Issuu

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2023 s ISSUE 101

A Day in

C PA SE What can you achieve in a day at Cheshire’s leading health club?

A Rejuvenating

OA SI S

Parklane, a Luxur y Collection Resort & Spa in Limassol

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The Cheshire Magazine’s 100th Edition Celebration Opera Grill, Chester To coincide with the launch of our milestone 100th issue, we held a celebratory lunch at one of Chester’s premier venues. Saxophonique was joined by Scott Rawlings on piano, to entertain guests as lunch was served at Opera Grill in Chester city centre. The afternoon was filled with live music, great food and plenty of bubbles. The team would like to send a special thank you to Destinology, DD Clinical, BrowHQ Chester, Glossed Beauty, Biotic, Granola - Bio & Me, Angels Dare cocktail drinks and Hip Pop Drinks for supplying treats for guests’ goody bags. We would also like to thank all of the business who kindly donated a prize to the charity raffle, with donations going to Violet-Grace’s Gift – a non-profit organisation that promotes organ donation and helps local hospitals, community projects, bereaved parents and seriously ill children. 22

The CHESHIRE Magazine | Regulars

Feature | The CHESHIRE Magazine

A Da Day y in

C PA SE SE What can you squeeze into a full day at Cheshire’s leading luxury boutique health club? We sent The Cheshire Magazine’s India Rose Hutchinson to find out

PASE is more than just a luxury gym. It is a safe community space that has carefully handpicked health and fitness facilities to provide members with a luxurious, holistic lifestyle. The team understand that everyone’s fitness journey is different and extends beyond the physical. I spent a day at the multi-level gym to trial their innovative machinery and join the club’s state of the art training classes and even managed to squeeze in some lunch and a glass of bubbly. 09:00 ARRIVAL When walking into CPASE you instantly get a real sense of family and community. Charlie, the Marketing Manager at CPASE explained, “we know every single member by name and really care that they are making the most

of everything CPASE has to offer.” You can immediately see that the luxury health club certainly has a lot to offer. 09:30 SCI-U BODY SCULPTING TREATMENT I started off my day in the SCI-U clinic where members benefit from 10% off all their advanced treatment offerings. I enjoyed the SCI-U Body Sculpting Treatment on my stomach where I saw immediate results in my ab definition. It is a non-invasive, fat reducing technology that induces powerful muscle contractions to build muscle and burn fat... a very fancy way of cheating exercise but still nonetheless quite tiring. The lovely Isobel who administered this treatment explained, “the main benefits of this treatment are to

sculpt and tone, with one 30 minute treatment being the equivalent of 20,000 sit ups!” Whilst having the Body Sculpting treatment I simultaneously enjoyed a facial, a member’s favourite, the Cryo facial – “is for lifting and sculpting the face resulting in tighter and brighter skin” SCI-U appreciates the busy schedule of members so are always extremely accommodating and happy to tailor treatments and sessions around your day. 10:00 PERSONAL TRAINING I then joined Personal Trainer Amanda in the gym who put me through my paces in the original CPASE way. She explained the main concept of CPASE training area is that, “we all see this as our playground, it’s about bringing back the fun and that is why we have a slide in the gym. Any new equipment that arrives at the gym, we all refer to as a new toy.” We trained on the Batak Pro Wall machine, which certainly looks like a toy, but as Amanda explained it is designed to challenge your cognitive and cardio ability combined. “There is always a high score to beat which

keeps members extremely motivated. I will include this in all of my sessions with clients as it has multiple benefits, plus it’s fun.” Then moving on to use the Skill Run in the Inferno Room which is, “designed to focus on combining cardio, power and strength.” This equipment is perfect for any member with a clear fitness goal and there are a variety of options to provide tailored resistance training. The gym area also benefits from various machinery including a Pilates Reformer Frame and Hip Thrust Machine, all of which we used in our training session. My session with Amanda was extremely varied and I felt like the advanced equipment encouraged me to set new fitness goals. There is a real motivating energy in the training area, and you can see members benefiting from the innovative space.

Style | The CHESHIRE Magazine

The Cost ostu umie mierr Collect llectiion

Resor esortt 2023

The CHESHIRE Magazine | Style

ive deeper into the thoroughly enchanting oeuvre of 20thcentury costume and set designer Erté and the spellbinding milieu of the showgirl with the Costumier collection. Gloriously decadent and extraordinarily luxurious, this limited-run capsule comprises sumptuous velvet robes, 19-momme silk slip dresses and other Olivia von Halle signatures that have been elevated to dazzling new heights with exquisite hand embellishment. In line with the brand’s unwavering commitment to best-in-class craftsmanship, this 18-piece edit sees Olivia von Halle renew its partnership with world-leading embroidery artist Jenny King to create amped-up, hand-finished pieces for those in pursuit of the sort of luxury that’s impossible to find elsewhere. Tapping her exclusive network of traditional artisans in India, King has infused our creations with an added layer of sparkle by way of intricate sequin detailing and delicate beadwork. “We are always delighted to partner with Jenny because it takes our already luxurious product to the next level,” says Founder and CEO Olivia von Halle. “Supporting heritage craft while reimagining it in a way that feels modern and fresh is a cornerstone of OvH, and these pieces are intricately hand-embroidered in India, where the craft has been practised for centuries.” Highlights include our silk-velvet Capella pieces, which see our hallmark Contessa slipper, Coco pyjama set and more cast in a resplendent sage-green and adorned with glittering star-shaped beading. Our Erté-inspired carousel-horse motif, which is screen-printed throughout our Folies Exquises collection, is also reworked with hand-stitched sequins to create, among others, the joyous faux fur-trimmed Queenie Equus, easily our most opulent robe to date. Prices range from £195 to £3495, oliviavonhalle.com

Drive | The CHESHIRE Magazine

R ACING G O DS

The CHESHIRE Magazine | Drive

Aston Martin has put its F1 know-how to use with a new track-focussed version of the Vantage sports car, and James Fossdyke has put it to the test

in on Sunday, sell on Monday is an adage that has so far served the car industry well. It’s the reason why Mercedes-AMG and Ferrari spend so much time, money and effort on their motorsport operations, and it hasn’t done either company much harm. And now Aston Martin – a brand arguably more famous for its big-screen tie-ups than motorsport – has ventured into the rarefied atmosphere of Formula 1. And the British brand has not so much jumped in with both feet, but dived in with all the commitment and subtlety of Peter Kay in a John Smiths advertisement. Not only has the company taken over an F1 team that until recently employed four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel, but it’s taken over a team that recently hired two-time world champion Fernando Alonso. And, more to the point, it also shares medical car and safety car duties with Mercedes-AMG. That’s where the new Aston Martin Vantage F1 Edition comes in. When Aston developed its Vantage safety car, the company decided to use the know-how and experience to turn its already impressive Vantage road car into an even more focused and hardcore machine. Here, then, is an Aston Martin that’s not only capable of going quickly on a track but designed for you to do exactly that on at least a semi-regular basis. Available in hard-top Coupe or soft-top Roadster forms, the F1 Edition is marked out by its aerodynamic kit, including a new rear wing. Together with some underbody tweaks and modifications to the front bumper, it helps to produce an extra 200kg of downforce at top speed when compared with the standard Vantage. Those aero tweaks give the car noticeably more purpose, but there are plenty of less functional features designed to do the same job. These include the paint options such as the F1 teamderived livery seen here, the carbon-fibre exterior detailing, and the black 21-inch alloy wheels. Other upgrades include the black racing stripe and the Alcantara-trimmed interior, which is available with the lurid green stripe seen here

or in some more restrained colour schemes. But changes have been made under the skin, too. Aston Martin has taken the 4.0-litre V8 engine and upped the power output by about 25bhp, giving you a total of 527bhp to play with, and there’s a purposeful, four-outlet exhaust system that gives it a glorious rumble. At a time when car makers are abandoning V8 engines for emissions and economic reasons, the proper, old-school V8 sound is enormously welcome. Yet the V8 is about more than just assaulting your eardrums. The extra power means the car is marginally faster from 0-60mph than the standard Vantage, getting there in around 3.5 seconds, while the top speed is 195mph. Choose the heavier, convertible Roadster model and the numbers don’t look quite so good – 0-60mph takes 3.6 seconds and the top speed is 190mph – but it’s hardly slow. It’s fast in corners, too, thanks to stiffer suspension, more refined steering and specially developed Pirelli tyres that adorn those larger wheels. It also has a retuned eight-speed automatic gearbox designed to reduce gear shift times and improve control when the car is at the limit. Such hardcore sports cars are often fundamentally flawed when it comes to the driving experience. While they might be great around a race track, they can often turn your pelvis to dust and your back to jelly, all while shaking your teeth from your jaw. If truth be told, you’re often better off driving a more modest version that’s almost as good to drive but significantly more comfortable on the road. And yes, Porsche 911 GTS, we are looking at you. But the Vantage F1 Edition does not fall into that trap. Sure, it’s stiff – even the most pliant suspension setting is called ‘Sport’ – but it doesn’t make Victorian bicycles look like magic carpets either. It’s remarkably restrained, allowing you to feel most of the bumps without shaking you to your core, and that’s exactly what a sports car should do. It’s communicative, but it isn’t so firm that it’ll prevent you from doing a long drive to the south of France. Or at least it wouldn’t, were it not for

Nor ortthe herrn Desi esigg n Award wardss Winners celebrate at the Titanic Hotel after the 20th edition of the awards, which attracted a record number of entries

n Friday 18th November hundreds of the north’s most talented designers gathered at the Titanic Hotel, Stanley Dock, to find out who’d be walking away with a prestigious Northern Design Award. Director of Events, Shelley Mears, said, “I’ve been absolutely delighted with the response to our 20th Northern Design Awards. There were more entries than ever this year and seeing the businesses that had been shortlisted being so supportive to each other was incredibly special. “I want to thank all those that entered and our judges. I’d also like to say a big thank you to our sponsors, Control 4, and The Cheshire Magazine. It was absolutely the best yet. Now we’re really excited to start preparing for 2023!” The judges, including interior design expert and TV presenter George Bond and former BIID President, Susie Rumbold, commented on the particularly high standard of entries, and Alan West, MD of Trombe, who has been a long-term supported of the awards, gave an impassioned speech thanking Shelley Mears for the work that she’s done to support and promote northern designers and architects over the years. Over the past 20 years, the Northern Design Awards have been judged by some of the biggest names in the design world. Judges in previous years have included Red or Dead founder Wayne Hemingway and George Clarke of BBC’s ‘Restoration Man’ and ‘Amazing Spaces’ as well as broadcaster, Linda Barker, who said, “No longer are our creatives in the grip of London elitism - this event demonstrates that those in the north are every bit as important and vibrant as the capital’s fat cats!” Every year, Shelley and her team seek out striking venues (including the Devonshire Dome in Buxton, Manchester’s stunning Monastery and the Chester Grosvenor) that will provide a suitably stylish setting for the awards. When planning the 20th awards event, Shelley chose Liverpool’s iconic Titanic Hotel, saying, “We last held the awards in Liverpool in 2016 at this very venue. It’s such a commanding and impressive space with such history. Our guests were so wowed by

it, that it seemed an easy choice when we made the decision to bring the awards back to Liverpool for 2022.” During the awards ceremony, artwork by former Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year contestant, Emma-Leone Palmer, was on display. Emma has a host of high-profile supporters, including Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen (who has been involved with the Northern Design Awards in previous years) and who says that the artist, “has absolutely captured the now but done it with the flawless technique of a classicist.” Having built the Northern Design Awards from a small event with a local following to one of the key dates in the design diary, Shelley says she has big ambitions for next year’s event and is keen to continue to build upon the success of the awards, building a growing community of talented designers who all support and champion each other. northerndesignawards.com

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