Rowallane Café

I spent the afternoon at Rowallane demesne, near Saintfield, County Down. Rowallane is the regional GHQ of the National Trust.

I had been invited to join Craig, Strangford Lough warden, at a seminar about social media networking.

The Trust is actively encouraging properties throughout England, Northern Ireland and Wales to embrace the likes of Facebook, Twitter, You Tube blogging sites.

The seminar lasted about two hours.

Afterwards, Mike showed us round the ground floor of Rowallane House, which has been transformed into a reception area for visitors to the property.

Brand new facilities include a shop, exhibition foyer, and a lovely new café, complete with outside terrace. The café has a bright, colourful décor which enhances the beauty of the room.

It opens from Thursdays to Sundays at present.

Earlier I picked almost four pounds of blackberries in the estate.

Motor Insurance

Motorists seeking competitive insurance deals might not be best off with the big-name firms, according to one study, suggests Mike Rutherford in the Daily Telegraph:-

The 10 cheapest insurers:

1. Adelaide Insurance Services (IAM Surety)

2. Frizzell (LV Frizzell)

3. Royal and Sun Alliance

4. Ageas (previously Fortis)

5. RIAS

6. Liverpool Victoria (LV)

7. NFU Mutual

8. Saga

9. Marks & Spencer

10. Swiftcover


The 10 most expensive insurers:

1. Kwik Fit

2. Lloyds TSB

3. Endsleigh

4. Post Office

5. Diamond

6. More Than

7. Elephant

8. Admiral

9. AA

10. Bell Direct (part of Admiral Group)

Duke of York in NI

His Royal Highness The Duke of York has been meeting staff and students involved in apprenticeships during his official visit to Northern Ireland.

During his first engagement, Prince Andrew visited Northgate Managed Services in Newtownabbey, County Antrim, to meet with staff and apprentices involved in its ICT Apprenticeship Scheme.

 MRS JOAN CHRISTIE OBE

HRH, who is the UK's Special Representative for International Trade and Investment, was greeted by Mrs Joan Christie OBE, Lord-Lieutenant of County Antrim, and went on to meet Mr A Ross, Chief Executive, who accompanied HRH during the engagement.

Prince Andrew met with senior management and current and former apprentices to hear about the work of Northgate- the first IT company to launch an IT Apprenticeship Scheme in Northern Ireland.

Prince Andrew later visited Northern Regional College in Ballymena to see how apprentices there are being trained. HRH was greeted on arrival by His Worship the Mayor of Ballymena, Alderman P J McAvoy.

He also met the Hon Ian Paisley, MP for North Antrim, Dr Stephen Farry MLA, Minister, Department for Employment and Learning, and Trevor Neilands, Principal & Chief Executive of the Northern Regional College.

His Royal Highness began his tour with a visit to the Toyota Academy, where he met with staff and students and heard at first hand how the academy ensures a focus on apprenticeship and adult training, with highly qualified technical staff and well resourced facilities.

Joanne Donaghey, a Level 3 Mechatronics Apprentice, presented HRH with a gift of a puzzle/pen holder which had been designed and manufactured in the Engineering Centre.

Prince Andrew's final engagement was at a garden party at Hillsborough Castle, County Down, on Thursday afternoon.

The garden party was hosted by the Rt Hon Theresa Villiers MP, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

The Duke of York met about 2,500 invited guests from across Ulster society.

Rt Hon E J Pickles

As Sir P G Wodehouse might have said:

This man Pickles, you must understand, was not one of those men who are lightly kept from the tea-table.

A hearty trencherman, and particularly fond of his five o'clock couple of cups and bite of muffin, he had until this afternoon always been well up among the leaders in the race for the food-trough. 

If one thing was certain, it was that only the machinations of some enemy could be keeping him from being in the drawing-room now, complete with nose-bag.

Oily Fish

Nick Collins, Science Correspondent at the Daily Telegraph, reports that eating a portion of oily fish such as salmon or mackerel three times a week could help to protect the muscles from deterioration in old age by doubling the benefits of exercise, experts claim.

A combination of regular doses of fish oil and gym exercises improved the muscular strength of a group of women in their late sixties by 20 per cent in a new study.

A control group who took part in the twice-weekly, 30-minute exercise sessions but did not take fish oil increased their muscle power by 11 per cent.

Over the course of the 12-week study, those who took the fish oils also made noticeably larger improvements in tests of their balance, walking speed and time taken to get up from a chair.

Speaking at the British Science Festival, researchers from Aberdeen University said the difference could be down to the effects of DHA and EPA, types of Omega 3 fatty acid found in fish oil that have anti-inflammatory properties.

As a normal part of ageing, muscle size reduces by between 0.5 per cent and two per cent a year in older people, a condition known as sarcopenia.

After our mid-thirties our body’s ability to build muscle through exercise alone begins to diminish, meaning it is difficult for older people to resist muscle wastage.

Researchers said the fish oils could work by combating the low-level inflammation that is typical in older people and hampers the ability of the muscles to build power and mass.

Dr Stuart Gray said: “We’re trying to make older muscle adapt like younger muscle, and that’s where we think fish oil can come in.”

Prince Andrew in NI

His Royal Highness The Duke of York arrived in Northern Ireland on Wednesday evening, 5th September, and was guest of honour at a dinner hosted by the Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office, Mike Penning MP, in recognition of the role of Apprenticeships in the Northern Ireland Economy.

Prince Andrew met with invited guests from a wide range of Ulster companies and employers who benefit from the Apprenticeships NI programme, as well as young apprentices who have taken part in the scheme.

Chapel Island Day

The aerial photograph atop - courtesy of Fat Tony.

Today was spent on Chapel Island, a property of the National Trust near Greyabbey, County Down.

There were about eight of us. This little island has become slightly overgrown, because sheep have not been grazing on it for a few years.

Our task today was to clear the undergrowth below the electric fence, in order that sheep can be re-introduced this autumn.

We all had to vacate the island after two o'clock, given that the tide was coming in fast; hence we lunched on the mainland.

This was an opportunity to discuss our forthcoming trip to the bird observatory on the Copeland Islands.

I'd made myself a chicken salad wrap today.

Later, we went back to the Old Schoolhouse on Mount Stewart estate; and from there we all attended a reception for volunteers at the mansion-house.

Afterwards, we were treated to a delicious array of cakes, cream scones, tea and coffee.