GIVE EGGS A<br />

crack!<br />

Celebrity chef Dean Edwards is on a mission to<br />

prove eggs are more than just a breakfast staple.<br />

The former digger driver shares his secret for perfectly-cooked eggs,<br />

and reveals how his grandmother inspired his passion for food.<br />

by Jeananne Craig<br />

Most of us have had some<br />

sort of disaster when cooking<br />

eggs - too runny, too rubbery,<br />

or too difficult to extract<br />

from the bottom of the pan.<br />

But for TV chef Dean Edwards,<br />

his egg Armageddon<br />

came live on air.<br />

The former MasterChef runner-up got<br />

into a very sticky situation while showing<br />

the nation how to make a tortilla on<br />

ITV's Lorraine show.<br />

"I was panicking a bit, because the<br />

pan that was supplied really wasn't<br />

non-stick," he recalls.<br />

"We had about 10 or 15 seconds<br />

where we went to recap and I had<br />

to plate the food up and make it look<br />

nice and pretty. When it came out,<br />

it looked a bit of a dog's dinner.<br />

It tasted better than it looked!"<br />

The blush-inducing incident hasn't put<br />

Edwards off cooking with eggs. In fact,<br />

he's fronting British Lion eggs' Main<br />

Meals In Minutes campaign to help make<br />

them a focal point of mealtimes.<br />

"People tend to think inside the box a<br />

bit when it comes to eggs - like scrambled<br />

eggs or fried eggs at breakfast - but<br />

there are so many possibilities. They're<br />

affordable, versatile, and a great way<br />

of using up leftovers," he says.<br />

The key to success, according to the<br />

Bristol-based chef, is to avoid overcooking<br />

- and invest in a decent non-stick pan.<br />

"As soon as you think they're ready, pretty<br />

much by the time you've got them out of<br />

the pan, they're overcooked. So the secret<br />

is to take them off the heat just before<br />

they're finally cooked through. That way,<br />

they'll finish their cooking in the pan."<br />

Edwards was a digger driver before<br />

entering the BBC's MasterChef<br />

competition in 2005. He came second<br />

on the show, gave up the day job, and<br />

went on to carve out a successful career<br />

as a celebrity chef. His first cookbook,<br />

Mincespiration, was published last year.<br />

Edwards, who admits he still pinches<br />

himself about his success, credits his<br />

South African grandmother, Judith,<br />

with instilling his love of cooking.<br />

"My nan used to make an egg curry,<br />

it's one of my favourites. We couldn't afford<br />

lots of meat and it was a way of bulking it<br />

out and adding those nutrients and protein<br />

without costing a fortune," he says.<br />

Now Edwards, 36, hopes to instil this<br />

passion for food in his four-year-old<br />

daughter, Indie.<br />

"She's got an adventurous palette<br />

and she loves curry, we'll often go out<br />

for an Indian. It's great to get kids to<br />

try new things," he says.<br />

"I let her help me out in the kitchen.<br />

She's more inclined to eat what we cook<br />

than if I plonked it on her plate before her.<br />

"The kitchen's like a bomb site when she<br />

cooks with me, so it's a bit of a trade off!<br />

But it's my great pleasure in life."<br />

Edwards has created a range of egg<br />

recipes for the Main Meals In Minutes<br />

campaign. Here are three of them.<br />

You can find more egg recipes at<br />

www.eggrecipes.co.uk<br />

/mainmealsinminutes<br />

Image: © Press Association<br />

"Food was always a big part of our lives.<br />

Our family parties always involved two<br />

or three big pots of South African stews<br />

and curries, and we were encouraged<br />

to help out at an early age."<br />

FACEBOOK.COM/NICKEDMAGAZINE<br />

19


FOOD<br />

Cheat's<br />

kedgeree SERVES 2<br />

- 1 skinless salmon fillet<br />

- 1 onion, finely diced<br />

- 2 garlic cloves, crushed<br />

- Small piece of ginger, peeled and grated<br />

- 1 tsp garam masala<br />

- 1/2 tsp mustard seeds<br />

- 1/2 tsp turmeric<br />

- 1 green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped<br />

- 1 250g pack microwave wholegrain rice, cooked<br />

- 3 spring onions, finely sliced<br />

- 2 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped<br />

- 2 large eggs<br />

- 2 tbsp white wine vinegar<br />

- 1 lemon, quartered to serve<br />

- Salt and pepper<br />

Add a splash of oil to a non-stick pan and cook the salmon<br />

for four to five minutes over a medium to high heat until<br />

nearly cooked through. Flake the salmon.<br />

In a large pan, fry the onion, garlic and<br />

ginger in some olive oil for 5 minutes until<br />

soft. Add the spices, mustard seeds and<br />

chilli and cook for a further minute.<br />

Add the rice and stir through, making<br />

sure the rice is well coated. Cook for<br />

three to four minutes, adding a splash<br />

of water if necessary.<br />

Add the salmon, spring onion and coriander<br />

to the rice and stir. Season with salt and<br />

pepper and squeeze over the lemon juice.<br />

In a deep pan, bring water up to a rolling<br />

boil, add the vinegar and crack in the eggs.<br />

Leave to cook for four to five minutes<br />

(four for a runny yolk).<br />

Remove from the water and drain any<br />

excess water on some kitchen paper.<br />

Divide the kedgeree between two warm<br />

plates, top each with the poached egg<br />

and serve with a lemon wedge.<br />

One pan rosti<br />

with chorizo<br />

& eggs SERVES 2<br />

- 4 large eggs<br />

- 2 medium waxy potatoes,<br />

peeled and coarsely grated<br />

- 1 onion, thinly sliced<br />

- 1 tbsp fresh thyme<br />

- 1 tbsp plain flour<br />

- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika<br />

- 20g unsalted butter<br />

- 100g cured chorizo sausage, sliced<br />

- Salt and pepper<br />

Grate the potatoes and dry them a clean tea towel.<br />

Try to squeeze out any excess starchy water before<br />

placing in a bowl with the onion, thyme, paprika<br />

and flour. Season with salt and pepper.<br />

Fry the chorizo for one to two minutes<br />

until it starts to release its oils. Add the<br />

butter, potato and onion and spread<br />

into a thin layer.<br />

Cook on a medium heat until it starts<br />

to brown, then break up and leave<br />

to brown again. This will take about<br />

8 to 10 minutes.<br />

Make four wells in the potato mixture<br />

and crack in the eggs. Continue cooking<br />

until the whites have just started to set.<br />

Place under a pre-heated grill and cook<br />

until the whites are set.<br />

Garnish with some more<br />

fresh thyme, and serve...<br />

Fiery egg<br />

& spinach<br />

curry SERVES 4<br />

- 8 large eggs<br />

- 1 large onion, sliced<br />

- 1 500ml carton tomato passata<br />

- 3 fresh tomatoes, quartered<br />

- 200ml chicken or vegetable stock<br />

- 150g baby spinach<br />

- Fresh coriander to garnish<br />

- Salt and pepper<br />

For the curry paste:<br />

- 1 onion, roughly peeled and chopped<br />

- 5 cloves of garlic, peeled<br />

- 1 thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled<br />

- 1 red chilli<br />

- 1 tsp cinnamon<br />

- 1 tbsp garam masala<br />

- 1 tsp fennel seeds, crushed<br />

- 1 tsp turmeric<br />

- 2 tbsp vegetable oil<br />

Bring a large pan of water to<br />

a rolling boil and gently add the<br />

eggs. Cook at a simmer for<br />

seven minutes then place the<br />

eggs into a bowl of iced water<br />

to stop the cooking process.<br />

When cool enough to handle,<br />

peel them and set aside.<br />

Place the curry paste ingredients in<br />

a blender along with a small dash of oil<br />

and blitz into a fine paste.<br />

Fry the onion in some oil for three to four<br />

minutes. Add the curry paste and fry for<br />

a further three minutes. Add the passata,<br />

fresh tomato quarters and stock.<br />

Simmer for 10 minutes.<br />

Just before serving, stir through the<br />

spinach until wilted. Season to taste<br />

and add in the halved eggs.<br />

Divide between four bowls, garnish with<br />

fresh coriander and serve up with basmati<br />

rice and naan bread.<br />

20 75<br />

WWW.NICKEDMAGAZINE.COM<br />

Image: © Press Association<br />

Image: © Press Association<br />

Image: © Press Association


WELLBEING<br />

Mind<br />

over<br />

matter...<br />

RETIRED POLICE OFFICER ANDY HEYES<br />

LOST 10 STONE IN SEVEN MONTHS<br />

AFTER DECIDING IT WAS TIME TO MAKE<br />

SOME SERIOUS LIFESTYLE CHANGES.<br />

HERE’S HIS INSPIRATIONAL STORY<br />

OF HOW HE ACHIEVED HIS GOAL.<br />

One sunny morning in August 2013, I walked past an office<br />

block clad with mirrored glass and saw the image of a smartly<br />

dressed man reflected back at me. He walked tall, with confidence<br />

and pride. I smiled at the reflection, before turning away and<br />

continuing my journey. Although the incident lasted just a<br />

few seconds, I have often thought about the experience and<br />

the feelings it generated. Yes, it was my reflection, but the image<br />

was totally unrecognisable from the one that would have been<br />

reflected only seven months earlier - I was 10 stones lighter.<br />

No, it’s not a typographical error and you haven’t misread - I was<br />

140 pounds or 63.5 kilograms lighter than I was in January.<br />

The police service and its extended family has people working<br />

in a variety of demanding roles. Each job presents different<br />

challenges in terms of organisational needs, but also for the<br />

individual and their lifestyle. During your working life you may<br />

stay within the same role or you may choose to move around.<br />

During my police service, for example, I moved from the demands<br />

of working variable shift patterns on operational duties as a PC,<br />

sergeant and custody officer, to more sedentary nine to five<br />

classroom teaching and office duties. It is not difficult when<br />

faced with changes to your role, to focus on the job and<br />

overlook your health and fitness.<br />

Many people have noticed my weight loss, and asked how I<br />

have managed to lose so much so quickly. The brief answer is:<br />

I became a member of Slimming World and I follow its system<br />

of food optimising. However, this only tells part of the story<br />

and, as is often the case; the reality of how I achieved my<br />

goal is a bit more complicated.<br />

“If you always do what you’ve always done, you will always get<br />

what you’ve always got.” has been attributed to a number of<br />

people including Henry Ford and Albert Einstein. Regardless of<br />

its origins its message is clear; to achieve any goal things need to<br />

change. But when this involves changing the habits of a lifetime,<br />

making that change is easier said than done.<br />

ANDY HEYES<br />

MA(Ed), Dip(Ed), Cert(Ed)<br />

is a Fellow of the Institute for<br />

Learning and a Member of<br />

the Chartered Management<br />

Institute. He is director of Aspire<br />

and Tower Ltd. providing life<br />

coaching for individuals and<br />

bespoke learning solutions<br />

to organisations in the public<br />

and private sector.<br />

Time<br />

for a<br />

change<br />

DID YOU MAKE A NEW YEAR<br />

RESOLUTION THIS YEAR?<br />

IF YOU WERE SUCCESSFUL,<br />

WELL DONE, IF NOT, HOW LONG<br />

DID YOU LAST BEFORE YOU<br />

GAVE UP? ACCORDING TO AN<br />

INTERNET STUDY OF 3,000<br />

ADULTS CONDUCTED IN 2012,<br />

ONLY ONE IN FOUR OF THE<br />

RESOLUTIONS MADE BY<br />

THE RESPONDENTS LASTED<br />

LONGER THAN NINE DAYS.<br />

As New Year resolutions normally fail, in January<br />

2013 I rather smugly didn’t set one. Nine days<br />

later, when statistically most people had already<br />

given up, my wife reminded me, “Didn’t you say<br />

that when you retired from the police and you<br />

finished your studies you would lose weight?”<br />

Yes, I had said that and I had meant it. But making<br />

a resolution or having dreams, aspirations,<br />

or goals, and achieving them are not the same.<br />

Your aspirations will remain just that if you don’t<br />

do anything to achieve them, and as time passes<br />

they may become regrets. So in January, having<br />

overindulged on my December birthday and over<br />

Christmas, and having no other excuses, I told<br />

my wife that I was going to keep my word and get<br />

myself fit. By coincidence about that time I went<br />

to a major supermarket to buy some healthy<br />

and not so healthy food. In the foyer there was<br />

a consultant from Slimming World trying to<br />

encourage people to become members.<br />

The support of others is important in achieving<br />

any goal. I therefore decided that the support<br />

from the group may motivate me and, you never<br />

know, they may have a winning formula that<br />

actually works. So on 9th January I attended my<br />

first session. Rather than paying each week, I paid<br />

upfront for 10 weeks, based on the principle that<br />

if I’ve already paid I will be more likely to attend<br />

and as I wouldn’t want to waste my money I would<br />

be more likely to stick to programme.<br />

22<br />

WWW.NICKEDMAGAZINE.COM<br />

TWITTER.COM/NICKEDMAGAZINE<br />

23


WELLBEING<br />

The<br />

blame<br />

game<br />

Isn’t it strange how sometimes we will<br />

defend ourselves and blame everyone or<br />

everything around us rather than face the<br />

truth? Sometimes we become so defensive<br />

that our responses become automatic.<br />

For example, at the Northern Police<br />

Convalescent Home I once overheard a<br />

disgruntled resident who had arrived that<br />

day state, “That’s typical of this place.”<br />

He had never been there before and<br />

therefore had no idea what was or was not<br />

‘typical’; it was probably a phrase that he<br />

used routinely; blaming others was a habit.<br />

24 25<br />

WWW.NICKEDMAGAZINE.COM<br />

FOR A LARGE PORTION OF MY 32 YEAR POLICE CAREER<br />

MY MAIN PRIORITY AS A TUTOR, COACH, MENTOR, TRAINER,<br />

SUPERVISOR, MANAGER, ASSESSOR, AND TRAINING<br />

DESIGNER WAS THE DEVELOPMENT OF OTHERS; BUT IN<br />

JANUARY 2013 I MADE A COMMITMENT TO DEVELOP ME.<br />

I used my work and studies as an excuse for my lack of physical activity and blamed my<br />

lifestyle for my eating habits - so it wasn’t my fault that I gained weight. But of course it<br />

was my fault - life is full of choices and I had willingly made the choices that resulted in<br />

me being double the weight I had been when I joined the police in 1979.<br />

Not only do we play the blame game,<br />

sometimes we pretend that things are better<br />

than they are rather than face the truth. In<br />

2003 I made a number of visits to the force<br />

Occupational Health department. On each<br />

occasion I was weighed and my blood<br />

pressure, pulse etc. were checked, and I was<br />

praised by the medical staff as my weight<br />

decreased slightly each month. In reality, the<br />

first time I was weighed I wore relatively heavy<br />

clothing and filled my pockets with lots of<br />

coins and other heavy items, including old<br />

style truncheon and cuffs (which those of<br />

you old enough will recall were secreted in<br />

specially designed trouser pockets so they<br />

didn’t frighten the public!).<br />

“We have major motorway connections<br />

in our brain and if they’re bad habits,<br />

they’re tough to break”<br />

As the months went by I emptied my<br />

pockets and wore lighter clothes. Each<br />

month I congratulated myself and felt good<br />

at having lost some weight, but the reality<br />

was that much of the weight loss was due<br />

to carrying less on to the scales.<br />

If you’re going to achieve a goal you need to<br />

invest emotionally in it. If you’re a supervisor<br />

setting targets or introducing new legislation<br />

and processes to your staff, you need to<br />

ensure they believe in what you’re doing.<br />

Both of you need to emotionally ‘buy into’<br />

whatever you’re introducing. Previously,<br />

although I knew I needed to lose weight,<br />

there was no emotional investment.<br />

CHANGING THE HABITS<br />

OF A LIFETIME<br />

So how do you change the habits<br />

of a lifetime? Having decided that I was<br />

going to make a lifestyle change, I used the<br />

concepts I had learnt through experience<br />

and academic study of lifelong learning to<br />

enable me to achieve my goal. In essence,<br />

I became my own life coach. It is fair to say<br />

that the ideas and principles I used were<br />

not entirely my own. However, the ideas<br />

presented are my interpretation of other<br />

peoples’ work adapted to my circumstances.<br />

As a police trainer and as a sergeant<br />

I had used the SMART model to<br />

create action plans:<br />

n Specific<br />

n Measurable<br />

n Achievable<br />

n Realistic<br />

n Timed<br />

Although this model is fine for developing<br />

an achievable plan - there is nothing within<br />

it that will ensure it’s achieved. Recent<br />

adaptations of the model include ‘evaluate’<br />

and ‘review’ or ‘re-evaluate’ (were they just<br />

added just so that it would spell SMARTER?),<br />

however, there is still nothing within this<br />

model that encourages an emotional<br />

investment from those involved. Rather than<br />

focussing on plans that may or may not be put<br />

into action I devised a brain-friendly solution.<br />

Not just for weight loss…<br />

THE MIND-OVER-MATTER PRINCIPLES ANDY TALKS<br />

ABOUT NOT ONLY HELP WITH LOSING WEIGHT.<br />

They can also help with:<br />

n improving your fitness<br />

n quitting smoking<br />

RETRAIN YOUR BRAIN<br />

I’m going to keep this simple, so I<br />

apologise in advance to any psychology<br />

or neuroscience experts who may read<br />

this. The brain contains around 100 billion<br />

brain cells (give or take a few billion).<br />

Each brain cell (neuron) is connected to<br />

about 100,000 neighbouring neurons and<br />

to the naked eye they are visible as the<br />

‘grey matter’ of the brain or as Hercule<br />

Poirot would say, “The little grey cells.”<br />

A piece of brain the size of a pinhead<br />

would contain about 60,000 neurons.<br />

When we use our brain, electrical impulses<br />

are sent between connecting neurons<br />

that relate to whatever it is we are doing<br />

or thinking creating a neural pathway.<br />

Imagine for a moment that you are<br />

playing tennis for the first time in your life.<br />

As you hold the racket and hit the ball<br />

your brain creates a new neural pathway<br />

in your brain. The next time you hit the<br />

ball the same connection (or a similar<br />

connection if you hit the ball differently) is<br />

made. It will be no surprise to you that the<br />

more you practice the easier it becomes.<br />

This is because each time you hit the ball<br />

the neural pathway is strengthened. The<br />

playing tennis connection in your brain<br />

becomes stronger and stronger, like<br />

moving from a dirt track to a motorway.<br />

Imagining (or visualising) that you are<br />

hitting the ball makes the same<br />

connections in the brain as doing it for<br />

real. Visualisations are therefore used<br />

by sports psychologists to encourage<br />

sports men and women to imagine<br />

perfection within their sport.<br />

Even just thinking about doing it right<br />

makes the ‘doing it right’ connection in<br />

the brain. Repeatedly visualising positive<br />

actions strengthens the connection until<br />

it becomes an unconscious response.<br />

In other words, you can do it without<br />

thinking about it; it becomes a habit.<br />

n improving sporting techniques<br />

n changing your job or role<br />

The principles described in this article may be relevant to you for a whole host of reasons.<br />

BREAK THOSE BAD HABITS<br />

Bad habits work exactly the same way<br />

because they have major motorway<br />

connections in our brain. We have<br />

programmed ourselves to automatically<br />

do whatever the habit is. Someone once<br />

told me that they had given up smoking<br />

and as they were telling me they were<br />

getting a cigarette out of the packet ready<br />

to smoke it. The conscious mind may be<br />

willing, but the major smoking motorway<br />

connection had put the unconscious mind<br />

on automatic pilot. When you try to break<br />

a bad habit, particularly one you have<br />

had most of your life, you are often<br />

fighting a losing battle. This is because<br />

the bad habit has a motorway connection,<br />

whilst the, “I’m going to give up…”<br />

connection is just a dirt track.<br />

By now you may be thinking I may as<br />

well not bother trying and the chances<br />

are I will fail - not so fast! The more you<br />

practice the positive habit and the less you<br />

reinforce the negative habit, the stronger<br />

the positive habit connection in the brain<br />

becomes and the weaker the negative<br />

habit connection becomes. Also<br />

remember the strength of emotions;<br />

emotional responses are hard-wired<br />

into the brain's circuitry. Charles Darwin<br />

talked about survival of the fittest and<br />

we are survival machines.<br />

As we evolved from reptiles, to mammals,<br />

to humans (when I say ‘we’ I mean<br />

humankind, not me and you, although<br />

I have met a few reptiles in my time!),<br />

emotions played a major part in our<br />

survival. Emotions supercharge the neural<br />

pathways. ‘Fear’ developed to stop our<br />

ancestors from doing things that may<br />

result in their extinction. ‘Pleasure’<br />

developed to encourage us to do the<br />

things that will ensure our survival.<br />

Emotions control our motivation,<br />

learning, and decisions and therefore<br />

influence the choices that we make.<br />

MAKING THE RIGHT CHOICES<br />

Humans are creatures of habit. For me,<br />

the habits built up by a lifetime of unhealthy<br />

eating are still residing in my unconscious<br />

mind. Eight months of making the right<br />

food choices are not enough to rid myself<br />

of the unconscious desire to overeat.<br />

There is a six lane superhighway completed<br />

that has taken all the traffic for a lifetime.<br />

I can’t relax until I make the right choices<br />

without even thinking about it. You hear<br />

people talk about ‘yo-yo’ dieting, where<br />

they lose weight only to put it back on when<br />

they stop dieting. The cycle then repeats<br />

itself all over again. Often these people<br />

state that they have not only put the weight<br />

back on, but now weigh more than ever.<br />

This is because many diets restrict what<br />

you eat until you have lost the weight.<br />

You then revert back to old habits.<br />

Weight loss programmes are successful<br />

when they are based on making healthy<br />

eating choices, rather than banning food<br />

types. Those who have achieved their<br />

target and continue their membership as<br />

target members have more chance of<br />

maintaining their weight, than those who<br />

walk away, because the “I like… (chocolate,<br />

pies, sweets, puddings, beer, etc.)”<br />

motorway is strong. Until you can make<br />

the right choices unconsciously there<br />

is a need to remain focussed and be<br />

supported by likeminded people.<br />

I have always known that for me the most<br />

difficult task will be finding the right balance<br />

in what I eat so that I can maintain my<br />

target weight.<br />

Thomas Edison is often quoted as saying,<br />

“I have not failed. I've just found 10,000<br />

ways that won't work.” but he also once<br />

remarked, “Many of life's failures are people<br />

who did not realise how close they were to<br />

success when they gave up.” As I find that<br />

right balance I anticipate that there will be<br />

weight gains and losses. After all, those of<br />

you lucky enough to be happy with your<br />

weight still experience minor gains and<br />

losses, which over the days, weeks, months<br />

and years balance out. So if I ‘gain’, I have<br />

found a way that doesn’t work, and<br />

provided over time I balance these gains<br />

and losses, I am close to success and<br />

there’s nothing to worry about.<br />

Your aspirations<br />

will remain aspirations<br />

if you don’t do anything<br />

to achieve them, and<br />

as time passes they<br />

may become regrets<br />

FACEBOOK.COM/NICKEDMAGAZINE


HOBBIES<br />

Get your<br />

boots on!<br />

Good for the body and soul, Paul Casey talks<br />

about his passion for the great outdoors.<br />

If you’re up for a bit of an adventure this article<br />

will encourage you to get out and about into<br />

the great British countryside.<br />

PAUL CASEY<br />

Paul retired as a Patrol Sergeant<br />

after 31 years service in a busy<br />

metropolitan force.<br />

Spending his entire service<br />

on front line duties including<br />

postings to the Armed Response<br />

Unit and other specialist<br />

crime departments.<br />

He’s been a keen climber and<br />

photographer since chidlhood.<br />

The Cuillins from<br />

Sligachan, Isle of Skye<br />

Image: © Press Association<br />

26 27<br />

WWW.NICKEDMAGAZINE.COM<br />

TWITTER.COM/NICKEDMAGAZINE


HOBBIES<br />

Spring. I’ve always loved<br />

this time of year.<br />

The world is turning green again after the grey<br />

of winter, the sun is noticeably warmer on the skin<br />

than it was just a month ago, and at last the days<br />

are beginning to draw out for the long run in to<br />

summer, giving you the opportunity to do extra<br />

things with your free time.<br />

Patios are being scrubbed, garden furniture uncovered,<br />

bedding plants ordered, and pub gardens visited.<br />

For me it’s also time to drag the boots out from<br />

under the stairs, find the flask that’s been sat at<br />

the back of a kitchen cupboard, and slap the dust<br />

off the rucksack that’s been hung in the shed<br />

since November.<br />

Well, unless you love your winter walking and have<br />

spent the last few months avoiding floods, rainstorms,<br />

gales, the occasional tornado, and a blizzard or two<br />

in Snowdonia or Scotland.<br />

As someone who has had a lifelong love of the<br />

outdoors - a factor that probably kept me on front<br />

line duties for my entire service - it would be easy to<br />

write an article about how marvellous it is, drop the<br />

locations of some good pubs to visit after a day’s walk<br />

or climb, print some pretty pictures from a couple<br />

of my greatest adventures and move onto the next<br />

issue. But that would be too easy wouldn’t it.<br />

Personally, I enjoy getting onto the mountains as it’s<br />

a chance to get out of the big city for a day or two to<br />

experience the quiet and the scenery. It’s also the<br />

opportunity to get some exercise (strenuous if it’s a<br />

steep climb to a summit) plus the chance to pursue one<br />

of the other great passions of my life, photography.<br />

But walking isn’t all about mountains…<br />

Did you know?<br />

- brisk walking helps<br />

reduce body fat, lower<br />

blood pressure, and<br />

increase high-density<br />

lipoprotein.<br />

A wealth of walks<br />

We may inhabit a small group of islands but we have<br />

the good fortune to have access to a rich resource of<br />

open and beautiful countryside that can take you along<br />

river valleys, across remote dales and moorland, along<br />

huge swaths of magnificent coastline, and over high<br />

mountains, some with peaks easily achieved, some<br />

requiring a degree of experience and expertise.<br />

Brotherswater,<br />

Lake District<br />

And that’s just the countryside. Most of the big cities have spent time and money<br />

creating urban pathways, cycle routes and heritage walks, so it doesn’t always<br />

have to be a 6am alarm call to get out to somewhere worthwhile.<br />

A lot of people pass up the opportunity to<br />

start walking and climbing as they consider<br />

‘getting out there’ as something that requires<br />

elaborate planning, the spending of a small<br />

fortune on boots, waterproofs, maps and all<br />

the other paraphernalia you might need.<br />

That’s not always the case because a good<br />

set of boots and a waterproof jacket can<br />

frequently be found at a discount ‘end of<br />

season’ sale at most of the national and<br />

local climbing/walking stores. You just might<br />

have to tolerate being seen afoot wearing<br />

winter 2013 lime green! Yet I‘ve always<br />

found that once you break through that<br />

barrier and discover how easy it is, you will<br />

unlock some realistic and enjoyable options<br />

to spend some time away from the hustle<br />

and bustle of work. After all, how frequently<br />

do you hear mention from colleagues<br />

as to how busy we all are, how we don’t<br />

always have time to unwind and get<br />

some exercise, or just to get away<br />

from the ‘job’ for a bit.<br />

Now let’s assume that you’ve managed<br />

to dismiss all the excuses and doubts<br />

and want to start to explore.<br />

Some of you reading this article may<br />

already be experienced walkers or climbers,<br />

and maybe one or two have anonymously<br />

bumped into the author while traversing<br />

The Cuillins on Skye, wandering through<br />

fog on the Pennine Way, or exchanging<br />

a nod and ‘hello’ while plodding along the<br />

Pembrokeshire Coastal path on a<br />

sweltering summer’s day.<br />

28 29<br />

WWW.NICKEDMAGAZINE.COM<br />

Given that the<br />

world is about 25,000<br />

miles in circumference<br />

and that the average<br />

walking rate is 3 miles<br />

per hour, it would take a<br />

person walking non-stop<br />

approx 347 days to<br />

walk around<br />

the world.<br />

FACEBOOK.COM/NICKEDMAGAZINE


HOBBIES<br />

Snowdon Horseshoe,<br />

North Wales<br />

Safety<br />

Survival Bag - Available at<br />

any ‘outdoor’ retailer. A survival<br />

bag is simply a strong, lightweight<br />

bag made from a tough plastic<br />

material usually orange in<br />

colour that is designed to reduce<br />

the loss of body heat in an<br />

emergency. It can also act<br />

as a hi-viz distress signal,<br />

and an emergency<br />

shelter.<br />

Explore...<br />

FIND FANTASTIC WALKS<br />

AND TRAILS ONLINE<br />

Walking in Scotland www.visitscotland.com<br />

/see-do/activities/walking<br />

Walk Northern Ireland www.walkni.com<br />

Walking holidays in Wales www.visitwales.com<br />

/things-to-do/activities/walking-hiking<br />

Walking Britain www.walkingbritain.co.uk<br />

Walk England www.walkengland.org.uk<br />

National Trails www.nationaltrail.co.uk<br />

Do you have a favourite walk or ramble?<br />

Know of a unique and special route and want<br />

to share it with other readers? Drop us a line<br />

at <strong>NiCKED</strong> HQ and you could be the author<br />

of a future article... we may even send our<br />

photographer out with you for the day.<br />

So how do<br />

you get started?<br />

Well, let’s<br />

begin with:<br />

MOTIVATION<br />

Walking is an ideal pastime. It’s something<br />

you can do at the drop of a hat; with the<br />

family; with a friend or group of friends;<br />

with the dog. It gets you fit, gets you to<br />

places you’ve probably never seen before,<br />

and if you exceed your expectations and<br />

get to the top of a difficult or challenging<br />

peak, or finish that 20-mile trek across<br />

Dartmoor, will leave you with a real<br />

sense of achievement.<br />

A lot of forces have their own climbing club<br />

or society that will generally have a section<br />

that is dedicated to walking/rambling, but<br />

will let you evolve onto climbing if you fancy<br />

a go. Seek them out and join. Some of<br />

them already have kit discount agreements<br />

with major outdoor chains.<br />

FITNESS<br />

What I’ll never do is encourage you put this magazine down, pull on your trainers, leap<br />

into the car and head off into the great unknown to start a 35 mile yomp, or do a three<br />

peak challenge if you’re not up to it. Of course any form of exercise will be good for you,<br />

and no doubt the readership will have varying degrees of fitness that starts you further<br />

up the ladder of exertion than others. As many a mountain rescue team member<br />

will advise: never overextend yourself physically. Build up to it by improving your all<br />

round fitness. It won’t take much and as soon as you’re competent, that fitness will<br />

develop quite quickly allowing you to go further and/or higher.<br />

KIT<br />

Once you’ve decided you’re going to give<br />

it a go visit some of your local outdoor<br />

pursuit shops and price out some kit. A lot<br />

of people nowadays try stuff on for fit<br />

and comfort, and if the shop can’t be<br />

competitive in price they go home and<br />

source the stuff online from the likes<br />

of Amazon or e-bay.<br />

Usually, you will be looking for good<br />

functional footwear - it doesn’t always<br />

have to be top of the range boots at £299.<br />

You can buy decent waterproof boots<br />

for £70-£100 that will always double<br />

up as casual wear.<br />

The same applies to clothing. Always seek<br />

out a functional coat, a pair of over-trousers,<br />

and a decent set of gloves and a good hat,<br />

(preferably woolly) that can be used in<br />

inclement weather. Like with boots, most<br />

coats nowadays are multifunctional and<br />

can be used for day-to-day wear rather<br />

than an expensive wardrobe filler that’s<br />

only used when out in the countryside.<br />

You may also need a rucksack to store<br />

the inevitable camera, flask, food, map,<br />

compass, mobile phone (with spare battery),<br />

spare clothing first aid kit, iPod, sun cream,<br />

car keys... It doesn’t need to be a 80 litre<br />

monster designed to get you across the<br />

Himalayas - a good quality 15 litre rucksack<br />

is usually fine for most days out.<br />

MFH (MISSING FROM HOME)<br />

To avoid the embarrassment of having<br />

yourself all over the local or national news,<br />

and perhaps more seriously to ensure you<br />

really do get from A to B, you need to buy<br />

yourself a map and compass and learn how to<br />

use them. It’s not rocket science, and can be<br />

another little skill you can take pride in learning.<br />

More importantly it can save your life.<br />

We have become a society where the<br />

reliability of technology is taken for granted.<br />

Even the smallest of mobile phones can now<br />

use satellite signals to position you down to<br />

the nearest grid reference. This is all well and<br />

good for a stroll along the canal, but when you<br />

are out on the hills or deep into the countryside<br />

and the battery in your faithful never-beenunreliable-before<br />

phone battery decides to<br />

go to sleep - and it will – you’ll need a backup.<br />

The modern hand-held GPS systems are for<br />

the aficionado only as they begin at £150 for a<br />

basic model. These units are better than your<br />

phone because they are usually quite robust<br />

and weather sealed. I have one, but always<br />

carry a decent compass, which I bought for<br />

less than £5 on Amazon, together with a good<br />

Ordinance Survey map of the area you’re<br />

planning to visit for about £10-£12. For a<br />

little extra you can buy laminated maps<br />

which are ideal for use in wet weather.<br />

If you are ever planning on going anywhere<br />

difficult or remote I recommend doing so<br />

with someone else who has some outdoor<br />

experience and knows how to use a map<br />

and compass. Always remember to let<br />

someone know your route and an estimated<br />

time of arrival at your destination. Over<br />

the years I’ve taken plenty of reports from<br />

anxious relatives reporting missing or<br />

overdue walkers that have usually resolved<br />

themselves by the local police finding the<br />

forgetful ‘misper’ sat in the pub with a look<br />

of mystified innocence on their face.<br />

WALK ALONE<br />

OR WITH A GROUP?<br />

People go walking for lots of different reasons.<br />

Some love the solitude of walking alone<br />

across hill and dale, while others wouldn’t<br />

think of heading out unless accompanied<br />

by a companion. Walking in solitude has lots<br />

of benefits to the individual and is a choice<br />

most people make from time to time, myself<br />

included. But sometimes being part of an<br />

organised group has its advantages, not<br />

least of which is that there is generally a mix<br />

of experienced and competent walkers from<br />

whom knowledge and wisdom is dispensed.<br />

The police service has always had people<br />

who organise climbing or rambling clubs as<br />

part of the sports and social organisations.<br />

Ask around to see who runs one in your<br />

force area. Apart from my own experiences<br />

during my service, I know that there are lots<br />

of small groups of walkers including police<br />

officers, CSOs and support staff who meet<br />

up at the police station over a coffee and<br />

arrange to meet on a ‘rest day’ and head off<br />

into the mountains, or for an overnighter to<br />

the Lake District or Dartmoor, or wherever<br />

it takes their fancy. It’s also a great tool for<br />

teambuilding and cementing the trust you<br />

have for one another during work time.<br />

ENJOYMENT<br />

Remember, if you manage to get yourself<br />

into the great outdoors, ENJOY IT.<br />

Most of the country and its scenery are<br />

free for you to explore and wander over.<br />

Go experience it. Breathe some fresh air;<br />

get some exercise for the body and<br />

some calm for the soul...<br />

Coming up in the next issue...<br />

30 ‘Getting out there’. Over the coming issues we will visit every corner of the British Isles looking for those special walks and places of<br />

31<br />

WWW.NICKEDMAGAZINE.COM<br />

interest we would love to recommend. <strong>Issue</strong> #2 features Snowdonia, high and low routes, accommodation and places to eat and stay.


HEALTH & FITNESS<br />

A shift in the<br />

right direction<br />

PERSONAL TRAINER, PAUL HERBERT,<br />

GIVES US HIS EXPERT GUIDE ON HOW<br />

TO DEAL WITH EXERCISE AND NUTRITION<br />

WHILST DOING SHIFT WORK.<br />

We all know being a police officer can be a demanding<br />

(albeit rewarding) role, but add shift work into the<br />

mix and you’ll have all sorts of extra pressures.<br />

There’s the obvious sleep pattern disruption,<br />

but what about diet and fitness?<br />

Sometimes coping with actual shift hours<br />

can be as difficult, if not more so, than<br />

the job at hand. Health and fitness<br />

expert Paul Herbert met with <strong>NiCKED</strong><br />

magazine’s roaming Deputy Editor<br />

Brinsley Bailey and shared some advice<br />

on diet and fitness and how it can help<br />

with the demands of shift work.<br />

PAUL HERBERT<br />

Paul Herbert is a former GB athlete<br />

who competed at 800m against<br />

the likes of Sebastian Coe,<br />

Steve Cram, Steve Ovett and<br />

Peter Elliot. At 21 years old, he was<br />

UK champion and 25th fastest in<br />

the world with a time of 1:45.<br />

After a successful athletics career,<br />

Paul decided health and fitness<br />

was the way to go and he<br />

created Body Transformations.<br />

His company in Abbots Langley,<br />

Hertfordshire works with people<br />

from various backgrounds from<br />

sedentary to athlete. Some of his<br />

high profile clients have included<br />

Kym Marsh (Coronation Street),<br />

Penny Malory (TV presenter)<br />

and Martin Kove (Karate Kid).<br />

Only have a few<br />

minutes to spare?<br />

If you’re looking for a quick workout,<br />

old school bodyweight exercises like<br />

press-ups and wall-sits are always good.<br />

You can challenge yourself by recording your<br />

results and aim to beat the same figure<br />

throughout the week, which in itself<br />

can become a routine.<br />

It’s all about assessing the time you<br />

have - if you can only spare 10 minutes<br />

you can still get a real quality workout and<br />

it can be done on a daily basis.<br />

Even if you can only grab a spare<br />

5 minutes, at least you’re<br />

doing something.<br />

Quick tips<br />

for the gym<br />

1<br />

Always warm up/stretch<br />

2<br />

Focus on your breathing<br />

3<br />

Be mentally involved<br />

in the exercise<br />

Q&A<br />

Q:How important is nutrition<br />

in day-to-day life?<br />

A:It’s so important because if you’re<br />

moving around all day you need to<br />

supplement those spent calories by<br />

putting the right calories back in. Having<br />

good balanced nutrition is vital but a lot<br />

of people focus on not having too many<br />

carbohydrates. If you’re active, the<br />

most important thing is to have those<br />

carbohydrates. I always advise my clients<br />

to replace the calories they burn otherwise<br />

your body will go into something called<br />

ketosis, which creates a sudden drop of<br />

energy levels. Making sure nutrition is on<br />

point is always the most important thing.<br />

Q:When is the best time to exercise?<br />

A:My clients ask me this question a<br />

lot and I always recommended that they<br />

should exercise at the best time for them.<br />

There’s no optimum time to exercise -<br />

some people prefer to train in the morning,<br />

and some people prefer to train in the<br />

evening. You have to know what suits YOU<br />

best. If you’ve just done a long shift, do a<br />

15-minute blast session depending on the<br />

type of exercise you prefer. For example, if<br />

you prefer running, start with a walk and<br />

gradually build into a run and, if you want to,<br />

do some light stretches in the middle. If you<br />

prefer bodyweight exercises again start<br />

slowly and build the intensity gradually.<br />

Q:What are some common mistakes<br />

that can hinder your exercise?<br />

A:Not having the correct breathing<br />

technique. In order for the blood to go<br />

round your system once, it takes roughly<br />

23 seconds and if your breathing goes out<br />

of sync this process takes longer. If this<br />

occurs then you go into oxygen debt,<br />

which causes you to get dizzy, as the blood<br />

takes longer to get back to your brain.<br />

Keeping the process in sync through a<br />

correct breathing technique is very<br />

important. Also, it’s important when you’re<br />

exercising to ‘be in the moment.’ If you’re<br />

about to perform a squat for example, you<br />

should be working on your core muscles<br />

that support the movement and you must<br />

be 100% focused on making your upper<br />

and lower body work together. It’s amazing<br />

when you walk into a gym and you see<br />

people who are not focused on what they<br />

are doing. You can tell they’re thinking<br />

about what’s going to be on TV later rather<br />

than thinking about the exercise they’re<br />

doing. I always tell my clients that if they<br />

get mentally involved in the exercise, their<br />

body shape will change more quickly.<br />

Q:What type of problems does<br />

shift work produce?<br />

A:Shift work affects your appetite and<br />

when it comes to exercise, this can mean<br />

energy levels fluctuate. Often this is based<br />

on diet as many people eat the wrong foods<br />

on shift work and this has a direct effect on<br />

their energy levels. Generally, food grabbed<br />

‘on the go’ is loaded with carbohydrates<br />

and when you eat these foods you become<br />

full quickly, but you also become empty<br />

really quickly as well. I often encourage<br />

people who are on shift work to plan ahead.<br />

Preparing nutritious food to take to work<br />

means you know what you’re going to eat<br />

and there’s less chance you’ll make the<br />

decision to eat unhealthy fast food.<br />

With regards to exercise, you need to work<br />

out how many times a week you are able<br />

to train, what you are going to do in your<br />

workout and how much time you have.<br />

Remember to factor in cool down time and<br />

a shower etc. Be realistic and bear in mind,<br />

something is better than nothing!<br />

Q:Which foods should<br />

shift workers avoid?<br />

A:We all know the foods we should be<br />

avoiding… high fat takeaways, and foods<br />

loaded with sugar. I also advise to keep<br />

clear of any food high in carbohydrates,<br />

and definitely processed foods. Avoid<br />

overloading on bread and chips, anything<br />

like that will work against you and deplete<br />

energy levels rather than lift them. Meal<br />

replacement can work, for example: if you<br />

like burgers, instead of having a takeaway,<br />

plan your meal beforehand and have a<br />

Quorn burger with salad on a granary bagel<br />

or small wholemeal roll. This way, it’s like<br />

having a takeaway burger but you’re eating<br />

a healthier version. Sweet potatoes have<br />

a low GI (Glycemic Index) and you can use<br />

that to make baked fries which you can<br />

reheat at work.<br />

Q:‘Grazing’ is a term often heard<br />

in health and fitness circles. What are<br />

the benefits of this technique and<br />

can it be applied to shift work?<br />

A:Grazing is when you don’t have your<br />

main meal but have smaller meals instead<br />

as a snack. This method of eating is based<br />

around the core meals of breakfast, lunch<br />

and dinner and occurs either side of your<br />

lunch. For someone who does shift work,<br />

grazing is perfect. If you’re on a shift<br />

pattern that misses breakfast or (other)<br />

another key meal, you can graze on fruit,<br />

nuts or seeds, which will sustain your<br />

energy levels. I encourage people to graze<br />

because it allows you to keep energy levels<br />

up and stops you from losing the calories<br />

you need to sustain a full shift of work.<br />

However, avoid grazing on sweets because<br />

these will take your sugar level up and<br />

reduce your energy level.<br />

32 33<br />

WWW.NICKEDMAGAZINE.COM


HEALTH & FITNESS<br />

Key nutrition<br />

1<br />

Healthy carbohydrates: rice,<br />

sweet potato, quinoa etc.<br />

2<br />

Quality protein: lean chicken, turkey<br />

and occasionally red meat<br />

3<br />

Fats: nuts such as almonds<br />

and Brazil nuts<br />

4<br />

Oily fish: salmon, mackerel,<br />

herring etc.<br />

Q:Energy drinks are often used to help<br />

people stay alert, particularly on shift<br />

work. Are there any natural alternatives<br />

that can provide the same boost?<br />

A:The key thing to start with is water -<br />

being hydrated helps keep your energy levels<br />

up. There is a misconception about water as<br />

you will often hear people say that you should<br />

drink 2 litres per day, but this isn’t necessarily<br />

the case. Recent studies show there are other<br />

things you drink throughout the day such as<br />

tea and coffee, which also go towards your<br />

water intake. Food also contains water which<br />

will form part of your intake and fruit provides<br />

a really good boost to your energy levels.<br />

Also, the great thing about fruit is that you’ll<br />

use it as part of energy but it won’t take your<br />

sugar level up too quickly. The kind of things<br />

that hinder people’s performances the most<br />

are the sugary fizzy drinks and even the<br />

energy ones marketed as being ‘healthy.<br />

One of the most popular ‘energy’ drinks<br />

has18 teaspoons of sugar in one bottle<br />

– it’s obviously not going to do you much<br />

good. Your intake also has to be relative to<br />

what type of sport or activity you are doing.<br />

If someone’s running a marathon I would<br />

recommend an energy drink, however,<br />

for someone who works out in the gym<br />

and is burning fewer calories, I would<br />

recommend water. Or if they need an<br />

energy boost I would suggest a 50/50<br />

mix of pure orange juice and water.<br />

Q:Protein shakes are very popular<br />

nowadays. Would you recommend them?<br />

And if so, what do you take and when?<br />

A:I do promote the use of protein shakes<br />

but it’s important not to over do them as<br />

it can mess with your digestive system.<br />

I wouldn’t suggest relying on these shakes,<br />

as it is best to vary your food. On a shortterm<br />

basis however they can be used as a<br />

meal replacement but if you decide to take<br />

it every morning for example, add oats and<br />

nuts so it becomes a better breakfast and a<br />

more complete meal. Ideally, take no more<br />

than two shakes maximum per day but again<br />

that depends on how many calories you<br />

consume in a day and your activity levels.<br />

Q:What advice can you give to people<br />

who are looking to lose weight through<br />

training as well as maintain fitness?<br />

A:Training type is key here. If someone<br />

goes out for a run five or six times a week<br />

without any resistance work then they will<br />

lose muscle tissue. But if you incorporate a<br />

resistance programme, using bodyweight<br />

exercises at home such as press-ups and<br />

squats or at the gym using equipment like<br />

the shoulder press, Olympic lifts, deadlifts<br />

etc. along with the cardiovascular exercises,<br />

you can get the best of both worlds and<br />

drop body fat whilst increasing muscles<br />

tissue at the same time.<br />

Q:Are there any health supplements<br />

you would recommend?<br />

A:It all depends on what you’re looking to<br />

achieve but I do recommend taking a multi<br />

-vitamin per day. However, if you eat a well<br />

balanced diet you probably won’t need any<br />

extra supplements. If you’re trying to increase<br />

your weight or burn body-fat, Casein powder<br />

(a milk protein) can be taken before you go to<br />

bed. This prevents too much protein being<br />

lost whilst sleeping as your body goes without<br />

food for several hours. I use the Casein with<br />

healthy peanut butter, just to add to the extra<br />

protein. Branched chain amino acids (BCAA)<br />

help the process of building muscles and<br />

replace the loss of amino acids from your<br />

system. Essential fatty acids are also important<br />

and are something that can be taken via<br />

supplements or obtained naturally through<br />

eating fish. Also, at every meal you should try<br />

and have some fat. There is a stigma towards<br />

fat and people automatically think it’s bad but<br />

it’s important to have healthy fats in your diet.<br />

Q:What’s the ‘top-tip’ people should<br />

try to remember?<br />

A:As a personal trainer, people always tell<br />

me what they eat but I guarantee it’s never<br />

accurate and only half the story. My top tip<br />

is simple. Be honest with yourself, work<br />

hard and work safe. If you’re honest with<br />

yourself, the results will come.<br />

Elaine Watson<br />

Mobile - 07962595855<br />

Email Address - elainejwatson@utilitywarehouse.org.uk<br />

Web Address - www.ShrinkYourBills.org.uk<br />

34<br />

Want to know more?<br />

Email Paul at enquiries@bodytransformations.co.uk<br />

or visit www.bodytransformations.co.uk


HEALTH & FITNESS<br />

BREAKFAST<br />

Mackerel with scrambled eggs<br />

and a slice of wholemeal toast<br />

or Porridge (water or skimmed<br />

milk) with a scoop of protein (30g<br />

Women/45g Men) with almonds<br />

(6-8 Women/ Men 10-12)<br />

GRAZING SNACK<br />

Protein Shake (made with water)<br />

with Peanut Butter on a slice<br />

of Ryvita<br />

LUNCH<br />

Quinoua or Basmati Rice (Low GI)<br />

with any lean turkey or chicken<br />

GRAZING SNACK<br />

Protein bar or cookie (make sure<br />

it has < 8.5g sugar per 100g)<br />

or Rye bread with Quark cheese,<br />

lean ham, cucumber and lettuce<br />

DINNER<br />

Any lean meat with half regular<br />

serving of sweet potato (low GI)<br />

and a large portion of leafy<br />

green vegetables<br />

DRINKS<br />

Water (add half a squeezed<br />

lemon and a capful of fruit squash<br />

to break the monotony).<br />

KEY TIPS<br />

• Preparation is key. If you don’t<br />

prepare, it is very likely that<br />

you’ll stray.<br />

• Experiment with different herbs<br />

and spices (dry powder) with<br />

the lean meat to add variety<br />

to your meals.<br />

THE 30-MINUTE WORKOUT<br />

The workout plan is based on the concept of Peripheral Heart<br />

Action (PHA), which was brought into the fore of the exercise world<br />

by Bob Gajda (Former Mr America & Mr Universe). PHA works<br />

various muscle groups in a single workout. This 30-minute workout<br />

programme focuses on the upper body and lower body alternately<br />

causing your body to work harder overall.<br />

Chest stretch, back stretch,<br />

calf stretch and quad stretch<br />

THE WORKOUT<br />

A maximum of five sets for the circuit but<br />

you should base it on your fitness levels:<br />

Beginners: 2 sets<br />

Intermediate: 3 sets<br />

Advanced: 4 sets<br />

Depending on your conditioning,<br />

rest between each exercise for:<br />

Beginners: 60 seconds<br />

Intermediate: 30 seconds<br />

Advanced: no rest<br />

WARM-UP: Spend a short time warming<br />

up and stretching off before beginning<br />

any exercise. Fig 1<br />

PRESS-UPS: (16-20 reps) Keep head in line<br />

with the spine and avoid locking your elbows.<br />

Also make sure the stomach is tucked in to<br />

stabilise the core. Fig 2<br />

Fig 1<br />

Fig 1<br />

STRETCHES<br />

Before and after the workout it is important to stretch the<br />

upper and lower body; specifically the chest, calf, quads, and back.<br />

Always remember to keep your head in line with your spine by<br />

looking forward. Tense the abdomen to stabilise your core and<br />

have slightly bent knees to take pressure off your joints.<br />

Fig 1<br />

Fig 2<br />

Fig 1<br />

Fig 2<br />

Paul Herbert<br />

The food plan<br />

This programme is designed to keep your<br />

body on a regular pattern each week even if<br />

your shifts change. You can eat these foods<br />

at anytime as long as it works with your<br />

specific schedule. Don’t feel forced<br />

to follow conventional eating times,<br />

simply view food as what it is… food.<br />

SQUATS: (16 -20 reps) Make sure that your<br />

knees don’t go over your toes and lean forward<br />

slightly, keeping your back straight while in the<br />

seated position. Breath in when you go down<br />

and out when you go up. If you want to make the<br />

exercise harder you can use dumbbells. Fig 3<br />

SPLIT-SQUATS: (16-20 reps each side)<br />

Keep the feet stationary throughout the<br />

exercise with your front foot flat and back<br />

heel up. Back straight with head in line with<br />

the spine looking forward. The lower yourself<br />

to the floor directly down with your back<br />

knee an inch away from the floor. Fig 4<br />

PIKE PUSH UP: (16-20 reps) Start in regular<br />

press up position and then walk your feet<br />

forward until your body forms a V shape.<br />

Keep your knees slightly bent and avoid<br />

locking your elbows. Fig 5<br />

Fig 3<br />

Fig 5<br />

Fig 3<br />

Fig 5<br />

Fig 4<br />

Fig 6<br />

All that matters is that your meal has<br />

a balance of fats, carbohydrates and<br />

proteins that can fuel your body.<br />

SINGLE ARM ROW: (16-20 reps each side)<br />

Both knees are bent but back is flat with<br />

a stance similar to cutting a piece of wood<br />

on a bench. Fig 6<br />

WARM-DOWN: After completing any form of<br />

exercise, spend some time cooling down, and<br />

doing some light post exercise stretches. Fig 1<br />

REMEMBER: If you are carrying an injury, or it has been a long time since you have<br />

done any exercise seek medical advice before attempting these exercises.<br />

36 37<br />

WWW.NICKEDMAGAZINE.COM<br />

FACEBOOK.COM/NICKEDMAGAZINE


BUSINESS<br />

Carving a<br />

career after<br />

policing<br />

WHEN PETER FARRINGTON HAD TO TAKE<br />

EARLY RETIREMENT FROM THE POLICE SERVICE,<br />

HE KNEW HE HAD A LOT MORE TO GIVE.<br />

HERE HE OFFERS SOME GREAT ADVICE ON<br />

HOW TO BUILD A CAREER AFTER POLICING.<br />

After leaving school in June, by August<br />

I found myself joining the police service<br />

as a 16-year-old cadet. Being rapidly<br />

assimilated into the institution that is the<br />

police family, I found almost all my friends<br />

were now employed by the police.<br />

Although I knew from the beginning what<br />

I was getting into, the actual reality of a life<br />

on shifts, which precluded me from many<br />

of the things most people take for granted,<br />

began to hit home. Family events; maintaining<br />

my football season ticket; carrying out<br />

hobbies and pastimes in mainstream society<br />

- all had to take a back seat in my social<br />

priorities. I was a police officer now, part<br />

of that bigger family that often met in the<br />

middle of the night, early on weekend<br />

mornings or on sunny midweek afternoons.<br />

Booking annual leave now involved intricate<br />

and complex negotiations involving shift<br />

rotas, line managers, and the vagaries of your<br />

colleagues’ personal circumstances. I didn’t<br />

eat at ‘normal’ times anymore, and would<br />

rarely get home on time. Long-standing<br />

engagements weren’t honoured because<br />

I was ‘dealing’ with something, or someone,<br />

else. And mid week lie-ins on my rest days<br />

were a rarity because an inconveniently<br />

delivered court warning often beckoned.<br />

We’ve all been there… We become ‘dyed<br />

in the wool cops’. We knew our life and saw<br />

the years of service stretching away into<br />

the distance like some desert highway.<br />

Unfortunately, the flow of your career can<br />

sometimes be cut short, and after 23 years<br />

of enjoyable and fulfilling police service I had<br />

an unexpected and unwelcome exit and<br />

woke one morning to find myself in receipt<br />

of a pension following my discharge on<br />

health grounds. Well OK, I might not have<br />

been able to carry out the entire portfolio<br />

of police work (if I ever was) but I was<br />

certainly young enough, and keen enough,<br />

to do some sort of fulfilling work – but what?<br />

Bills still had to be paid, mortgage payments<br />

met, and food for the family bought.<br />

Where to go from here?<br />

People usually respond to such circumstances in one of two<br />

ways. Not being the type to panic, I started by weighing up<br />

what my ‘employable’ attributes and skill sets were.<br />

The police had spent a considerable amount of time, money<br />

and effort teaching me to drive cars expertly, investigate crime<br />

efficiently, talk to people with economy; to listen, interpret and<br />

act on information boldly and assertively, without fear or favour.<br />

I could undertake surveillance without being detected; knew a<br />

lot about the intricacies of the law, and about the causes and<br />

consequences of criminality, and dishonesty. I was well versed in<br />

police procedures; reading and writing reports; and had lots of<br />

friends and acquaintances; all introduced to me by the police<br />

service. As a newly ‘retired’ detective it was an obvious career<br />

choice for me to become a self-employed investigator.<br />

However, setting it up as a business was to prove a challenge,<br />

both professionally and personally.<br />

Having determined my future lay on the self-employed business<br />

route, I had a ‘eureka’ moment when it dawned on me that I had<br />

always calculated things in pounds and pence. How much overtime,<br />

how big a pay rise, how much is a bill, what is my net pay? Rule one<br />

– forget that altogether. It is an equation you can never balance.<br />

The commodity of life outside the police is ‘time’ so I am now<br />

a time salesman – I sell my time to different people for different<br />

prices depending on a few obvious but important factors:<br />

n How difficult is the task?<br />

n How much do I like or dislike this type of work?<br />

n What resources are required?<br />

n How long will it take?<br />

n How regularly will I be doing this?<br />

Have I lost you yet? In summary – do not use your police salary as<br />

a yardstick. It is irrelevant to your new circumstances, and will rarely<br />

achieve an immediate equivalent in your new career. Of course<br />

your pension helps, but unless you’ve paid off your mortgage it<br />

will never amount to much compared to your police salary.<br />

Here’s a simple fact: in the police you can be the hardest working<br />

officer from your section, department, or force, but you will be<br />

paid (overtime excluded) exactly the same as the least productive<br />

colleague. No matter what happens, your monthly salary will be<br />

much the same as the last one, and for that matter, the next one.<br />

You do one job and get one rate of pay. But now I don’t - I do lots of<br />

different jobs. Imagine your life in the police if you were to be paid<br />

piecemeal. £X for taking a crime report, £Y for dealing with sudden<br />

death and £Z for supervising somebody else to do either X or Y.<br />

That is how it is for me nowadays.<br />

PETER<br />

FARRINGTON<br />

Peter Farrington is managing director<br />

of Probe Investigations (UK) Ltd, which<br />

was given the impressive accolade of an<br />

ISO:9001 award for quality management.<br />

The company is proud to be the first<br />

business in the UK to be successfully<br />

assessed at BS102000 level for its<br />

provision of investigative services.<br />

Peter is also a member of World<br />

Association of Detectives (WAD);<br />

Ex Police in Commerce (EPIC) and<br />

Association of British Investigators (ABI).<br />

Other achievements include:<br />

n 2009/10 Vice President, Association<br />

of British Investigators<br />

n 2010 Probe Investigations (UK) Ltd<br />

– awarded Merseyside Crime Stopper<br />

of the Year<br />

n 2011 Formation of specialist process<br />

serving business www.pdqprocess.co.uk<br />

n 2013 Formation of Probe Concierge<br />

and Security Services Ltd<br />

www.probesecurityservices.com<br />

38<br />

Visit www.probeuk.com or call<br />

0845 520 7777 for more information.<br />

39<br />

WWW.NICKEDMAGAZINE.COM


BUSINESS<br />

40<br />

Top tips<br />

for success<br />

WHEN I TOOK RETIREMENT<br />

AND STARTED MY COMPANY<br />

I HAD PLENTY OF COMMON<br />

SENSE AND DETERMINATION,<br />

BUT ABSOLUTELY NO BUSINESS<br />

ACUMEN WHATSOEVER.<br />

However, apart from the ability to work<br />

with self confidence and self reliance<br />

the police service equipped me with the<br />

discipline to work through problems<br />

logically and methodically.<br />

So that’s what I did. I applied myself to the<br />

task at hand and have built a company that<br />

utilises my skills and attributes yet at the<br />

same time rewards me personally and<br />

financially. I am regularly approached by<br />

colleagues coming up to retirement for advice<br />

about starting up a business. They don’t<br />

want to waste all that training and<br />

experience just because the first earning<br />

phase of their life has come to an end.<br />

My advice is always the same and usually<br />

involves most, if not all, of the following:<br />

1. Research and engage a reputable and<br />

cost-effective accountant. Your tax affairs<br />

are very different now and the accountant<br />

will be your equivalent of the police pay<br />

department.<br />

2. Set up a business bank account.<br />

Most high street banks offer free banking<br />

to new businesses and offer all sorts of<br />

helpful advice to guide you through initial<br />

financing and setup costs.<br />

3. Consider whether you want to<br />

trade as limited company.<br />

There are pros and cons to doing so,<br />

but overall my preference is to protect my<br />

personal assets and keep my business<br />

separate from my private affairs by<br />

operating two limited companies.<br />

4. Obtain professional insurance cover.<br />

Whatever business you decide to establish,<br />

you are human and therefore liable to make<br />

a mistake at some point. Professional<br />

Indemnity Insurance is an absolute must.<br />

If you have premises that the public<br />

visits or an exposure to risk from public<br />

interaction then you should check out<br />

Public Liability insurance.<br />

5. Advertise. Potential clients or customers<br />

won’t find you unless you position signposts.<br />

The internet can frequently be the best<br />

place for placing advertisements, but also<br />

consider entries in business directories,<br />

trade exhibitions, networking events or<br />

magazines, where a suitable circulation<br />

is present for your target market.<br />

WWW.NICKEDMAGAZINE.COM<br />

6. Compliance. In your particular business,<br />

you might have to comply with specific<br />

laws. For example, I have had to notify<br />

The Information Commissioner for Data<br />

Protection purposes, and I am required to<br />

hold a Consumer Credit Licence and SIA<br />

Licence for aspects of my work.<br />

7. Communications. You will need to deal<br />

with telephone accounts, domain names,<br />

fax numbers and postal services. Social<br />

media is an important tool these days and<br />

most businesses operate Twitter, LinkedIn<br />

and Facebook pages. Consider using a<br />

PO Box address or a ‘virtual office’ address<br />

if you’re working from home.<br />

8. Professional memberships. In your<br />

new career, you may benefit from joining<br />

a professional body. I certainly learnt<br />

a tremendous amount by becoming a<br />

member of The Association of British<br />

Investigators, The World Association<br />

of Detectives, and EPIC (Ex Police in<br />

Commerce). This is your new ‘Federation’.<br />

9. Contacts. Stay in touch with people.<br />

The friends you made during your service<br />

are very valuable to you socially. It can be a<br />

lonely environment setting up a business,<br />

especially after a career where you were<br />

generally part of a team. One of the<br />

benefits of the police service is that by<br />

and large it’s a very socially orientated<br />

organisation - a surrogate family. Staying<br />

in touch will, apart from the enjoyment<br />

of meeting old friends and colleagues,<br />

help you stay abreast of changes and<br />

assist you in developing new relationships<br />

for your business.<br />

‘Peter and Rex were amazed<br />

at the quality of the CCTV’<br />

10. Branding. You don’t get many goes to<br />

get this right, so take the time to plan your<br />

business brand, and the message you are<br />

trying to send out. Find yourself a reputable<br />

graphic designer/printer and ask for examples<br />

/reviews of their work, and develop an<br />

understanding of what YOU want. This is<br />

your business and the designer might not<br />

understand your business concept, they<br />

might have ideas that are at odds with yours<br />

in terms of your chosen marketplace, your<br />

target audience and the image you want to<br />

project. The same can be said of web designers.<br />

11. Finance. If you want to start a business<br />

then understand that you need to spend<br />

money on it. The first six months are likely<br />

to be a big drain on your resources. This is<br />

not a rarity, and you will be in good company.<br />

12. VAT. By law, if your turnover is in excess<br />

of £77K per annum then you must register<br />

for VAT. This might seem a big figure to many<br />

police officers (you’re using your salary as a<br />

yardstick again aren’t you?) but in business,<br />

it really isn’t. My advice is to register for VAT<br />

from the very start. You won’t then get in<br />

a mess trying to deal with retrospective<br />

finances but you will get your VAT back<br />

on your outgoings quite quickly and that<br />

is a big help in the beginning.<br />

13.Keep proper records. Retain everything<br />

- every bill, every bank statement, every cheque<br />

stub. You may be subjected to an inspection<br />

by HMRC at any moment and they will want<br />

you to produce such records going back six<br />

years. It’s just like compiling a prosecution file!<br />

14. Grants and relief. Find out about any<br />

Government or EU Grants available to your<br />

business and also enquire with the local<br />

authority about Small Business Rate Relief.<br />

The local Chamber of Commerce is<br />

a good starting point in this respect.<br />

15. Premises.There is something nice<br />

about the idea of working from home.<br />

In some occupations this is fine. In some,<br />

it is impossible. I tried it and found that my<br />

work frequently spilled over into my house;<br />

family life interrupted my work with the<br />

working day collapsing into a rota of<br />

stop/start. It wasn’t for me. There are plenty<br />

of ‘easy in/easy out’ office deals available.<br />

Bargain hard with landlords, you’ll be<br />

surprised how much movement there is<br />

when negotiating. Get the price right down<br />

and the length of the tenancy as short as<br />

you can to begin with. That said; always keep<br />

one eye on expansion as you might quickly<br />

outgrow your offices. Changing address<br />

can be a big upheaval for a company so if<br />

you can stay in the same place but in a<br />

larger suite of offices that might suit your<br />

long-term planning better.<br />

16. Partnerships. Many people begin a<br />

business in partnership with an old friend.<br />

I did too. However, very few partnerships<br />

last the distance (mine included). Under the<br />

pressure of running a business, it becomes<br />

apparent that different ideas can<br />

sometimes conflict and cannot readily<br />

be resolved. If you’re going to become a<br />

partnership then draw up a legal contract<br />

from the very beginning. Set the rules out<br />

clearly and unambiguously, and make sure<br />

that you have formal minuted meetings<br />

on a regular basis. This is now your livelihood,<br />

not a recreational activity.<br />

17. Throwing good money after bad.<br />

If you have a business that isn’t working don’t<br />

let your pride cause you to waste more time,<br />

effort and money on it. Accept that failure<br />

sometimes happens and move into another<br />

area. Learn from your mistakes.<br />

18. Competitors. Get to know your<br />

competitors - you might be surprised to find<br />

they are actually very helpful and supportive.<br />

Remember that as a new business you<br />

are competing on a well-trodden ground.<br />

Some competitors may appear to have<br />

your business plan ‘sewn up’ already.<br />

Don’t be put off by this. My top tip is to<br />

never undercut a rival. This is guaranteed<br />

to aggravate them and it won’t impress<br />

most clients either. Customers are most<br />

impressed by good service, good products,<br />

reliability and prompt delivery. Don’t<br />

compromise your business plan and integrity.<br />

Once again, don’t use your police salary<br />

as yardstick. Concentrate on building a<br />

reliable clientele who will bring you repeat<br />

business or be pleased to refer others to you.<br />

19. Employees. If you employ somebody,<br />

then look after them. Your employees are<br />

the people who enable you to enjoy a day<br />

off, take a holiday, be in places you can’t get<br />

to and so much more. They represent your<br />

business. Make sure you have Employers’<br />

Liability insurance (it is a legal requirement),<br />

and comply with all the various Health and<br />

Safety directives.<br />

20. Pensions. Treat yourself to a second<br />

pension. You can maximise your tax<br />

efficiency at the same time.<br />

21. Personal insurance. We are all growing<br />

older and in time our health will gradually<br />

decline. With this in mind, I maintain a policy<br />

of insurance that covers my business against<br />

critical illness. If I am out of action through<br />

serious illness then the business needs<br />

to continue without me. In my business<br />

an appropriately qualified ‘locum’ can be<br />

appointed to deal with the company<br />

during my enforced absence.<br />

Remember: if it<br />

was easy, everyone<br />

would be doing it!<br />

There is far more detail I could provide<br />

and the above list, while not exhaustive,<br />

might seem intimidating.<br />

It did to me at first glance but, as they say,<br />

Rome wasn’t built in a day, so there is nothing<br />

wrong in methodically exploring which area of<br />

business or trade suits your personal skill set,<br />

and fires the desire to build a solid and<br />

profitable business. You may already have skills<br />

and qualifications or a career that you used<br />

to do before joining the service. I know lots of<br />

former electricians, plasterers, builders and<br />

plumbers who decided to change career and<br />

become police officers. Just bear in mind that<br />

the police service will have given you a fantastic<br />

array of skills - now it’s up to you to capitalise<br />

on them and create a new tailor-made career.<br />

Buy a ready<br />

-made business<br />

Rather than building up a business<br />

from scratch, another option is to buy<br />

an existing one.<br />

I have never done this, although I have taken<br />

over contracts from other suppliers and had<br />

a taste of TUPE law, which for those that don’t<br />

know, means taking on existing employees that<br />

previously worked for the first contractor<br />

- a bit tricky but manageable.<br />

There are agencies out there that sell businesses<br />

such as Turner Butler for example. It may be<br />

worth browsing what is on offer. For those<br />

who want to enter the investigation business<br />

from scratch, contact The Association of<br />

British Investigators (www.TheABI.org.uk)<br />

and enquire whether any members might<br />

consider retirement or are looking to<br />

sell up their business.<br />

It’s important to remember that before<br />

considering buying a business, it will be necessary<br />

to carry out due diligence. You don’t want to<br />

buy into somebody’s unpaid VAT bill or their<br />

bad reputation. This is the time to find the<br />

appropriate solicitor and accountant to help<br />

you strike a deal and put a true value on the<br />

business and assess its potential for growth.<br />

The aim could be to sell it on again, at a profit,<br />

further along the line or perhaps bequeath<br />

it to the next generation?<br />

Further information…<br />

For help and support please contact your<br />

relevant force Welfare Department.<br />

Police officers can contact either the Police<br />

Federation or the National Association of Retired<br />

Police Officers (NARPO) - both have excellent<br />

support resources to assist you should you<br />

find yourself approaching retirement, either<br />

anticipated or unanticipated. Support staff can<br />

call upon their respective unions to provide<br />

a comparative level of support and advice.<br />

41


HOBBIES<br />

Fore...!<br />

GOLF HAS TRADITIONALLY BEEN A POPULAR<br />

SPORT AND SOURCE OF RELAXATION WITHIN THE<br />

POLICE FAMILY, SO IF YOU’RE A SERIOUS GOLF NUT,<br />

HAVE THE HABIT UNDER CONTROL, PLAY ONCE<br />

OR TWICE A YEAR WITH BORROWED ‘BATS’, OR<br />

JUST HAVE AN IDLE CURIOSITY, YOU’LL ENJOY<br />

ALAN CONSIDINE’S SERIES ON ALL THINGS GOLF.<br />

Mark Twain is oft quoted for his observation about golf being<br />

“a good walk spoiled...” This is all well and good if your time is spent<br />

plotting your next novel but for the rest of us, golf presents an<br />

accessible and enjoyable sport played by ever growing numbers<br />

of men, women, boys and girls across the world.<br />

Having successfully negotiated my police<br />

service I found myself finishing 30 years of<br />

service with the appellation of ‘pensioner’<br />

while still being under 50 years of age.<br />

Working in a busy force I appreciated<br />

the frustrations involved in trying to make<br />

a difference, as well as the huge sense<br />

of pride and achievement it can bring by<br />

solving the problems others fear to address.<br />

I thoroughly enjoyed my service, and as<br />

it was mostly operational, I’m not going<br />

to pretend I always considered it the<br />

perfect career choice.<br />

You all know that a life dedicated to<br />

the police service is a challenge, usually<br />

an enjoyable one, but a challenge all the<br />

same. And because of that, you need<br />

your distractions, hobbies and sometimes<br />

a chance to exercise.<br />

Well, there are lot of options for your<br />

down time. Personally, I always looked<br />

forward to a rest day when I could be<br />

out on the course with my friends.<br />

42 43<br />

WWW.NICKEDMAGAZINE.COM<br />

Having played golf since a young age,<br />

I’ve spent most of the intervening years<br />

playing off a single figure handicap. (If you<br />

don’t understand golf handicaps, there<br />

is a jargon busting section at the end).<br />

I currently play off a 10 handicap, and if<br />

you can keep a secret, those extra shots<br />

are lovely when you are eager to secure<br />

that friendly side bet - the one against<br />

your mate, who you love dearly, but could<br />

also throttle with a five-iron if he beats<br />

you on the last.<br />

Of course golf has a language, standard<br />

of dress and behaviour, and customs all<br />

of its own that can seem foreboding and<br />

mysterious to the newcomer, but stick<br />

with me. You’ll soon pick up the meanings<br />

in future articles.<br />

Because golf has a strong social element<br />

I also dedicated a lot of my spare time to<br />

helping run and organise golf clubs in various<br />

roles, spending over a decade on numerous<br />

committees, and even enjoying a few years<br />

as a course manager where I learned<br />

a lot about setting up a course from<br />

professional greens staff.<br />

I have also had the good fortune to<br />

be invited to help organise marshalling<br />

at the British Open Championships<br />

and had the pleasure, and it IS a pleasure,<br />

of playing on courses throughout Europe,<br />

particularly Portugal and Spain.<br />

Now there’s a life… golf in the sun.<br />

But that’s for another issue!<br />

In this series we’ll visit those types of<br />

experiences, and let you know how to<br />

make it happen on your terms, and just<br />

as importantly, within your budget.<br />

We will explore, review and advise on<br />

matters such as golfing holidays and breaks,<br />

golfing equipment, tips and techniques to<br />

improve your game, and developments<br />

and gossip from the world of golfing.<br />

<strong>NiCKED</strong> may even weigh in from time<br />

to time with a prize competition.<br />

My colleague John Fisher, a PGA Teaching<br />

Professional will provide more in-depth<br />

advice about technique, skill development<br />

and equipment. As these pages grow we<br />

look forward to receiving feedback and<br />

suggestions for future issues, so let us<br />

know what you want to read about.<br />

ALAN<br />

CONSIDINE<br />

Alan Considine served<br />

as a police constable<br />

with a North West force<br />

and since retiring is<br />

usually to be found<br />

on, or near, a<br />

golf course!<br />

TWITTER.COM/NICKEDMAGAZINE


HOBBIES<br />

Golf within the police<br />

So, you think you can play? Well always remember that most forces<br />

have police teams or societies. Undoubtedly, there will be someone<br />

in your home force who takes on the task of the stressed and<br />

unappreciated organiser of your force’s golf section.<br />

I can’t speak for every force, but there<br />

is usually someone organising an annual<br />

individual competition locally, a national<br />

individual event, as well as the PAA<br />

golf team event.<br />

The latter usually consists of four forces<br />

submitting a team, and meeting up on a<br />

course chosen by the host force. The day<br />

usually consists of two semi-finals in the<br />

morning flowed by the final in the afternoon.<br />

The winners will progress to similar events,<br />

which will eventually produce four teams<br />

who qualify for the national finals. I’ve been<br />

fortunate to play in one of those events,<br />

and had a great time pitting my skills against<br />

colleagues from around the country.<br />

Unfortunately, our team lost in the final to<br />

a team of cut throats and vagabonds who<br />

had sold their souls to the Devil. Of course,<br />

although you may 'think' it, you must<br />

never say it out loud.<br />

That would be a unforgivable breach of<br />

golfing etiquette! If you get involved at<br />

that level of police golf you will discover<br />

that golf clubs actively encourage visits<br />

by police staff and usually offer very<br />

competitive packages including lunch<br />

or evening meal with your rounds of<br />

golf to such competitions.<br />

The national individual trophy is a little<br />

bit more exclusive, in that they employ<br />

a handicap limit, so only the better<br />

golfers get to play in it.<br />

Outside of competitions you may discover<br />

a group who like to travel further a field<br />

and organise a week away playing some<br />

of the big Scottish courses, and even go as<br />

far afield as Florida in search of that perfect<br />

golfing holiday. In the next issue of <strong>NiCKED</strong><br />

I’ll be discussing the pros and cons of<br />

visiting a European tour event as a spectator,<br />

and many other golf related items.<br />

Giving it a go?<br />

So how can you get involved in the<br />

game? Well, I suppose the easiest<br />

way to see if you like it is to acquire<br />

a golf club and head off to the<br />

local driving range.<br />

I’ll steer you away from using the local park or<br />

field as you’re likely to attract the attention of<br />

either the local warden, or more dramatically,<br />

an irate householder who will angrily point to<br />

the new ventilation hole in his conservatory roof<br />

while trying to climb his fence to get to you!<br />

We’ll stick with the driving range as it’s a purposebuilt<br />

facility and you can usually hire a few clubs if you<br />

can’t lay your hands on any. Most are open all day, and<br />

are floodlit for evening use. If you haven’t got a friend<br />

or relative who can give you some basic coaching<br />

don’t worry as most will have friendly staff and/or a<br />

resident professional, if it’s associated with a golf<br />

club, who will be only too glad to give help and advice.<br />

A session usual costs around £5 for a bucket of<br />

30-70 balls. Just remember to put the basket at<br />

the mouth of the ball dispenser before you slip the<br />

token into the machine. If you don’t you are likely<br />

to attract amused attention from other range users<br />

as the ball dispenser noisily takes delight in rapidly<br />

spewing out balls all over the floor.<br />

After a few trips to the driving range you may find<br />

you’ve an aptitude for it, and have developed a swing<br />

that evolves to the point where the ball is flying<br />

through the air for a reasonable distance. Don’t worry<br />

that it’s not always in the direction you were aiming -<br />

you can consider yourself ready for the next stage -<br />

the golf course. In future editions Johns 'Beginner<br />

Articles' will give advice on clubs, etiquette, golfing<br />

jargon, and a host of other essentials, but for now<br />

we’ll move on to those with a little more experience<br />

and expectations of the game, who fancy testing<br />

their golfing prowess within the police service.<br />

A competitive<br />

friendship<br />

I’ll digress for a moment to explain<br />

my relationship with our resident Pro,<br />

the predictably titled John ‘Fish’ Fisher,<br />

who will be providing an introduction<br />

to the finer points of golf over the<br />

following pages.<br />

Before I start, I’d like to point out that he’s a<br />

friend, but one of those friends you invariably<br />

end up having a squabble and fight with! I recall<br />

a recent round when I was robbed of my rightful<br />

twenty pound wager by my club Pro friend late<br />

one evening... I was a few holes up, with not<br />

many holes to play. Life was good, and I was<br />

preparing to be smug and unbearable in the<br />

members’ lounge where I would deprive him<br />

of a twenty pound note while buying him a pint<br />

and smugly offering false commiserations<br />

and false commiserations.<br />

That was the plan. Unfortunately, it had rained<br />

until lunch-time, and we had thus set out late<br />

with the prospect of the daylight dwindling. By the<br />

time we had teed up on the 16th hole, you could<br />

see perhaps 50 yards, and were in real danger<br />

of doing harm to the wildlife that emerges<br />

at dusk. Now, most golfers, like anglers, will drift<br />

toward hyperbole and talk as though they know<br />

what they are doing. But in reality, golf is a game<br />

played mostly between the ears, even for the<br />

amateur, and the control of your swing, and<br />

thereby the ball is fleeting and transient.<br />

Well the Pro isn’t the Pro for nothing.<br />

While I was taking account of how the tops<br />

of trees bend, whether the cows are stood up<br />

or lying down, and of course my faith in Seve<br />

Ballesteros’s assertion that ‘trees are 90 per cent<br />

not there’, the Professional trusted in his swing,<br />

honed by thousands of grooved practice swings,<br />

course management, and yardage markers.<br />

My better qualified opponent and part time<br />

friend played the last three holes in Par, Birdie,<br />

Par. Which I’m sure is against the natural rules of<br />

justice. So as I missed a putt on the 18th seeking<br />

a win (or at least we think I did, because it was now<br />

dark, and we didn’t find the ball in the hole), it left<br />

the Pro with a five foot putt to save a game he<br />

had given up on a while back. As his ball dropped<br />

in the hole, the previously respectable PGA<br />

Professional leapt in the air while letting out a<br />

triumphant screech, which thankfully could not<br />

be observed, or indeed heard in the club house.<br />

He had somehow salvaged a draw!<br />

As a result the vision of me collecting my £20<br />

winnings went up disappeared quicker than the<br />

fading light, much to my friends amusement. Over<br />

the next hours I was, to use a common parlance<br />

‘made to have it’, after 'made to have it, as other<br />

members enquired where we had been, and passed<br />

comment of the new sport of night-golf, as it had<br />

been virtually pitch black for around an hour!<br />

So the moral of the story, or at least the one<br />

I am conveniently using, is that golf isn’t supposed<br />

to be fair… but it will always be much more than<br />

‘a good walk spoiled’. Maybe Mr Twain hadn’t<br />

heard of the 19th hole.<br />

Golf jargon buster<br />

m Handicap<br />

A number assigned to each player<br />

based on his ability and used to adjust<br />

each player's score to provide equality<br />

among the players. In simplified terms,<br />

a handicap number, based on the slope<br />

of a course, is subtracted from the player's<br />

gross score and gives him a net score<br />

of par or better half the time.<br />

m Birdie<br />

A hole played in one stroke under par.<br />

m Eagle<br />

A hole played in two strokes under par.<br />

m Par<br />

Standard score for a hole (defined by its<br />

length) or a course (sum of all the holes' pars).<br />

m Bogey<br />

A hole played in one stroke over par.<br />

m Fore<br />

A warning shout given when there<br />

is a chance that the ball may hit other<br />

players or spectators.<br />

m Scratch golfer<br />

A player's whose handicap equals zero.<br />

44 45<br />

WWW.NICKEDMAGAZINE.COM<br />

GolfingFACT<br />

Did you know approximately 4 million people play golf in the<br />

UK? About 2 million of those golfers are members of private<br />

golf clubs, with 80% of players being men and 20% women.<br />

There are also a large number of non-registered golfers<br />

who play on a ‘green fee’ basis, making the total number<br />

of those who play golf even higher.<br />

FACEBOOK.COM/NICKEDMAGAZINE


HOBBIES<br />

Golf<br />

BACK<br />

TO BASICS<br />

GOLF PRO JOHN FISHER HAS SOME TIPS ON HOW<br />

TO GET READY FOR A NEW SEASON OF GOLF AND GOES<br />

BACK TO BASICS ON STANCE, POSTURE AND GRIP...<br />

A BIT ABOUT ME…<br />

I started playing golf at the age of 12 at<br />

Shaw Hill Golf and Country Club near Chorley,<br />

where I also started my professional career<br />

under the guidance of the professional Ian<br />

Evans. I then moved to Hurlston Hall Golf Club,<br />

Southport in 1994 where I remained until 1997,<br />

and was then fortunate to receive sponsorship<br />

from Kammac PLC, which enabled me to<br />

play full-time on various mini tours around<br />

the UK and overseas until taking up my<br />

current position in 2000.<br />

The highlights of my playing career so far have<br />

been being picked to represent England in the<br />

European Club Professionals Championship<br />

in Sardinia. Winning the British Open qualifying<br />

event held at Ormskirk Golf Club in 2003 and<br />

holding various course records including 61<br />

at Huyton and Prescot Golf Club. In 2008 I was<br />

captain of Lancashire Professional Golfers’<br />

Association. I am also proud to be in the TMAG<br />

(TaylorMade Adidas Golf) staff professional<br />

programme, being one of only 55 in Europe.<br />

WHAT’S TO COME?<br />

Over the coming publications I will be giving you<br />

the low down on the latest equipment available,<br />

teaching tips to help you with your game and<br />

even some strange rules you may come across<br />

during time on the fairways. There will also be<br />

some pointers to help you start your new season<br />

on the right foot. Golf can be an intimidating<br />

sport to take up and often thought of as elitist<br />

but this is far from the truth as golfers these<br />

days come from all walks of life.<br />

GRIP - for a right-handed golfer the club<br />

lies diagonally across your left hand from the<br />

bottom joint of your index finger to the callus<br />

pad of your little finger (fig 1). Then simply<br />

close your fingers over the handle placing your<br />

thumb just right of centre which should mean<br />

the V formed between your thumb and hand<br />

is pointing to your right shoulder (fig 2).<br />

Place your right hand on the handle with the<br />

index finger of your left hand and the little<br />

finger of your right hand interlocking on the<br />

club being placed at the bottom of the fingers<br />

and the index finger of the right hand acting<br />

like a trigger finger (fig 3). The right hand<br />

closes over and the thumb of the left hand<br />

goes left of centre so the V formed is again<br />

pointing to your right shoulder (fig 4/5).<br />

Those of you who haven’t played before;<br />

a great way to start is a handful of lessons from<br />

your local PGA professional who can be found<br />

at golf clubs or driving ranges in your local area.<br />

Non members are always welcome so don’t<br />

worry about not having the right equipment -<br />

they will provide it for your lesson. Getting<br />

expert help right from the start will prevent<br />

any bad habits forming that would hinder<br />

your enjoyment of the game.<br />

GETTING READY<br />

FOR THE NEW SEASON<br />

At this time of the year, golfers are starting to<br />

dust their clubs down for the new season ahead.<br />

However, very few realise the importance of<br />

giving their equipment an MOT.<br />

Here are some things to bear in mind:<br />

n Badly-worn club grips can mean an increase<br />

in grip pressure of 27%, which in turn can<br />

drastically affect performance. Why not ask<br />

your local PGA professional to check/re-grip<br />

your clubs, this service will cost from as little as<br />

£5 per club and can make those 10-year-old<br />

clubs feel like a new set. Most tour pros have<br />

clubs re-gripped every two to three months<br />

n Check if your shoes need re-spiking as<br />

balance and stability are key fundamentals<br />

to your golf swing.<br />

n A quick 30-minute lesson with your local<br />

PGA pro can set you on the right track for new<br />

season ahead. Some simple pointers when<br />

you’re fresh can help you improve your game.<br />

Let’s start at the beginning...<br />

POSTURE/STANCE - stand up tall with<br />

the inside of your heels the same width as your<br />

shoulders and the club parallel to ground at<br />

waist height, (fig 8) pivot from the hips keeping<br />

your back straight until the club reaches the<br />

floor and simply flex the knees to release the<br />

tension in your back of your thighs. You should<br />

now feel the weight on the balls of your feet,<br />

front of your thighs and the front of your body<br />

giving you the perfect athletic posture (fig 9).<br />

ALIGNMENT/AIM - at address, your body<br />

(feet, knees (fig 10), hips, forearms, shoulders<br />

and eyes) should be positioned parallel to<br />

the target line. The easiest way to think of<br />

this is to imagine a railroad track: your ball<br />

is the outside track and your body is the<br />

inside track (fig 11/12).<br />

Want to know more?<br />

If you would like any advice on equipment choice, rules questions, swing guidance or have<br />

any topics you would like me to cover please email me at: johnfisher@myprogolfer.co.uk<br />

fig 1 GRIP<br />

fig 2 GRIP fig 3<br />

fig 4 GRIP<br />

fig 5<br />

HOW GRIP SHOULD LOOK<br />

GRIP<br />

GRIP<br />

POSTURE<br />

fig 6 /STANCE fig 7<br />

ALIGNMENT<br />

ALIGNMENT<br />

fig 8 /AIM<br />

fig 9 /AIM<br />

fig 10<br />

GRIP<br />

"<br />

Lessons with a<br />

PGA professional really<br />

help you to understand<br />

exactly what is<br />

happening, why it is<br />

happening and what<br />

you need to do to<br />

improve your game "<br />

POSTURE<br />

/STANCE<br />

ALIGNMENT<br />

/AIM<br />

JOHN FISHER<br />

John Fisher is a qualified Class AAT<br />

PGA Professional. He has been<br />

the Head Proessional at Huyton<br />

& Prescot Golf Club on Merseyside<br />

since 2000. He is also one of only<br />

55 TaylorMade Addidas Golf staff<br />

professionals in Europe.<br />

46 47<br />

WWW.NICKEDMAGAZINE.COM<br />

TWITTER.COM/NICKEDMAGAZINE


LEGAL ADVICE<br />

Family<br />

Law<br />

FAMILY-FRIENDLY LAW<br />

WE ALL KNOW LIFE HAS ITS UPS AND DOWNS<br />

ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO RELATIONSHIPS.<br />

HERE FAMILY LAWYER MARY SHAW HIGHLIGHTS<br />

THE POSITIVE WAYS IN WHICH WE CAN GET<br />

THROUGH THE LOWS AND WHAT TO DO<br />

IF WE CAN’T…<br />

TESTING TIMES<br />

Marriage is a work in progress and this is also true for civil<br />

partnerships and living-together relationships and, if I can<br />

save you ever having to see a family lawyer, then well done me!<br />

(I bet this is challenging your family lawyer stereotype).<br />

The longest and happiest relationships will have had their ups<br />

and downs. Life is like that and relationships are tested by financial<br />

realities, having children, work-related stress, bereavements and<br />

all of the difficulties and challenges that life throws at us. You probably<br />

know that the police divorce rate is high. On average, in the large<br />

departments it’s about 70-80 %. And that’s not surprising when you<br />

consider the sacrifices that have to be made by you and your family<br />

- the long hours and shift patterns, attending court on days off. It's easy<br />

to see why a couple can drift apart. And it can be difficult for a partner to<br />

accept that their spouse isn't going to be around like ‘normal’ people.<br />

MARRIAGES CAN BE REPAIRED…<br />

Many years ago I met a client for the first time who was about to<br />

embark on her third divorce. She confided in me that, with hindsight,<br />

she should never have divorced husband number two but that once<br />

she had started consulting a lawyer she didn’t know how to pull back.<br />

She now felt that her second marriage had been fixable and she<br />

regretted her divorce. That was a very salutary lesson for me<br />

personally and professionally, and I have never forgotten it.<br />

I am proud to be a trustee on the board of my local Relate, the charity<br />

which has recently celebrated its 75th birthday and assists people<br />

with all sorts of relationship problems across married, unmarried<br />

and same sex couples and parent/child relationships. Relate has an<br />

excellent website, but there are other good relationship counselling<br />

organisations the length and breadth of the country.<br />

MARY SHAW<br />

Mary Shaw is a family lawyer<br />

who has practised for almost<br />

30 years, firstly in London<br />

and subsequently in Newcastle<br />

where she has headed up<br />

the Family Law Department<br />

at David Gray Solicitors<br />

for 25 years.<br />

During that time the department has<br />

grown steadily in size and reputation<br />

and has won national awards for the<br />

quality of its legal work. David Gray<br />

Solicitors LLP (www.davidgray.co.uk)<br />

is based in the North East, but regularly<br />

advises people the length and<br />

breadth of the country and is happy<br />

to ‘meet’ clients online.<br />

Many couples<br />

who feel that their<br />

relationship is<br />

seriously under threat<br />

can repair that<br />

relationship and<br />

improve it for the<br />

long-term<br />

“I am a family lawyer. I can hear a<br />

collective snore... But this is a family<br />

law feature with a difference. Here,<br />

there will be practical as well as legal<br />

information that could help you,<br />

or someone you care about, at what<br />

could be the most difficult time. And,<br />

I will help you get advice and guidance<br />

in the most cost-effective way.”<br />

48 49<br />

WWW.NICKEDMAGAZINE.COM<br />

FACEBOOK.COM/NICKEDMAGAZINE


LEGAL ADVICE<br />

During my 30 years as a lawyer I have gained<br />

experience in all facets of family law so here are<br />

some of my top tips to help you avoid having to<br />

see a family lawyer altogether or to make the<br />

experience as pain free as possible if you do:<br />

Resist the temptation to criticise or blame the other<br />

parent to your child. They will be grateful in years to come.<br />

Top tips<br />

1. Don't bury your head<br />

You may never need a family lawyer<br />

if you can recognise that you need some<br />

help with your relationship and get the<br />

appropriate help. We have no problem<br />

getting our car serviced on a regular<br />

basis, but we are much less inclined<br />

to think that our primary relationship<br />

could do with maintenance.<br />

What I have learnt from my work as<br />

a lawyer and with Relate is that, firstly,<br />

people often wait until their relationship<br />

is in real difficulty before seeking help<br />

and, secondly, there is a common<br />

belief that couples can get to a point of<br />

no return in their relationship difficulties,<br />

making a permanent separation inevitable<br />

- this isn’t necessarily the case.<br />

2. It’s good to talk<br />

Just because you’re feeling desperate<br />

doesn’t mean that your relationship is<br />

fatally damaged. Consider relationship<br />

counselling. Even if ultimately you<br />

do separate permanently, you will at<br />

least both know that you have done<br />

everything you could to prevent it<br />

and made the right decision. Many<br />

couples who feel that their relationship<br />

is seriously under threat can repair<br />

their relationship and improve it<br />

for the long-term.<br />

Now, chaps,here's where<br />

I'm going to talk to you...!<br />

My experience as a family lawyer and<br />

working with clients, tells me that it is<br />

often the man who is resistant to taking<br />

up relationship counselling. Talking<br />

about your feelings can be difficult and<br />

scary. But this is not half as scary as<br />

the feelings you might have standing<br />

in a court corridor waiting for a man<br />

or woman you have never met before<br />

to make decisions about your children,<br />

home and pension<br />

3. Think about a prenup or<br />

a living together agreement<br />

Consider frontloading your family law<br />

advice and insuring yourself against<br />

the risk of future court proceedings by<br />

entering into a prenup. This may sound<br />

backwards, but taking family law advice<br />

at the beginning of your relationship<br />

may save you a great deal of pain and<br />

expense in the long run. It is possible<br />

to enter in to an agreement with your<br />

partner before you get married or<br />

enter in to a civil partnership,<br />

or begin to live together.<br />

You will read in the press about<br />

‘prenups’ - these agreements provide<br />

for what will happen to your assets in<br />

the event of a divorce or separation<br />

and, not surprisingly, they’re not seen<br />

as particularly romantic.<br />

It is quite understandable that a<br />

loved-up couple embarking on a new<br />

life together, which they hope will be<br />

happy ever after, should find it difficult<br />

to contemplate what would be fair in<br />

the event of their relationship not going<br />

the distance. And yet, we are happy<br />

to insure our houses against fire and<br />

ourselves against critical illness.<br />

But, paradoxically, having that conversation<br />

when you are full of love and optimism<br />

is perhaps the best time to have it and<br />

for some couples, a prenup or living<br />

together agreement might give them<br />

the confidence to move in to married life<br />

feeling that they have all bases covered.<br />

Prenups aren't right for all couples and<br />

so early advice early legal advice is a<br />

good idea. Prenups lend themselves<br />

very well to the collaborative law process<br />

– something I will come back to in detail<br />

another time. The collaborative law<br />

process is a round table process where<br />

you each have a lawyer who will take<br />

a constructive and creative approach<br />

to your discussions about the contents<br />

of your prenup agreement. In that<br />

way, the lawyers can’t get ‘in-between<br />

you’, a phrase that I have heard<br />

clients use anxiously.<br />

50<br />

4. The right divorce support will help<br />

Speak to your family lawyer about what kind<br />

of support you might benefit from. Assuming<br />

your marriage or relationship is coming to an<br />

end, it is important that you know how to access<br />

the help and resources you will need to make<br />

what will almost certainly be a painful journey.<br />

Permanent separation and divorce are tough<br />

for just about everyone. I have had many people<br />

sitting in my office telling me they thought<br />

they were going quietly crazy with the grief,<br />

fear and anger they were feeling.<br />

In my experience, this is normal and, rest assured<br />

it will get better and you will recover, but you may<br />

need some help on the way. This is another time<br />

when taking up professional support can be a much<br />

better strategy than leaning on friends and family.<br />

If you don’t have children, you may be able to make<br />

a clean break from each other but many couples<br />

suffer real bereavement about the loss of close<br />

relationships across extended families.<br />

5. Police and their pensions<br />

My time as a family lawyer has taught me that<br />

police pensions can be a really thorny issue. I am<br />

going to cut to the chase and try and save you<br />

time and money here.<br />

The vast majority of family lawyers and family law<br />

judges now understand that a uniformed pension<br />

(be it police, fire service or armed forces) is a<br />

very valuable asset. Pretending otherwise is<br />

likely to delay the financial aspects of your<br />

divorce and is likely to increase your legal fees.<br />

Be prepared for your family lawyer to tell you that<br />

you’ll need to seek expert advice on your pension.<br />

In defence of family lawyers, it might be helpful to<br />

understand that we live in an ever-increasing<br />

compensation culture, and a brief look at a website<br />

called Divorcelifeline will show you that there are<br />

people very happy to advise about whether or<br />

not a pension was wrongly valued for a divorce<br />

settlement. I shall come back to pensions in a<br />

future edition of <strong>NiCKED</strong> as I know it’s a subject<br />

dear to the hearts of many serving officers.<br />

6. Keep it out of court<br />

Everyone has heard of somebody else's nasty<br />

divorce dragged through the courts at great<br />

expense. In my experience this is usually using<br />

one round table process or another (usually<br />

collaborative law or mediation). I shall come<br />

back to this in a future edition in more detail.<br />

What would you like to read about?<br />

In future editions of <strong>NiCKED</strong> I’ll focus on the issues that you really want to know about,<br />

so do let me know what you would like to be discussed. If you have any questions that<br />

you would like covered then please email me on: mary.shaw@davidgray.co.uk<br />

Focus on your children<br />

IF YOU HAVE CHILDREN, THEN THE PLAIN FACT IS THAT YOU<br />

WILL REMAIN CONNECTED TO YOUR EX FOR THE REST OF<br />

YOUR LIFE AS YOUR CHILDREN’S CO-PARENTS AND QUITE<br />

PROBABLY AS GRANDPARENTS.<br />

Your children are very likely to feel some or all of a range of<br />

emotions about the changes to their family and, the sooner<br />

you can work with this the better for them.<br />

Make it your business to learn as much<br />

as you can about what your children<br />

may be feeling and what sort of help and<br />

support they may need from you, from<br />

their other parent and from anyone else<br />

in whom they might wish to confide –<br />

check out some helpful websites.<br />

I refer many clients to two great<br />

websites, Resolution and The Parent<br />

Connection, offering support and<br />

information about what to expect<br />

from your children and giving you tips<br />

and advice about how best to help<br />

them. Most importantly, resist the<br />

temptation to criticise or blame the<br />

other parent to your child. They will<br />

be grateful to you in years to come.<br />

www.relate.org.uk<br />

www.theparentconnection.org.uk<br />

www.resolution.org.uk<br />

www.david.gray.co.uk<br />

Photos: All images © Anton Evatt Photography<br />

50 51<br />

WWW.NICKEDMAGAZINE.COM<br />

TWITTER.COM/NICKEDMAGAZINE


NATURE WATCH<br />

Urban<br />

birdz<br />

IT’S FREE, IT’S COOL (YES REALLY!)<br />

AND IT’S ACCESSIBLE TO ALL.<br />

CHRISTINA EVATT SAYS:<br />

What’s not to like about a bit of<br />

feathered-friend spotting even<br />

if you live in an urban area?<br />

Perhaps it’s just me, but if you learn to<br />

appreciate the free stuff that’s going on<br />

all around you, then life just seems to get<br />

that little bit richer. I can be typing away<br />

at my laptop, then out of the corner of<br />

my eye there’s a flutter in garden and<br />

flurry of yellow, red and gold alights on<br />

the bird feeder outside the window.<br />

It’s my regular 10am visit from<br />

a local charm of goldfinches<br />

(see I am a proper bird geek<br />

now because I know some of<br />

the collective nouns). It’s only<br />

momentary and then they’re off<br />

to pillage someone else’s seed;<br />

however it puts a smile on my<br />

face and a renewed spring in my<br />

step, or maybe that should be<br />

speed in my typing fingers.<br />

My love affair with birds, and I<br />

suppose wildlife and the outdoors<br />

in general, was handed down to<br />

me by my father and grandfather<br />

when I was a young child. I see<br />

it as like being handed a gift<br />

and it’s one that is free and just<br />

keeps giving because wherever<br />

I am, and whatever I’m doing,<br />

there’s always some gem of<br />

wildlife or nature to enjoy.<br />

Police officers are trained to be<br />

observant but most of us aren’t<br />

that great at looking up at the<br />

sky. I know I have walked the<br />

same routes a hundred times<br />

only to look up at an amazing<br />

roof line or a mind-blowing piece<br />

of architecture and wonder how<br />

I’d missed it all those times.<br />

However, my eyes are now<br />

very much aware of what’s<br />

going on around me because<br />

I have a passion for birds and<br />

not necessarily the ones in<br />

remote hedgerows or peaceful<br />

lakesides, but those who<br />

are intertwined with our<br />

day-to-day human bustle.<br />

The proper bird ‘thugs’ who<br />

have decided they can live<br />

quite happily alongside us in<br />

our sometimes inhospitable<br />

urban environment.<br />

London, along with<br />

other cities such as Coventry<br />

and Derby, is now home to<br />

one of, if not the, fastest<br />

animal in the world –<br />

the peregrine falcon<br />

53


NATURE WATCH<br />

Any time,<br />

any place<br />

IF YOU’RE A POLICE OFFICER ON<br />

A STAKEOUT THEN YOUR EYES WILL<br />

VERY FIRMLY BE ON THE MATTER<br />

AT HAND AND YOU’RE NOT GOING<br />

TO LOOK FOR DISTRACTIONS.<br />

However, there may be other occasions in the normal<br />

routine of police work that can lend themselves to observing<br />

our feathered friends even if it’s while on a break, or travelling<br />

between call-outs. But more probably it will be during your<br />

off duty time. The best thing about urban birding is you can<br />

do it almost anywhere, for any amount of time and probably<br />

get quite good at it without spending a fortune.<br />

Even in the densest urban sprawls there is green space,<br />

whether it’s one of the large public parks or a garden a<br />

few feet in length – it will provide a haven for urban birds.<br />

London, along with other cities such as Coventry and<br />

Derby, is now home to one of, if not the, fastest animal in<br />

the world – the peregrine falcon. In-between skyscrapers<br />

and ancient monuments they plunge from the sky after<br />

their prey at speeds of over 300 kph. And if you consider<br />

that pigeons are their main food source, it’s not hard<br />

to see why they can make themselves at home and<br />

flourish in urban areas.<br />

However, it was their liking for carrier pigeons in the<br />

Second World War that brought about their demise<br />

in the first place – luckily email is seen as a much more<br />

effective form of communication now and there’s an<br />

estimated 20 peregrine falcon breeding pairs in London.<br />

What’s<br />

your hobby?<br />

OK – if birding hasn’t tickled<br />

your fancy, what would you like<br />

to see in the next issues of <strong>NiCKED</strong>?<br />

Are you an avid angler, a keen camper<br />

or a rugged rambler? Let us know<br />

what you’d like to read about and<br />

we’ll get on the case…or email<br />

editor@lemontreemedia.com<br />

and you could write about<br />

your hobby.<br />

DID YOU KNOW?<br />

Kittiwakes, a seabird normally more at<br />

home on coastal cliffs, nest on Newcastle’s<br />

Tyne Bridge. An impressive 13 miles from<br />

the sea, it’s the most inland colony in the<br />

world. The four lanes of traffic roar past<br />

behind them 24/7 and yet they continue<br />

to flourish in their metal reinforced home...<br />

What’s out there?<br />

SO NOW WE KNOW WE’RE NOT JUST ON THE LOOK OUT FOR PIGEONS<br />

(THEY’RE ACTUALLY PRETTY INTELLIGENT CREATURES BUT THAT’S ANOTHER<br />

STORY), WHAT IS THERE TO LOOK OUT FOR IN AN URBAN ENVIRONMENT?<br />

Well in London it’s not rare to see<br />

flocks of parakeets (how very tropical!)<br />

or the majestic red kite soaring over<br />

the skies of West London. And in most<br />

towns and cities you’ll see hovering<br />

kestrels at the roadside, foraging gulls,<br />

darting swifts, flocks of starlings, and<br />

garden birds such as sparrows, robins,<br />

blackbirds, and the more common<br />

finches and tits. Until you start to<br />

really look out for birds you may not<br />

have even know they’re there – it’s<br />

such a great way to connect with<br />

nature and pass a few moments.<br />

Photos: All images © Anton Evatt Photography<br />

The RSPB has reported increased membership<br />

in the under-30s in recent years and it appears<br />

I’m not alone as a woman enjoying the hobby<br />

as birding is something all genders are enjoying<br />

– it’s no longer the preserve of men in woolly<br />

hats! And it’s not just our country friends<br />

who are enjoying the wildlife around them,<br />

increasingly people in urban environments are<br />

becoming interested in the bird and animal life<br />

around them. What seems like an impenetrable<br />

barrier to us in terms of environment, doesn’t<br />

prove too much of an issue for many types<br />

of wildlife – they just get on with it.<br />

So be inspired, take a moment to enjoy what’s<br />

going on all around you, and in no time you’ll be<br />

tuned in to the world of urban birding. Enjoy!<br />

Find out more online...<br />

RSPB<br />

rspb.org.uk<br />

This site lists every birdspecies in the UK,<br />

explains what they look like, as well as when<br />

and where to see them. There are also audio<br />

files so you can listen to each bird's call.<br />

BBC nature<br />

www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Bird<br />

The BBC's searchable bird database has<br />

all you need to know about British birds.<br />

There’s also all the latest bird related<br />

news and views.<br />

Birdwatch<br />

birdwatch.co.uk<br />

Billed as being operated by birders for<br />

birders, this site is home to handy reviews<br />

of multimedia, equipment and books as<br />

well as being host to interesting features,<br />

good birding walks, and event listings.<br />

Birds of Britain<br />

birdsofbritain.co.uk<br />

As well as having all the information you<br />

could need, this site includes a guide to<br />

reserves, featured articles, and bird<br />

watching holiday inspiration.<br />

Bird Guides<br />

birdguides.com<br />

This site has a great searchable photo library<br />

showcasing birds from around the world.<br />

You’ll also find articles on everything birdrelated<br />

from destinations to conservation.<br />

Top urban<br />

birding tips<br />

Be aware<br />

Now you know there is birdlife to<br />

be found everywhere, go find it!<br />

Look up to the skies and rooftops<br />

- you’ll also be surprised at where<br />

birds like to make their home. Some<br />

birds like black redstarts like building<br />

sites, and even the smallest urban<br />

garden will attract a friendly robin.<br />

Take the time to just sit and take<br />

everything in – we are so often<br />

guilty of looking but not seeing.<br />

Feed the birds<br />

Putting food out in your for local<br />

birds is a great way to start urban<br />

birding. When I started out, I decided<br />

that I’d like to see some goldfinches<br />

in my garden, so I put out some niger<br />

seed (their favourite) and now it’s<br />

not rare for me to see 15-plus birds<br />

queuing up to get their free snack!<br />

Remember to also put out water for<br />

your visiting birds, especially in dry<br />

conditions or frosty weather.<br />

Get a bird book<br />

I still have the first bird book ever<br />

bought for me by my grandfather<br />

and I used to tick off every bird<br />

I saw. It’s amazing how many truly<br />

rare birds I saw at the age of 10 –<br />

I saw them all – honest! Anyway,<br />

mysterious bird sightings aside,<br />

it’s a useful thing to have and learn<br />

from. Children especially can get<br />

quite a buzz from learning and<br />

knowing what certain birds are.<br />

Buy some binoculars<br />

Now you’re getting into proper<br />

birding territory… a pair of binoculars<br />

will take you to the next level of<br />

being able to spot and identify birds.<br />

Of course many urban and garden<br />

birds will be close enough to enjoy<br />

without them, but if you’re out and<br />

about looking for something a bit<br />

more elusive or high-flying then<br />

some good binoculars are a must.<br />

Go technical<br />

The new generation of urban<br />

birders can also benefit from the<br />

wide range of bird apps out there,<br />

which can be easily downloaded<br />

onto your phone. You can identify<br />

various birds using sight<br />

identification apps, but also even<br />

if you can’t see the bird; it may be<br />

that you can find out what it is by<br />

the sound it’s making… now that<br />

will impress your friends.<br />

54 55


MOTOR REVIEW<br />

Vehicle Check<br />

Looking for a bit more space for the kids, dog or golf clubs?<br />

The new Seat Leon estate is worth a closer inspection...<br />

FIRST DRIVE:<br />

SEAT LEON ST<br />

We love it in five and three-door<br />

forms, but now Seat has introduced<br />

an estate version of its Leon.<br />

Is anything lost in translation?<br />

One truism of the car world is that if you have<br />

a successful model, try and spin as many other<br />

models off it as you possibly can. Nothing wrong<br />

with that of course, particularly when it comes<br />

to widening the potential audience.<br />

Seat has done well with this approach before<br />

and is doing the same with its excellent Leon.<br />

First we had the five door, more recently there<br />

was the sportier three-door SC and now<br />

there's the eminently practical ST.<br />

The other important bit is in place too,<br />

namely space. With a modest length increase<br />

of 27cm over the five door the Leon ST hasn't<br />

turned into a parallel parking nightmare, but<br />

the boot space is usefully larger. With the seats<br />

up there is 587 litres on offer (almost 200<br />

more than the hatch) and with the seats<br />

down there's a massive 1,470 litres.<br />

FACTS AT A GLANCE<br />

Seat Leon ST FR 2.0 TDI 184PS<br />

Engine: 2.0-litre diesel producing<br />

182bhp and 280lb.ft of torque<br />

Transmission: Six-speed manual<br />

gearbox driving the front wheels<br />

Performance: Top speed 142mph,<br />

0-62mph in 7.8 seconds<br />

Economy: 65.7mpg combined<br />

Emissions: 112g/km of CO2<br />

Price: £23,380<br />

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: It shouldn't be too hard to spot. You'll recognise<br />

the handsome nose and sharp creases that have become a key part<br />

of the Seat look, only at the rear it now flows into a neatly designed estate<br />

tailgate. Some might see the term 'estate' as a byword for unglamorous<br />

practicality but those days are long gone; the Leon ST is slick, sharp<br />

and thoroughly modern.<br />

All versions regardless of spec also have<br />

a moveable boot floor, giving you a useful<br />

separated storage area beneath or the one<br />

giant area, plus a 12v power socket and a<br />

through hatch, useful for long loads.<br />

An option is a folding front passenger seat<br />

too for serious load carriers. SE models and<br />

above get a handy release in the boot for<br />

dropping the rear seats, the kind of detail<br />

that makes it so easy to live with.<br />

DRIVE TIME: You might expect<br />

that the transformation into an<br />

estate means compromises in the<br />

way the Leon drives, but in reality<br />

it's easy to forget you're in the<br />

ST once behind the wheel.<br />

The same refreshingly simple and well-specified<br />

cabin greets you as you climb in, and you and<br />

your fellow passengers enjoy as much room<br />

as in other Leon models. The layout is easy<br />

to get to grips with, while the finish and the<br />

standard of materials is significantly better<br />

than the previous model. The Leon is a<br />

quality item, regardless of the bodystyle.<br />

The engine choice is usefully broad too. Petrol<br />

engines start with a surprisingly flexible 1.2-litre<br />

TSI unit, with a 1.4-litre TSI and powerful 1.8-litre<br />

version at the top. Diesel engines include the<br />

1.6-litre TDI including in super-frugal Ecomotive<br />

guise (capable of 85.6mpg combined) rising<br />

to the full-house 184PS 2.0-litre TDI.<br />

It may be the most expensive choice but that<br />

top diesel engine also gives you the most<br />

impressive overall package. It's as quick and<br />

responsive as the figures suggest, with more<br />

torque than you could possibly need yet the<br />

possibility of over 65 miles per gallon. It's smooth<br />

and powerful, making life very easy for the driver.<br />

THE VERDICT?: The Leon should be on your shopping list anyway,<br />

but if you don't think the hatch is quite big enough then the ST solves<br />

all your problems. Don't think about buying a compact estate<br />

without taking a close look.<br />

Let’s be honest Clarkson & co<br />

are all very competent, but they<br />

don’t drive and work with cars in<br />

the way the police service does.<br />

And I mean in terms of speed,<br />

control and safety!<br />

Could you write a motor review?<br />

Do you fancy becoming one of <strong>NiCKED</strong><br />

magazine’s future testers and writers? Give us<br />

a call, or drop an e-mail to <strong>NiCKED</strong> HQ.<br />

We don’t care if you’re serving or retired,<br />

warranted or support staff, as long as you<br />

can deliver an honest and balanced review<br />

of a vehicle and its attributes, from the<br />

perspective of the policing community.<br />

56 57<br />

WWW.NICKEDMAGAZINE.COM<br />

FACEBOOK.COM/NICKEDMAGAZINE


GARDENING<br />

A flood of<br />

ways to save<br />

waterlogged<br />

plants<br />

It won’t have escaped your attention<br />

that the past winter has been a little<br />

bit on the damp side!<br />

For those of you who love and enjoy<br />

your garden it will probably have been<br />

a time of frustration and in some<br />

cases desperation as downpour<br />

after downpour floods the garden.<br />

And then there are the gales,<br />

but that’s a separate article.<br />

With the rain showing no sign of<br />

abating, Hannah Stephenson asks an<br />

expert how we can protect our plants<br />

from the worst of the weather<br />

While the incessant rain may<br />

have left gardeners' water butts<br />

overflowing, it has also inevitably<br />

claimed its share of casualties.<br />

58 59<br />

WWW.NICKEDMAGAZINE.COM<br />

TWITTER.COM/NICKEDMAGAZINE


GARDENING<br />

Best of<br />

the bunch<br />

- Snowdrop (Galanthus)<br />

They are among the first bulbs<br />

of spring to open, their delicatelooking<br />

bell-shaped white blooms<br />

appearing with strappy leaves,<br />

looking wonderful in woodland<br />

gardens under trees or shrubs.<br />

Snowdrops are also easy to naturalise, so in<br />

just a few years you could have a carpet of them.<br />

They prefer moist, fertile soil with added organic<br />

matter and are ideally placed in light shade. Grow<br />

them with winter aconites whose large yellow<br />

buttercup-like flowers blend beautifully with the<br />

elegant galanthus. Good varieties include G.<br />

nivalis 'Viridapice', which has green tips on the<br />

flowers, or G. 'Magnet', which bears large, shining<br />

white flowers on long, arching stems.<br />

Snowdrop bulbs should be planted in early<br />

autumn in groups of 10 or more, spacing them<br />

4cm apart and 6-7cm deep, to leave enough<br />

space for the bulbs to multiply in subsequent<br />

seasons. You will need to plant an awful lot of<br />

bulbs to achieve a naturalised effect quickly.<br />

Waterlogged plants,<br />

nutrients leached<br />

from the soil and pest<br />

and disease problems<br />

can all result from<br />

consistently wet<br />

conditions, and those<br />

gardeners with poor<br />

drainage systems<br />

are likely to be the<br />

hardest hit.<br />

When soil is waterlogged, plants literally<br />

drown. Water fills all the air spaces<br />

between the soil particles and this prevents<br />

oxygen from reaching the roots. In turn,<br />

this causes the soil to stagnate and<br />

prevents root growth.<br />

If plants look a bit sickly after a week or two of<br />

solid rain the minerals may have been washed<br />

away. Restore the vigour of plants by giving<br />

them a dose of liquid seaweed fertiliser.<br />

"It's absolutely vital that one doesn't walk<br />

on the soil when it's this wet because you<br />

compact it and destroy its structure. Don't dig<br />

it or disturb it but leave it to its own devices<br />

until the tide goes out," says Guy Barter,<br />

head of RHS advisory service.<br />

Plants likely to be worst affected include<br />

those from dry climates such as lavender and<br />

rosemary, while lawns can also suffer as a result<br />

of excessively wet weather, he notes. Don't<br />

mow the lawn in wet weather or even walk<br />

on it, as the pressure can cause structural<br />

damage, especially to those grown from<br />

seed in spring - most established lawns<br />

can cope with excessive rainfall.<br />

Barter advises gardeners to shelter pots of<br />

lavender and other container plants by a wall,<br />

or even put waterlogged pots on their side<br />

for a few days to allow them to drain a little.<br />

You may need to repot them in the spring,<br />

as the compost may be spent.<br />

But the wet weather isn't all doom and<br />

gloom for gardeners.<br />

"Paradoxically, lawns will be growing in these<br />

temperatures," points out Barter.<br />

"While in the vegetable garden vegetables<br />

will still be growing, so leeks will thrive and<br />

cabbages will still be swelling slowly through<br />

this weather. By April many things will<br />

have come good."<br />

Bulbs shouldn't be affected by the<br />

continuous rainfall either, he says.<br />

"They are really good at surviving this sort<br />

of thing. Snowdrops and daffodils in particular<br />

are excellent at adapting. Bulbs are generally<br />

very tolerant of wet soil.<br />

"We might even get a better show of bulbs<br />

because in conditions like this they will be<br />

photosynthesising in the increased light<br />

as the year progresses."<br />

Herbaceous perennials renew a large part of<br />

their root system annually, so they can recover<br />

from soggy conditions. Perennials also have<br />

shallow root systems so they can flourish in<br />

situations with a high water table.<br />

Most, including those such as hardy geraniums<br />

and autumn-flowering asters, that do not<br />

normally live in wet environments can cope<br />

well with wet conditions.<br />

Plants with big, lush green leaves thrive in really<br />

wet weather. Rodgersias, rheum (ornamental<br />

rhubarb) and hostas are well-known moisture<br />

lovers. Conversely, avoid anything with small,<br />

leathery or grey leaves.<br />

Alpines, particularly the succulent ones or<br />

those with hairy leaves such as sedums and<br />

some sempervivums (houseleeks), are vulnerable<br />

to wet weather, so if you haven't yet covered<br />

them with cloches, do so before it's too late.<br />

Don't plant bare-root shrubs such as roses<br />

until the soil has dried out a little, Barter advises.<br />

"Gardeners will have rose bushes and trees<br />

and fruit bushes and turf ready to go out and<br />

they must keep that protected because it will<br />

be a rush trying to get everything planted when<br />

the soil finally dries up in February, March or<br />

even April. Gardeners need to keep their new<br />

plants in good condition ready for the happy<br />

day when they can put them out," he says.<br />

Anyone who has bought a bare-root plant<br />

should make sure the roots don't dry out in<br />

the meantime, he urges.<br />

"Take it out of the packaging and pot it up or<br />

wrap it in wet newspaper or straw, put a plastic<br />

bag over the roots and leave it in a shed ready<br />

to go out in its final position later on."<br />

While fruit trees love the moisture, the<br />

relatively warm weather may lead to earlier<br />

blossom, not a good thing in our climate<br />

because of the late frosts we so often suffer.<br />

Gardeners who want to avoid too many<br />

casualties in future years may consider building<br />

raised beds, improving soil drainage and planting<br />

species which are happy in wet weather.<br />

It may be worth thinking about create a bog<br />

garden too, which has the added bonus of<br />

attracting wildlife - plant irises, carex, gunnera,<br />

primulas, hostas, rheum and rodgersia.<br />

Of course, pests come into their own in wet<br />

weather and the number one culprit is the snail.<br />

"A wet, mild winter is slug heaven," says Barter,<br />

"so they will be in poll position to start breeding<br />

come April. At the moment it's too cold for<br />

them, but you often find bulb flowers being<br />

damaged by slugs and snails. I find putting<br />

down an old cabbage leaf (held down by a<br />

stone) next to plants which are being attacked<br />

works well as a trap. Slug pellets don't normally<br />

work at this time of year because the slugs<br />

aren't moving enough to find them."<br />

Some diseases such as leaf spots persist on<br />

plants which are in leaf during wet weather. If<br />

you find outbreaks, prune out infected material.<br />

Lastly, as the rain will have washed many<br />

of the nutrients out of the soil, give it a<br />

pick-me-up with a fertiliser rich in potassium,<br />

such as sulphate of potash or rose fertiliser,<br />

and your plants should come through the<br />

torrent of rain with few problems.<br />

60 61<br />

WWW.NICKEDMAGAZINE.COM


STUDYING FOR DUMMIES<br />

The art<br />

of study<br />

IF STUDYING FOR POLICE RELATED EXAMS SENDS YOU INTO<br />

MENTAL FREEFALL, YOU DON’T NEED TO WORRY. JIM FERRAN<br />

HAS SOME EXPERT ADVICE TO HELP YOU STUDY EFFECTIVELY<br />

AND MORE IMPORTANTLY MAKE SURE ALL THE INFORMATION<br />

IS STORED AWAY SAFELY IN YOUR MEMORY.<br />

{<br />

JIM FERRAN<br />

Jim Ferran PGCE CertEd MIfL served<br />

with distinction within both the<br />

Metropolitan and Merseyside forces<br />

and since retiring has established a<br />

small bespoke training consultancy,<br />

JRC Training. In a short time the<br />

business has accumulated an<br />

impressive client portfolio and Jim<br />

is recognised by his clients as an<br />

exceptional trainer and facilitator.<br />

Designing and developing<br />

contemporary training courses,<br />

JRC Training also provides mentoring<br />

and coaching for people preparing for<br />

assessment centres and interviews<br />

using very unique and successful<br />

reflective practice techniques.<br />

He currently sits on the executive<br />

committee of Mencap Liverpool<br />

providing advice and guidance on<br />

a voluntary consultancy basis.<br />

Want to know more?<br />

Email Jim at jrctraining@hotmail.com<br />

What has studying for a promotion or<br />

CID exam, painting a wooden staircase<br />

or running a marathon got in common?<br />

Simple - they all require you to put<br />

in a significant amount of planning,<br />

preparation and hard work if you<br />

want to get the best results.<br />

“That’s all well and good” you say, “but how<br />

hard can it be? I mean, I’ve been doing the<br />

job for xx years and I know the law so<br />

it’s easy.” This is the first mistake many<br />

people make so let’s explain why that is...<br />

Without cheating and from memory write<br />

down the definition of Section 1 Theft<br />

as outlined in the Theft Act 1968.<br />

A person is guilty of theft if he dishonestly<br />

appropriates property belonging to another<br />

with intention to permanently deprive<br />

the other of it.<br />

OK, let’s assume you got most of the<br />

definition correct, now the hard bit<br />

and without any cheating define:<br />

n Dishonest<br />

n Appropriates<br />

n Property<br />

n Belonging to another<br />

n With the Intention to permanently deprive.<br />

So how was that for you? You probably<br />

knew some of it but when taking an exam<br />

you’ll need to be able to instantly recall the<br />

definition and apply it to the set of specific<br />

circumstances you are faced with.<br />

Simply thinking “well it looks like theft<br />

so they would be arrested” is not going<br />

to get you through the exam.<br />

The ironic thing is that a person with no<br />

policing experience at all who studied the<br />

syllabus has a better chance of passing<br />

than an experienced serving officer.<br />

Why is that? The biggest hindrance you<br />

will face is your operational interpretation<br />

of the Law. I remember when teaching<br />

revised Code A stop search to experienced<br />

colleagues, they had a fantastic operational<br />

application knowledge of the legislation but<br />

when we looked closely they had a poor<br />

grasp of what the law actually said. This is<br />

not a criticism, rather a fact, which we all<br />

have survived with as operational officers for<br />

years. Think about the last time you went to<br />

court on a strongly-contested drink driving<br />

case - you know the accused is guilty of<br />

because you arrested him and put him<br />

through the alcometer process.<br />

Scene: The magistrates court and the<br />

defendant represented by a barrister.<br />

n Barrister: “Officer, can you explain<br />

to the court the procedure you asked<br />

my client to carry out.”<br />

n Officer: “Yes, I explained the road-side<br />

breath test procedure to him/her;<br />

I correctly assembled the device<br />

and carried out the test.”<br />

n Barrister: “Sorry officer, you misunderstood<br />

me, it may be me but what I think the<br />

court want to hear is and, using the words<br />

you used exactly, what did you explain<br />

to my client and why.”<br />

n Officer: “…er well I used the wording<br />

as outlined in the manual of guidance…<br />

well yeah the manual you know the one?”<br />

n Barrister: “Officer, answer the question.”<br />

I’m not making light of this or mocking (y)our<br />

skills but we have all been, or knew someone<br />

who has, in this exact position. We are now<br />

in the land of ‘court karaoke’ - you know the<br />

tune because you sing it all the time but now<br />

on stage with an audience you find out you<br />

only know the first verse, half the chorus,<br />

and you lip-synch the rest.<br />

Passing the promotion exam requires you<br />

to know the definition, understand the<br />

application of it and also any underpinning<br />

stated cases which are in place.<br />

Remember this simple formula:<br />

Poor preparation<br />

+ exam karaoke = failure<br />

So to be successful you have to have a<br />

structured and achievable plan. Studying<br />

is time consuming and requires a willingness<br />

on your part and also on your partner/<br />

family/colleagues to both encourage you<br />

and understand the pressure you will face.<br />

You will need to fully accept that studying<br />

will consume you and requires time,<br />

planning, patience and above all support.<br />

I employ something called the ‘i-FACTOR’<br />

when coaching and mentoring my clients.<br />

Unlike its more famous relative the X FACTOR<br />

this one does not ask you to make a fool<br />

of yourself on TV but it does require<br />

you to progress through several rounds<br />

of intense scrutiny, test your skills and<br />

above all, practice.<br />

62<br />

WWW.NICKEDMAGAZINE.COM


STUDYING FOR DUMMIES<br />

The I factor<br />

TOP 10<br />

{<br />

1.Ask yourself: “Why am I doing this?”<br />

This is very important as if you don’t want<br />

to study, or are doing it because someone<br />

has suggested it to you, it may be an issue.<br />

You must fully understand the impact it will<br />

have on you and your family/friends.<br />

2.What is it I want to achieve?<br />

Obviously I want to pass the exam, but do<br />

I have the plan to achieve it? Why do I want<br />

to pass? Am I ready for promotion? Is this<br />

my idea or something that others have<br />

suggested? Am I absolutely committed<br />

to this?<br />

3.When was the last time I studied<br />

or read seriously?<br />

This is very important as studying law and<br />

procedures requires a lot of concentration<br />

and the ability to store information and<br />

retrieve it when required. Reading for<br />

pleasure is very different to reading for<br />

knowledge. You also need to be able to<br />

put into context the information and also<br />

not allow your operational knowledge<br />

to cloud your judgements.<br />

Your brain, like any other ‘muscle’, requires<br />

exercise and you can’t simply pick up study<br />

material and get straight into it. Think of<br />

it as ‘hitting the gym’ after a long absence<br />

- would you really expect to be able<br />

to perform at the level you had been<br />

at previously?<br />

4.How much time can I devote<br />

to studying?<br />

How much time have you got spare -<br />

be honest because if you go overdrawn<br />

at the time bank it will cause you stress.<br />

Create a chart to see how you can work the<br />

studying into your schedule. Many people<br />

think they can study when on Mutual Aid -<br />

let’s be honest, how much peace and<br />

quiet will you get in a van with the average<br />

colleague? Supervisors may promise you<br />

a bit of study time here and there but again,<br />

it rarely happens, and certain shifts are just<br />

not conducive to effective studying.<br />

Operational policing is more intense<br />

than ever, fewer colleagues means you are<br />

working harder and finishing your shifts<br />

tired. Starting a course of intense study is<br />

a bit like signing up for the gym in the New<br />

Year, how many of us continue after the<br />

initial adrenaline or guilt rush has gone?<br />

5.Who else will be affected?<br />

Studying will impact on your family life.<br />

You must find a system that allows you a<br />

work/life/study balance. If you have children<br />

or a dependent family member etc they<br />

need to be involved. How will it fit around<br />

your work – you may be in a specialist unit<br />

that sees you constantly changing shirts,<br />

or you may be managing a heavy case<br />

load. Plan your pre-exam revision time.<br />

If necessary book annual leave in the week<br />

prior to the exam to ensure you a/ have a<br />

controlled study run in, and b/ you aren’t<br />

stuck on a crime scene till 0300hrs on the<br />

morning of the exam either as the night<br />

detective, or the uniform logkeeper.<br />

6.Who can I get to help me?<br />

Consider setting up a study group with<br />

colleagues. Some people set up a group<br />

with a diverse skill/experience mix such as a<br />

CID officer for crime, traffic colleague for the<br />

mysteries of roads policing and someone<br />

who can unravel the web of intrigue that is<br />

the Police and Criminal Evidence Act and<br />

its associated codes of practice.<br />

7. What study guides will you use?<br />

Make sure you are using the most up-todate<br />

material and be mindful that some<br />

legislation has changed and you may not<br />

have been given the training yet. The<br />

different sources are: web-based, IT-based,<br />

books, audio and formal classes - there are<br />

severely companies that run very effective<br />

weekend workshops etc and the trainers are<br />

generally very knowledgeable and will show<br />

you some fantastic memory techniques.<br />

8.What type of learning style are you?<br />

This will impact on the type of guide you use.<br />

Contact your local training officer and they<br />

can arrange a basic learning style analysis for<br />

you. You can also download these from<br />

many educational websites and do your<br />

own. It’s important you know because not<br />

everyone will get the most effective learning<br />

outcome simply by reading.<br />

I recall that when I was learning road craft on<br />

my advanced course (it had to be word<br />

perfect), I put it onto a Sony Walkman and<br />

listened to it whilst driving or cycling to my<br />

course - it worked and I got 100%.<br />

9.How will I measure my success?<br />

Firstly, you must fully understand your<br />

current knowledge level. How would you<br />

rate your knowledge now – did you breeze<br />

through the definition test outlined earlier?<br />

Set yourself small bite-sized achievable<br />

targets so you can see the progress as<br />

these will give you a confidence boost and<br />

show that you are actually learning.<br />

Always take a moment to congratulate<br />

yourself on what you have achieved with<br />

your study. You do a difficult job that takes a<br />

toll on your life. You deserve the opportunity<br />

to develop yourself in an occupation that,<br />

despite recent media attacks, is still one<br />

of the most sought-after occupations.<br />

10.When should I start?<br />

Most people wait until the application for<br />

the exam comes out, however, I would<br />

suggest that that is too late and you have<br />

already put yourself under pressure.<br />

Learning MUST be viewed as an ongoing<br />

process and cramming is not the answer.<br />

Consider reading things such as PACE<br />

codes of practice, RTA definition etc as<br />

a warm-up a few months prior to the real<br />

intensive study programme as they form the<br />

foundation for a large part of the syllabus.<br />

{<br />

The i-FACTOR works as it makes you<br />

concentrate on the most important<br />

person in this equation… you. Studying<br />

does have an impact on you, your quality<br />

of life and needs. Like any other activity,<br />

it needs to be planned into your<br />

already busy schedule.<br />

Remember, your ultimate goal is to seek<br />

promotion, be it for personal/financial<br />

reasons, or the excitement of being<br />

a ‘decision maker’, or both. You are<br />

the motivational part of that process,<br />

however, part of your planning should<br />

include encouraging your line managers<br />

to support you, either by facilitating your<br />

study periods, or by giving you hands-on<br />

insights into the role and responsibilities<br />

encountered by police management.<br />

{<br />

Information<br />

storage<br />

and recall<br />

ON A VERY SIMPLISTIC LEVEL YOUR<br />

BRAIN IS A COMPUTER - A VERY COMPLEX<br />

AND POWERFUL ONE BUT NO DIFFERENT<br />

TO THE ONE YOU USE EVERY DAY.<br />

The brain is made up of two main hard drives:<br />

n The short term memory n The long term memory<br />

Your short term memory is a storage device with a very limited capacity and<br />

information, if not processed properly, can and does drop from it. Think about<br />

a briefing you recently had. How much did you actually remember afterwards<br />

and how much did you recall when you read the bullet points you made?<br />

It is suggested that information is stored better when it is delivered<br />

in a way that suits us.<br />

Think about your school days.<br />

What was your favourite subject then ask yourself why?<br />

I would suggest the following will apply:<br />

n You had an interest for the subject n The teacher was very knowledgeable<br />

But most importantly, I bet the teacher was an exceptional communicator<br />

and made it real for you. Reverse the process and I would suggest the teacher<br />

and their method of delivering the information was poor, even though they<br />

may have had great knowledge, they did not make it real.<br />

Your long term memory is the main storage area and it is capable of storing<br />

a vast amount of information - recall the last time you conducted a victim<br />

or witness interview using the techniques you were shown on your PEACE<br />

course, think how much information we actually store. The long term memory<br />

is where we need to store all our study information.<br />

In a nutshell<br />

WHILST PLANNING AND PREPARING ARE<br />

THE KEY TO YOUR SUCCESS, YOU’RE THE ONLY<br />

ONE WHO CAN UNLOCK YOUR POTENTIAL.<br />

YOU CAN SUCCEED IF YOU PUT THE TIME<br />

AND EFFORT INTO YOUR STUDY PROGRAMME<br />

BUT IT IS IMPERATIVE YOU FULLY UNDERSTAND<br />

WHAT IT IS YOU’RE TAKING ON.<br />

We all start projects with good<br />

intentions but unfortunately many<br />

of us fail to complete because we<br />

get tired, bored or see a minor<br />

setback as a failure and give up.<br />

Set yourself achievable weekly targets<br />

and recognise your achievements<br />

and find a study/work/life balance<br />

that works for you.<br />

Finally, good luck and remember the five Ps:<br />

Prior n Planning n Prevents n Poor n Performance<br />

{<br />

How to store<br />

information e≠ectively<br />

Psychologists suggest that for information to be moved<br />

from the short term memory to the long term memory<br />

several things need to be considered:<br />

n You must be in the right mind-set to study.<br />

When tired etc. your ability to store information decreases.<br />

n Pick a place free from distractions - quiet music<br />

might work but TV or ACDC’s greatest hits etc.<br />

does not, it is a distraction.<br />

n Don’t cram your studying into long intense sessions this<br />

only works very short term – set short repetitive sessions.<br />

n Create structure or group the areas you are studying<br />

that are relevant - e.g. do not read the Theft Act and then<br />

read the Road Traffic Act they are not related in any way.<br />

n Use mnemonics as an aid - I still recall several I was<br />

taught at training school in 1982, or create a story<br />

around the definition.<br />

n Try to visualise the definition as a story - when<br />

you’re studying create a mental video of a person<br />

committing the act.<br />

n Review as bullet points the following morning/evening<br />

what you studied the previous day.<br />

Coming soon…<br />

IN THE NEXT ISSUE OF NICKED WE WILL ASSUME<br />

YOU’VE PASSED THE EXAM (USING ALL MY<br />

HELPFUL TIPS!) AND LOOK AT HOW YOU CAN<br />

PREPARE FOR ACTING DUTIES.<br />

We’ll look at the successful methods to promote<br />

your personal skills and attain acting posts, together<br />

with the all-important evidence gathering in relation<br />

to competency and professional skills, and finally a<br />

few tips for the promotion board.<br />

64 65


BEAUTY<br />

Just<br />

16%<br />

of women<br />

embrace ageing,<br />

according to a recent<br />

UK Confidence<br />

Index by L'Oreal.<br />

After grey hair, wrinkles and dark<br />

under-eye circles came top in a list<br />

of the physical factors that make<br />

women feel less confident.<br />

Side-step skin pitfalls<br />

by avoiding these surprising<br />

ageing antagonists.<br />

Ok, you might never be able to ‘Stop the clock’, but with<br />

good skincare habits you can certainly help slow it down,<br />

Lisa Haynes reveals some surprising ways to slow down the<br />

ageing process Anti-ageing isn't just down to gene pools and<br />

preventative potions. Everyday skincare sins could be interfering<br />

with your war against wrinkles without you even knowing.<br />

AVOID STRAWS<br />

AND CIGARETTES<br />

Your dentist may be all for<br />

straws to protect your teeth<br />

from dark and fizzy drinks<br />

but dermatologists aren't.<br />

"Sipping from a straw can cause<br />

fine lines around your mouth,<br />

"Mauricio warns. "Over the long-term,<br />

pursing your lips to sip out of a<br />

straw causes extra wrinkles<br />

around this area."<br />

The same process applies to<br />

cigarettes, which also compromise<br />

your skin's production of collagen<br />

and elastin, making smoking bad<br />

news for your looks as well as<br />

your health.<br />

TOO LATE? Reduce the appearance<br />

of deep and vertical wrinkles with<br />

Vichy LiftActiv Advance Filler, £31<br />

www.boots.com<br />

SLEEP ON YOUR BACK<br />

More than half of British adults sleep<br />

in the foetal position, curled up on<br />

their side with knees tucked in. That's<br />

the stuff of nightmares for your skin,<br />

according to Mauricio.<br />

"Women who tend to sleep on their sides<br />

are most likely to see sleep lines appear<br />

on their chin and cheeks - these are<br />

wrinkles etched on the surface of the<br />

skin that don't disappear when you lift<br />

your head off the pillow."<br />

Train yourself to sleep on your back<br />

so that your skin doesn't lie crumpled<br />

against the pillow.<br />

TOO LATE? Encourage a restful<br />

night on your back with Aromatherapy<br />

Associates Relax Eye Mask, £46<br />

www.aromatherapyassociates.com<br />

BEWARE OF FACE<br />

INFECTORS<br />

Many of us are permanently<br />

attached to mobile phones but<br />

chatterboxes can be blighted<br />

by regular outbreaks. And<br />

that doesn’t include those<br />

of you who are permanently<br />

stuck to an Airwave set for<br />

8-10 hours a day!<br />

"Mobiles get left around on<br />

various surfaces and pick up<br />

bacteria that can cause pimples<br />

around the cheeks and jawline.<br />

It's best to use your phone in<br />

hands-free mode," advises Mauricio.<br />

The same principles apply to glasses<br />

and sunglasses, which can harbour<br />

sweat and germs.<br />

"Bacteria can grow on the frame that<br />

will sit directly on your facial skin for an<br />

extended period of time. Aim to use<br />

anti-bacterial wipes before putting<br />

them on each day."<br />

TOO LATE? Deep clean and prevent<br />

outbreaks with Bioderma Sebium<br />

H20 micellar, £10<br />

www.garden.co.uk<br />

“<br />

Doing the wrong things can speed up your<br />

skin's ageing process, and you might be surprised<br />

at what some of those no-nos<br />

says American dermatologist Dr Tess Mauricio.<br />

are,"<br />

68 WWW.NICKEDMAGAZINE.COM 67<br />

FACEBOOK.COM/NICKEDMAGAZINE


BEAUTY<br />

BUY IT NOW<br />

Travel in style on spring breaks with<br />

Orla Kiely's new wash bag range. The print<br />

designer has created a Sixties stem pattern<br />

on durable coated canvas with gold zips<br />

and leather trims, from £20 - £32<br />

www.johnlewis.com<br />

BEAUTY BULLETIN Just brows-ing<br />

Women in the UK spend a whopping £2.3 billion<br />

a year perfecting their eyebrows. Almost a fifth<br />

of British women (19%) are spending more than<br />

£10 a month on brow maintenance, according<br />

to a recent survey by QVC to mark the exclusive<br />

launch of Benefit Gimme Brow Gel.<br />

One in eight (13%) spend upwards of 30 minutes<br />

a week perfecting their arches, amounting to<br />

over one whole day (26 hours) per year. For brow<br />

inspiration, almost half of women (42%) look<br />

to the Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton<br />

and her dark, defined arches.<br />

SEEK SHADE ON AEROPLANES<br />

Ah, sunbeams! Cloud gazing is good for the<br />

soul but not so uplifting for the face.<br />

"You're much closer to the sun in a plane than on land,<br />

so it stands to reason that solar rays, which can penetrate<br />

windows, are more intense at higher altitudes,<br />

" Mauricio reveals. "Plus, the air up there is notoriously<br />

dry and without moisture, so skin simply shrivels."<br />

If you're sitting next to a window, pull down the shade,<br />

drink plenty of water to hydrate, and avoid salty foods<br />

and alcohol. Mauricio recommends applying a rich<br />

moisturiser with minimum SPF15 half an hour before<br />

boarding, as sunscreen needs time to absorb<br />

before it's effective.<br />

TOO LATE? Even out age spots and stubborn pigmentation<br />

with SkinCeuticals Advanced Pigment Corrector, £83.50<br />

www.effortlessskin.com<br />

Tried<br />

& tested<br />

Repair the ravages of winter with<br />

a multipurpose balm. Our testers<br />

try three soothing all-rounders:<br />

LUSH ULTRABALM<br />

ALL PURPOSE BALM<br />

This generously-sized tin houses<br />

a non-petroleum balm with organic<br />

jojoba oil and rose wax. It feels<br />

quite 'thin' on application and<br />

doesn't taste amazing, so I preferred<br />

using this on areas of tough skin,<br />

my cuticles and for taming eyebrows.<br />

£8.50 for 45g www.lush.co.uk<br />

MAINTAIN A HEALTHY WEIGHT<br />

Yo-yo dieters, beware. Repeatedly losing<br />

and gaining weight can take its toll on<br />

your face's elasticity, leaving behind<br />

jowls and sagging.<br />

Mauricio says: "Packing on pounds can make your skin look plumper<br />

on the surface, but carrying excess weight can cause your body's levels<br />

of insulin and cortisol to rise, which can break down collagen.<br />

"You'll see increased sagging from putting on and keeping on as<br />

little as 10-15 extra pounds, and loss of facial fat can cause sagging<br />

and a gaunt, aged appearance."<br />

Maintain a healthy weight with proper diet and exercise, aiming<br />

to keep your weight in the 'normal' range, with a body mass index<br />

(BMI) between 18.5 and 24.9.<br />

TOO LATE? Perk up sagging and loose skin with Origins<br />

Plantscription Powerful Lifting Cream, £50<br />

www.origins.co.uk<br />

CRABTREE & EVELYN<br />

ENGLISH HONEY AND<br />

PEACH BLOSSOM<br />

ALL PURPOSE BALM<br />

Dinky tin with a buttery-soft<br />

moisturising balm. A little goes<br />

a long way and it felt soothing<br />

on both lips and body niggles<br />

with a subtle honey fragrance.<br />

£9 for 15g www.crabtree-evelyn.co.uk<br />

LANOLIPS 101 OINTMENT<br />

MULTIPURPOSE BALM<br />

A handy little tube that's ideal for bags.<br />

The ultra-pure medical grade lanolin makes<br />

for a luxuriously thick formulation. There's<br />

a natural gloss too, making it perfect<br />

for chapped lips.<br />

£11 for 15g www.boots.com<br />

68 69<br />

WWW.NICKEDMAGAZINE.COM<br />

TWITTER.COM/NICKEDMAGAZINE


BOOK REVIEW<br />

The<br />

Poisoned<br />

Island<br />

LLOYD SHEPHERD’S<br />

THE POISONED ISLAND<br />

IS A GLORIOUS MASH UP<br />

OF CRIME, EXOTIC ISLANDS,<br />

BOTANIC INTRIGUE AND<br />

THE HISTORIC STORY OF<br />

LONDON’S RIVER POLICE.<br />

HERE WE FIND OUT<br />

MORE IN A Q&A WITH<br />

THE AUTHOR...<br />

An island of intrigue…<br />

LONDON 1812: For forty years Britain has<br />

dreamed of the Pacific island of Tahiti, a dark<br />

paradise of bloody cults and beautiful natives.<br />

Now, decades after the first voyage of<br />

Captain Cook, a new ship returns to London<br />

from the Pacific, crammed with botanical<br />

specimens and laden also, it seems,<br />

with the mysteries of Tahiti.<br />

John Harriott, magistrate of the Thames<br />

River Police, is asked to take a personal interest<br />

in the security of the ship and its cargo.<br />

So when, days after the Solander's arrival,<br />

some of its crew are found dead and their<br />

sea-chests ransacked - their throats slashed,<br />

faces frozen into terrible smiles - Harriott<br />

puts constable Charles Horton in charge<br />

of the investigation. But what connects the<br />

crewmen's dying dreams with the ambitions<br />

of the ship's principal backer, Sir Joseph Banks<br />

of the Royal Society? And how can Britain's<br />

new science possibly explain the strangeness<br />

of Tahiti's floral riches now growing at Kew?<br />

Horton must employ his singular methods<br />

to uncover a chain of conspiracy stretching<br />

all the way back to the foot of the great<br />

dead volcano Tahiti Nui, beneath the<br />

hungry eyes of ancient gods.<br />

Lloyd answers some questions for<br />

<strong>NiCKED</strong> about The Poisoned Island:<br />

Q:What’s the book about?<br />

A:Ah, the hardest question of them all!<br />

Well, first things first: it’s a sequel to my first<br />

book, The English Monster. It’s set a year<br />

later, in 1812. But like my first book, it opens<br />

with a chapter from a deeper past: in this<br />

case, with a young Englishman chasing a<br />

Tahitian princess through the trees in 1769.<br />

He catches her, but then she disappears….<br />

Forty-three years later, a ship called the<br />

Solander arrives in the Thames estuary.<br />

She has sailed from Tahiti, and is carrying<br />

hundreds of exotic plants, seedlings and<br />

seeds from that mysterious island.<br />

They are intended for the gardens at Kew,<br />

under the supervision of Sir Joseph Banks of<br />

the Royal Society. A day later, Charles Horton<br />

of the Wapping River Police Office discovers<br />

one of the sailors from the Solander dead in<br />

his rooms, his face carved with a terrible smile.<br />

Horton and his magistrate John Harriott<br />

open an investigation, while upriver at<br />

Kew the strange plants from Tahiti reveal<br />

themselves to be a good deal weirder<br />

than even Sir Joseph had realised.<br />

Q:So it’s historical fiction, then?<br />

A:Well, if you read The English Monster, you’ll<br />

know I’m not in the business of writing straight<br />

historical fiction here. What I did in that first book,<br />

and what I do again here, is set real historical<br />

events and characters against an imagined<br />

canvas in which unusual – perhaps even<br />

magical – things can happen.<br />

I’ve had to dance around this a fair bit, because<br />

to have talked about it too much would have been<br />

a heck of a plot-spoiler for The English Monster.<br />

But those expecting a straightforward historical<br />

tale will be in for a bit of a surprise; whether a<br />

pleasant or an unpleasant one will depend on<br />

the reader. But if you’ve got an appetite for the<br />

fantastical, this might be a meal you’ll enjoy sitting<br />

down to. There’s a murder mystery to be solved.<br />

There’s history to be described. But there’s<br />

oddness and unexpectedness too.<br />

Put it this way. I’ve found The English Monster<br />

filed in bookshops under Crime, under History,<br />

under General Fiction, under Fantasy and under<br />

Horror. Seriously. My favourite description of the<br />

genre has come from Shelley Harris, the lovely<br />

author of the lovely book Jubilee. She described<br />

The English Monster as ‘Regency X-Files.’ Taking<br />

that theme, I’d describe The Poisoned Island<br />

as ‘Regency Lost.’ But genre is a slippery thing,<br />

is it not? What it gives with one hand it takes<br />

away with the other.<br />

Q:Why write about this period in history?<br />

A:Because it’s such a fascinating conjunction<br />

between two worlds. This period falls squarely<br />

between the questioning of the Enlightenment<br />

and the technology of the Victorians. The<br />

world has only recently begun to be reasonably<br />

measured; in the previous hundred years,<br />

two thousand years of wrongheaded<br />

knowledge has been set right.<br />

Nowhere was this more apparent than in the<br />

field of botany, on which much of The Poisoned<br />

Island is based. In the thirty years before my<br />

book is set, botanists had figured out plant<br />

reproduction and respiration. They’d begun to<br />

establish a robust platform for plant taxonomy.<br />

They’d begun to substitute superstition for<br />

science (even though that word hadn’t been<br />

invented). But there was still so much to do,<br />

so much that was mysterious and unknown.<br />

There were still white spaces on maps,<br />

but they were almost all metaphorical ones,<br />

gaps in human knowledge in which wonders<br />

could still manifest themselves.<br />

To put it another way: the early 19th century<br />

is the most recent time that still feels like<br />

deep history. The Victorians feel adjacent<br />

to us: photography means we can see them.<br />

We can even hear them. The Georgians<br />

are still unavailable to us in those forms.<br />

They remain intriguing.<br />

Q:In most crime books the lead detective<br />

is slightly flawed. What are Charles Horton’s<br />

strengths and weaknesses?<br />

A:I think the best fictional detectives are<br />

doomed because it's their flaws that make them<br />

effective. They're too committed, too suspicious,<br />

too ready to see the bad in people. Horton's a bit<br />

like that: his slightly monomaniacal nature comes<br />

from his separation from ordinary people, and<br />

that separation stems from the guilt of his past.<br />

He betrayed his shipmates in the Nore mutiny in<br />

order to secure a release, and that infects all his<br />

relationships. So he wants to perfect the world<br />

and repay his debt, and that makes him<br />

extraordinarily committed, but it also makes<br />

him a bit odd. And of course his love for his wife<br />

gives him personal strength, but also makes<br />

him vulnerable to those who would be prepared<br />

to attack him via his wife.<br />

LLOYD<br />

SHEPHERD<br />

Lloyd Shepherd is a former journalist<br />

and digital producer who has worked<br />

for the Guardian, Channel 4, the BBC<br />

and Yahoo. He lives in South London<br />

with his family. He is the author of<br />

The English Monster, inspired by the<br />

real-life Ratcliffe Highway murders<br />

and its sequel, The Poisoned Island.<br />

Q:What are the themes you’re trying to cover?<br />

A:The English Monster dealt with exploitation of<br />

a particularly chilling kind: the exploitation of humans<br />

through slavery. The Poisoned Island deals with<br />

a different kind of exploitation: that of natural<br />

resources. In 1812, the natural world was something<br />

to be harnessed to the needs of nations.<br />

The most obvious example of this relates to<br />

Tahiti. When Lt. Bligh commanded the Bounty his<br />

mission was to take breadfruit from that island<br />

and transplant it to Jamaica and the other West<br />

Indies. It was thought to be an ideal, starchy<br />

foodstuff for the slaves working on the plantations<br />

in those islands (and they were still slaves; the<br />

slave trade might have been abolished in 1808,<br />

but slavery as an institution was not abolished<br />

in the Empire until 1833, and in effect not for a<br />

few years after that). At the centre of both these<br />

examples was Sir Joseph Banks, who plays a big<br />

role in The Poisoned Island, as does his librarian,<br />

the botanist Robert Brown.<br />

Q:Harking back also to The English Monster,<br />

where did you go to research the Thames<br />

River Police?<br />

A:First stop was, of course, the River Police<br />

Office itself. There's a fabulous museum there,<br />

and I was grateful to retired river police officer<br />

Rob Jeffries for showing me around. Then I spent<br />

a lot of time in Wapping itself to get a feel for<br />

itself. The final source was the memoir of John<br />

Harriott, the first stipendiary magistrate of the<br />

River Police, and an amazing bulldog of a man.<br />

Q:It has been said the Ratcliffe Murders<br />

(discussed in The English Monster) ultimately<br />

lead to a reform of policing. Do you think that<br />

in The Poisoned Island Horton has honed his<br />

skills and tackles his investigation differently?<br />

A:I don't think Horton's quite aware of his 'skills'.<br />

He applies common sense and intelligence to<br />

crimes but does it in a way that hasn't been seen<br />

before. Most importantly, he recognises the<br />

importance of motive and opportunity, and<br />

understands how evidence can lead to solutions.<br />

He is better at this in The Poisoned Island,<br />

and of course it was a different situation, as<br />

the press and the nation weren't as obsessed<br />

with the story - because it didn't happen!<br />

Q:We reckon most of our NICKED readers<br />

have a story or two up their sleeves. What<br />

would your advice be to aspiring crime writers<br />

or those who have great story to tell?<br />

A:Get it down on paper (or stick it in a<br />

computer), and get someone else to read it.<br />

It'll be their response which tells them whether<br />

you've got something or not.<br />

Q:Who’s your favourite fictional cop and why?<br />

A:Probably James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux.<br />

A hero, a poet, a fighter and a drunk. He'd have your<br />

back in a fight, but one drink and he'd let you down.<br />

The English Monster and The Poisoned<br />

Island by Lloyd Shepherd (Simon & Schuster)<br />

are available now in paperback.<br />

Find more about Lloyd Shepherd here:<br />

www.LloydShepherd.com or follow him<br />

on Twitter: @lloydshep<br />

70 71<br />

WWW.NICKEDMAGAZINE.COM<br />

FACEBOOK.COM/NICKEDMAGAZINE


FASHION<br />

Spring<br />

Trends...<br />

pick your spring statement<br />

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *<br />

After a miserable winter its time<br />

to lighten up your wardrobe with<br />

this season's fresh new looks.<br />

Casual ivory spot shirt, £39<br />

Cashmere crew neck jumper, £99<br />

Chino shorts, £39<br />

Palma sandals, £59<br />

www.boden.co.uk<br />

pastel<br />

punch<br />

* * * * * * *<br />

Refreshing sorbet shades<br />

of mint, lavender, peach<br />

and powdery pinks and<br />

blues are an instant palette<br />

cleanser for spring.<br />

The freshest way to wear them is<br />

top-to-toe in one hue. Balance out the<br />

girliness with an androgynous silhouette<br />

- a tailored suit will look pale and<br />

interesting paired with a white shirt.<br />

Texture is all-important. Look to fabrics<br />

like lace and leather to add an edge to<br />

pretty pastels. You'll even find traditional<br />

black biker jackets in pastel leather<br />

colourways for a spring staple.<br />

Wear your pastels now by teaming a<br />

skirt or trousers with a grey crew-neck<br />

sweater to tone down the colour.<br />

Lisa Haynes reviews the trends<br />

to put a spring back in your step.<br />

*<br />

Sarah jacket, £179<br />

Perry top, £89<br />

Emily trousers, £110<br />

Selma sandals, £129<br />

www.hobbs.co.uk<br />

0845 313 3130<br />

With the rainiest Winter on record<br />

behind us, your wardrobe deserves<br />

an injection of spring cheer.<br />

Luckily, this season delivers, with<br />

mouthwatering pastels, bold prints<br />

and fierce florals for an instant<br />

closet pick-me-up.<br />

The catwalk message is clear for<br />

spring/summer 14: go bold or go<br />

home. Dark and dainty pieces are few<br />

and far between, so be courageous<br />

with your trend shopping.<br />

Just a few high-fashion statement<br />

pieces are enough to revive your<br />

current spring staples. For good<br />

chiconomics, invest now and you'll<br />

get an entire season's wear.<br />

Say hello to your<br />

new season gloom-fighters...<br />

George at Asda<br />

*<br />

pastel trench coat, £25<br />

www.george.com<br />

TWITTER.COM/NICKEDMAGAZINE<br />

73


FASHION<br />

* * * * *<br />

square<br />

dance<br />

Checks were big for winter but<br />

they've gone wholesome for spring<br />

with girly gingham.<br />

Any colourway goes in these country-inspired checks.<br />

Pastels will make your gingham look uber-pretty, red or<br />

blue brights make a statement, while traditional black<br />

and white are more accessible.<br />

Floaty dresses and smocks are the feminine way to work<br />

this trend, but for a more contemporary look, opt for<br />

structured shapes, like scuba-style T-shirts or pencil skirts.<br />

Gingham may be a playful print but it can work for the<br />

office too, in the form of sharp, tailored trousers. Dress<br />

down with flat loafers or pointed pumps, and just add<br />

heels for business-like glamour.<br />

Ted Baker Timliaa tangled floral print dress, £179<br />

www.tedbaker.com<br />

bold<br />

botanicals<br />

* * * * * *<br />

Delicate petals are out,<br />

gargantuan blooms are in.<br />

Impactful prints are this<br />

season's floral reincarnation.<br />

In the form of hothouse and tropical blooms,<br />

often as one statement bud, florals have<br />

been supersized for spring.<br />

Wear as one bright piece or double up your<br />

petal power with matching two-piece sets.<br />

There are plenty of floral dresses out there,<br />

but you'll also discover standout separates<br />

and accessories.<br />

To bridge the gap between winter and<br />

spring, pick out bouquet prints with navy<br />

or black backdrops.<br />

Martina contrast jumper, £80<br />

Harriet checked peplum skirt, £120<br />

www.fennwrightmanson.com<br />

Helsinki printed skirt, £115<br />

Jermima knit, £55<br />

Jasmine shoes, £80<br />

Bag, £55<br />

www.coast-stores.com<br />

Casual ivory spot shirt, £39<br />

Bistro crop trousers, £59<br />

navy spot slingbacks, £69<br />

www.boden.co.uk<br />

McQ embroidered sweater, £195<br />

Untold floral prom dress, £115<br />

Dickins & Jones bird print scarf, £30<br />

www.houseoffraser.co.uk<br />

Matalan gingham full skirt, £16<br />

www.matalan.co.uk<br />

74<br />

WWW.NICKEDMAGAZINE.COM


FASHION<br />

true<br />

blue<br />

* * * * *<br />

Every season introduces a new<br />

'It' shade and 2014 has got the<br />

blues; specifically cobalt.<br />

Wear the cool hue as an accent or top-to-toe<br />

statement. For a true blue takeover, mix things up<br />

using contrasting textures, like a leather skirt and<br />

silk shirt, or cotton dress and fluffy overcoat.<br />

Team with grey or black now and freshen up with<br />

stark white once the weather turns brighter.<br />

Cobalt blue can be worn right now without<br />

looking like you're being too spring premature<br />

- this is a hue that works equally as well with<br />

opaque tights as bare legs.<br />

Ossie Clark London<br />

- Iconic blue jumpsuit, £149<br />

www.ossieclarklondon.co.uk<br />

Join our<br />

Healthcare Scheme<br />

for less than<br />

£1.50 per day *<br />

*based on 2014 prices for single membership for ages 30-34<br />

Healthcare with you in mind<br />

We’ll get you back on your<br />

feet quickly<br />

Long Tall Sally - Square neck<br />

full skirt dress, £75<br />

www.longtallsally.com<br />

To find out more or apply<br />

call 0800 652 9329<br />

visit policemutual.co.uk/healthcare<br />

Marisota blue mesh insert top, £35<br />

www.marisota.co.uk<br />

Police Healthcare Scheme Limited registered in England & Wales, No. 3018474. Registered office: Guardians House,<br />

2111 Coventry Road, Sheldon, Birmingham, B26 3EA. Call 0800 652 9329 (Monday-Friday, 8.30am-5.30pm) or visit<br />

policemutual.co.uk/healthcare. For your security, all telephone calls are recorded and may be monitored.<br />

HEALTH00025 0114<br />

76<br />

WWW.NICKEDMAGAZINE.COM


PHOTOGRAPHY<br />

Life<br />

through<br />

a lens<br />

Get the lighting right<br />

When starting out, the best piece of shooting advice<br />

is always choose the best light over the better location.<br />

Obviously no one wants a photo of their children<br />

stood by the bins, but when you’re in a gorgeous location<br />

there’s little point in choosing that stunning view if your<br />

subjects are squinting into the camera or it’s too dark<br />

to see their faces. Consider the light that is available to<br />

you, and how high the sun is in the sky. Like in the police<br />

service, photographers use the term ‘Golden Hour’.<br />

The most frequently asked<br />

question by my clients is:<br />

"Why don't my images<br />

look like yours?"<br />

The honest answer, other than this is my<br />

lifework and career, is that it’s usually about<br />

how ‘depth of field’ and lighting are used.<br />

Modern articles tell us digital cameras<br />

and editing software can capture virtually<br />

anything, make it look special and take<br />

all the hard work out of photography.<br />

This is simply not true.<br />

Although a spontaneous happy snap can<br />

end up becoming a family favourite, there<br />

is no substitute for good lighting, and that’s<br />

a principle that hasn't changed since the<br />

invention of film. Of course ‘composing’<br />

the photograph is important but light is<br />

still the medium you will paint your picture<br />

with. You can have a beautifully framed<br />

picture in your viewfinder, but it you don’t<br />

use the light properly it can be ruined.<br />

Getting to know how your camera functions<br />

while developing your photography skills<br />

are far more beneficial than standing in a<br />

camera shop buying yet another piece<br />

of kit. When I run workshops for starter<br />

photography businesses the most common<br />

mistake people make is that they buy far<br />

too much equipment. My advice would be,<br />

learn to use what you have, and when<br />

you have exhausted that equipment and<br />

can learn no more, then consider trading<br />

it in for the next level up.<br />

In photography if refers to a certain time of day when<br />

the light is considered exceptional for the best outdoor<br />

photography. For those of you who work shifts it can<br />

fit in quite well when coming off duty at odd hours<br />

of the day, mainly because the Golden Hour occurs<br />

near to sunrise and sunset. It’s that first (or last)<br />

beautiful hour in the day where the light is ideally<br />

golden and the sun is low.<br />

If you’re lucky enough to holiday in the sun, take<br />

advantage of the Golden Hour and plan a stroll along<br />

the beach watching the sun go down (then, if you’re<br />

anything like me, ignore your poor loved one whilst you<br />

get some amazing images or better still ‘force’ them to<br />

pose in them!). However, you are more likely to be stuck<br />

at home in the UK with its unpredictable weather, and<br />

have to make the most of your time while trying to take<br />

series of nice family shots. try a local Woodland. Make<br />

sure you find one with a balance of trees and meadow –<br />

it’s surprising how dark the shadows cast by trees can be.<br />

If it's a bright day try putting your subjects at the edge<br />

of the available shade. Don’t start too far in and then<br />

move them back from where the shade starts about a<br />

foot at a time – keep going until the light on their face is<br />

equal (the same light on both sides of the face) but not<br />

so far that it’s too dark. Depending on the height of the<br />

sun this is usually two to three feet into the shade.<br />

If you want to get creative don't be afraid to shoot<br />

into the light, the trick here is to move yourself more<br />

than your subject. If the sun is low you should be able to<br />

position yourself well enough that either your subject or<br />

some nearby foliage is carefully placed to block out the<br />

worst of the glare from the sun. You should then be able<br />

to experiment, positioning yourself left, right and centre<br />

to see what effects you can take advantage of. If the<br />

light is right you should be able to get a lovely halo effect<br />

to their silhouette. It’s an old fashioned rule that the<br />

sun should always be behind the camera.<br />

I think the best thing about digital photography<br />

is that whatever type of camera you have it gives<br />

you the opportunity to keep experimenting<br />

until you’re happy. You can even use your mobile<br />

phone to gain these effects so get practising.<br />

78 79<br />

WWW.NICKEDMAGAZINE.COM<br />

FACEBOOK.COM/NICKEDMAGAZINE


PHOTOGRAPHY<br />

Which camera<br />

is best?<br />

In addition to the “Why don’t my images look<br />

like yours?” question, the most commonly asked<br />

question via email is: "What camera should I buy?"<br />

This is a difficult question as it depends on<br />

your available budget and what you are most<br />

likely to need it for.<br />

Most people are occasional photographers and<br />

with either use their mobile phone, or a low budget<br />

compact camera. Some dedicated amateur<br />

photographers will buy more specialised equipment<br />

that gives them a greater flexibility. Some of this<br />

equipment is of a very high standard and can be used<br />

by professionals. I shoot with Canon as I love their<br />

prime lenses (this means the lens range is fixed and<br />

doesn't zoom in or out and I have to move either<br />

myself, or the camera).<br />

This isn't to say I dislike Nikon - quite simply it’s<br />

a matter of preference and there are no rights or<br />

wrongs. My first digital SLR was a Pentax and I loved<br />

that camera with my heart and soul, so it really is<br />

a personal opinion. As a professional I love using<br />

prime lenses because there are by and large of<br />

exceptional quality. However, they offer less<br />

flexibility than a zoom lens. Mainly because when<br />

using a prime lens YOU have to move the camera<br />

or the subject, whereas with a zoom lens the<br />

photographer can generally remain static and<br />

adjust the lens to frame the picture.<br />

However, if you want to delve deeper into photography,<br />

it’s worth knowing that the two biggest international<br />

brands are Canon and Nikon and they have the<br />

most options in terms of cameras and lenses. This<br />

is mainly because most of their professional lenses<br />

are compatible with the lower priced ‘entry level’<br />

camera bodies, and vice versa. So you would be<br />

able to upgrade or buy additional lenses when the<br />

time called for it and if you ever decided to upgrade<br />

the body of your camera there would be no need<br />

for new lenses. The only downside is that Nikon and<br />

Canon lenses are not interchangeable between<br />

brands. So Nikon won’t fit Canon and vice versa.<br />

If you’re looking to keep costs down there is a<br />

vast range of other camera manufacturers such as<br />

Sony, who produce cameras to a very high standard.<br />

There is also the option to purchase from secondhand<br />

dealers that you can be found online or in<br />

the Classifieds section at the back of photography<br />

magazines. Make sure you do your research on the<br />

camera model and the company first. Entry-level<br />

Digital SLRs start from under £300 with an<br />

inexpensive kit lens and if you have a budget for a<br />

simple family camera I would always say to someone<br />

asking to opt for the entry level digital SLR over<br />

a smaller ‘compact’ non SLR camera.<br />

These days most are designed specifically to<br />

be small and lightweight for the convenience of travel<br />

etc, if that is all you want, but if you decide to take<br />

it further and turn your camera into a larger hobby<br />

you will have the ability to buy additional lenses<br />

and learn the photography basics as well.<br />

Most DSLRS can be controlled manually as well<br />

as automatically, which again gives you scope to<br />

take the hobby to the next level.<br />

Nicola<br />

Johnson<br />

Nicola Johnson is a self-taught<br />

professional fine art, lifestyle<br />

photographer. She has a passion for<br />

teaching photography at all levels and<br />

developing the skills of professionals.<br />

You can find out more about her<br />

work and her workshops at:<br />

www.nicolajohnsonphotographer.com<br />

www.facebook.com/<br />

NicolaJohnsonPhotographer<br />

Top tips for buying<br />

smaller cameras<br />

If you decide you just want a functional point and shoot<br />

camera that costs less than £300, and you don’t intend<br />

blowing the images up too large, I would seriously<br />

consider a good camera phone.<br />

Controversial to some, however, you would always have it<br />

with you and there have been some amazing leaps in phone<br />

technology - you can adjust your ISO, change your white balance<br />

and sometimes your shutter speeds. If you look for good lighting<br />

and apply some basic framing principles you can get some<br />

great images and there’s always Instagram to add a little flare!<br />

If you do decide to buy a small camera, rather than looking<br />

too closely at the amount of pixels available on the sensor<br />

(although try to avoid anything below 10), look at its<br />

•<br />

capabilities with regards to:<br />

SHUTTER SPEED - how fast the shutter opens and<br />

closes. You need a good range of both slower, say 100,<br />

•<br />

and faster these go up into 1000s.<br />

APERTURE - how wide the shutter opens.<br />

•<br />

You will need a lower aperture.<br />

ISO - its capabilities in low light. The higher the ISO<br />

the better it will be in low light.<br />

Nicola’s top 10 basic tips<br />

1. LIGHTING: Choose lighting<br />

over location every time<br />

2. FAMILY PORTRAITS: Arrange<br />

separate days for photographing the<br />

family. Decide whether the objective<br />

is to fill the album with happy snaps<br />

(for example a day out at the zoo),<br />

or to choreograph a more formal<br />

family portrait.<br />

3. SUNLIGHT: When you’re driving<br />

home or out walking/cycling and<br />

you notice a low golden sun, make<br />

a mental note of where the sunlight<br />

is falling at that time of year. These<br />

can be used later when setting<br />

up a photoshoot.<br />

4. THINK ABOUT COLOUR:<br />

Colour affects the mood of an image<br />

not just how it is appreciated. Putting<br />

your daughter in a pastel pink or bold<br />

purple dress in the middle of a field<br />

yellow canola oil-seed field could look<br />

like a soft romantic image, but putting<br />

your son in a blue, white and red outfit<br />

in the same location would make quite<br />

a startling and contrasting image.<br />

5. CAUTION DISTRACTIONS:<br />

Have you ever seen someone in a<br />

vertically striped outfit on the TV and<br />

the screen displays a weird distortion<br />

effect that makes your eyes blink? It’s<br />

the same effect when photographing<br />

similar objects. Narrow stripes can<br />

blend together in images because<br />

of the curve of the lens try to avoid<br />

photographing objects that involve<br />

thin stripes. So try to avoid taking<br />

portraits of people in character<br />

clothing as it leads the eye directly to<br />

the source of the distraction rather<br />

than to the person or people who<br />

are the subject of your image.<br />

6. CONSIDER THE TIME OF DAY:<br />

The sun is at its highest at midday<br />

and in the height of summer it is<br />

worth avoiding as the light can be<br />

quite harsh and unflattering. Remember<br />

– as a general rule - the lower the sun,<br />

the more flattering the light.<br />

7. FOREGROUND, MIDDLE<br />

GROUND AND BACKGROUND:<br />

As you look at your image either<br />

in portrait or landscape format,<br />

take a breath and look at your<br />

framing. Try separating the image<br />

into three horizontal sections. The<br />

area to the bottom of the image is<br />

generally your foreground, the central<br />

area is the middle ground, usually<br />

where the subject of the photograph<br />

sits, and the top of the frame being<br />

the background (or horizon).<br />

To develop your skills experiment<br />

by moving your framing up and down<br />

slightly see which proportions work<br />

best with your image. It only takes<br />

a few moments yet will enhance<br />

your picture immeasurably. As a rule<br />

portraits with little foreground can<br />

look a little odd.<br />

8. CROPPING PORTRAITS:<br />

There is a rule of thumb when<br />

framing a portrait that if you are<br />

looking at the framing, try to keep<br />

the cropping point near a limb joint if<br />

you don’t want the whole arm or leg<br />

in the image. If you crop it mid-calf<br />

or forearm for example the result<br />

can appear unbalanced.<br />

9. EYE LEVEL: Using children as<br />

an example, a large majority of people<br />

photograph children by angling the<br />

camera downward. This gives a<br />

distorted perspective of the subject<br />

(and usually misses out on lots of<br />

character). If you are taller than your<br />

subject try to lower yourself to the<br />

level of your subject’s eyes as this<br />

will dramatically change the way<br />

your photos, especially of your<br />

children will appear in print.<br />

10. TAKE IT ALL WITH YOU:<br />

Keep a notebook. Don’t expect to<br />

remember everything you want to try<br />

out. You can easily make short notes<br />

on a piece of paper and stick it in your<br />

pocket (I used to write crib notes on<br />

the inside of my hands) or type/write<br />

out prompt cards, or do little drawings<br />

of stick people to use as reminders<br />

for poses or setups..<br />

As with all pastimes and hobbies it’s important to have fun.<br />

Be creative and enjoy yourself. Don’t be disheartened by getting things wrong at<br />

first, I certainly used to, and don’t think you can’t learn something from a lower level<br />

camera. One of the most common demands asked by professional photographers<br />

is for natural, low light coaching – in other words, how to get a better image in<br />

low light without flash. I learnt how to shoot in low light because I couldn’t afford a<br />

better camera. I’ve shot weddings with a Canon 40D but it was a semi professional<br />

camera with very limited ISO capabilities. But with perseverance I successfully<br />

photographed weddings with that camera for over two years. I learnt how to<br />

improvise, and move slightly and change my position to obtain a far better image.<br />

Always embrace what you have to hand rather than fretting for what you haven’t.<br />

Over time I acquired a camera that had better attributes and capabilities, and<br />

my low light images became more creative. Remember, you paint with light.<br />

Next time I’ll be giving you some tips on framing, leading lines and<br />

depth of field, and how a little experimentation and anticipation can change<br />

a mundane picture into an outstanding picture.<br />

80 81<br />

WWW.NICKEDMAGAZINE.COM<br />

TWITTER.COM/NICKEDMAGAZINE


GADGETS<br />

Top six<br />

portable<br />

chargers<br />

SMOOTH<br />

OPERATOR<br />

Joosa Charger - £29.99 from firebox.com<br />

The latest arrival on the portable charger<br />

scene is this highly tactile, well-finished<br />

piece of kit, laying down the standard<br />

for the next generation.<br />

Power yours up from the mains and it'll<br />

charge your mobile up to eight times before<br />

it needs attention itself. As you only plug<br />

in your USB cable, it's also compatible<br />

with almost everything.<br />

STONE ME<br />

Pebble Verto - from £21.49 at dabs.com<br />

This compact range of portable chargers<br />

comes complete with a range of power<br />

pins for various devices, and manages to<br />

store enough power inside for about two<br />

full refills of your smartphone.<br />

Not as revolutionary as others, but neat<br />

and efficient - which is actually all you need.<br />

Been kept on duty?<br />

Going out of force<br />

on mutual aid?<br />

Or maybe your mobile is just getting a<br />

lot of use. Then there’s the ubiquitous<br />

tablet and e-book readers.<br />

Whatever you’re doing, the chances are that<br />

you won’t have your charger handy, and unless<br />

you have a battery to actually make it work,<br />

it's all a bit pointless, isn't it?<br />

Thankfully, portable power stations have<br />

the answer, so we asked Peter Jenkinson<br />

to take a look at some gadgets that will<br />

help keep your mobile and other<br />

devices running.<br />

HAPPY<br />

CAMPER<br />

Biolite camper stove<br />

- £149.99 from firebox.com<br />

This contraption is not one for every day<br />

occasions, but you'll certainly look forward<br />

to using it on those non-every day<br />

occasions (camping, hiking and showing<br />

off at your friend’s barbeque!).<br />

Using flammable natural materials like<br />

twigs and leaves, it cooks for you, keeps<br />

you warm, and - crucially - powers<br />

up an internal fan to send juice<br />

to your gadgets.<br />

YES YOU CAN<br />

Fuel - £24.99 from firebox.com<br />

Not much bulkier than a box of matches,<br />

it'll come as no surprise that the diminutive<br />

nature of this re-juicer means it must<br />

compromise on power reserves. But saying<br />

that, it can still give you a much needed<br />

20 minutes of extra chat time.<br />

It also looks like a jerry can, so it's up to<br />

you if you want to make the glug-glug<br />

sounds as you fill up your phone.<br />

JUST IN CASE<br />

TurboCharger 7000 World Pack<br />

- £59.95 from proporta.co.uk<br />

A very nifty idea this one - well, if you're an<br />

iPhone 5 owner, anyway. This slim outer case<br />

both doubles the life of your mobile, and<br />

protects it from the inevitable meetings<br />

with solid surfaces.<br />

Put it on, flick the switch and off it goes,<br />

doing its work without any work from you.<br />

Clever...<br />

POWER STICK<br />

Pebble Smartstick<br />

- £14.99 from mobilefun.co.uk<br />

Available in a few different hues, this dinky<br />

charger is about the size of a lippy, ideal<br />

for carrying in - and probably losing down<br />

the dark recesses of - your handbag.<br />

Once located though, it'll offer a full<br />

recharge for that vital extra talktime.<br />

82 83<br />

WWW.NICKEDMAGAZINE.COM<br />

FACEBOOK.COM/NICKEDMAGAZINE


COUNTY DURHAM<br />

Welcome to <strong>NiCKED</strong><br />

CLASSIFIEDS<br />

Would you like a 15%<br />

refund off your next order?<br />

Call 01695 668630<br />

07926 437239<br />

We e neve er let<br />

yo ou down!<br />

FREE UK<br />

DELIVERY


CUMBRIA CUMBRIA HUMBERSIDE<br />

ITALIAN<br />

CUISINE<br />

01482 223 275<br />

ALL TYPES<br />

OF WORK<br />

UNDERTAKEN<br />

NORTHERN IRELAND<br />

NORTHERN IRELAND


NORTHERN IRELAND<br />

NORTHERN IRELAND<br />

Belfast’s premier gym<br />

We aim to set ourselves apart from all the other gyms, once you join.. we dont<br />

want to forget about you and leave you to your own devices.<br />

We want to teach you how to get the best out of your gym and equipment &<br />

especially yourselves.<br />

Your time is very important, so instead of wasting time thinking of what you<br />

should do today at the gym just pick up a goal card with your workout already<br />

planned out, attend 1 of our free equitment workshops, or fitness tests by our<br />

personal training team or even book them for a 1-1 or group session.<br />

We will help you, encourage you, and help guide you on your fitness journey to<br />

were you want to go, getting you there safely and effectively and having lots of<br />

fun at the same time.<br />

Magee Health & Fitness, Challenge your mind & body<br />

Unleash Your<br />

Inner Beast<br />

Unit 1, M1Business Park, Blackstaff Way, Belfast, BT11 9DT<br />

02890 613333<br />

Email: info@mageehealthandfitness.com<br />

Web: www.mageehealthandfitness.com<br />

DISCOUNT<br />

Delivering World Class Fitness Facilities And Training<br />

FOR POLICE PERSONNEL<br />

NORTHUMBIA<br />

NHBC<br />

Registered.


NORTHUMBIA<br />

YORKSHIRE<br />

YORKSHIRE<br />

Stellar<br />

Signs<br />

John Jarrett<br />

Building Contractors<br />

<br />

<br />

07887 429798<br />

Angels<br />

Demons<br />

DISCOUNTS<br />

S<br />

for Police<br />

Personnel


YORKSHIRE<br />

YORKSHIRE<br />

&<br />

Leeds<br />

Harrogate<br />

Clinics<br />

It’s all in the details<br />

Why form a queue....? Let us come to you!<br />

Our valeting service covers, domestic & commercial<br />

cars, taxis, company cars, hire contract and leased cars,<br />

<br />

LGVs, motor homes, touring caravans & static caravans.<br />

We clean internally as well as externally.<br />

07927 257 156<br />

e: glistenvaleting@gmail.com<br />

www.glistenvaleting.co.uk<br />

CALL NOW for enquiries or<br />

01423 560049<br />

to book an appointment<br />

enquiries@foot1st.co.uk<br />

KevinGrimmond


YORKSHIRE<br />

SCOTLAND<br />

Ideas +<br />

Creativity<br />

= Results<br />

01942 681648<br />

www.nectarcreative.com


SCOTLAND<br />

SCOTLAND<br />

All work indoors<br />

& outdoors undertaken<br />

<br />

<br />

DECOR


SCOTLAND


the battle<br />

against cigarettes<br />

we can In help you win<br />

nosmokingday.org.uk<br />

ngday<br />

©British Heart Foundation n 2014, registered charity in<br />

England and Wales (225971) and in Scotland (SC039426).

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!