WALKING THE DOG … WITH SOLID GOLD, SAPPHIRES AND RUBIES

The UK’s most prestigious dog collar and lead are now on sale … made from hand stitched English bridle leather with sapphires and rubies set in 9-carat solid gold buckles.

With collars starting at £2,950 and leads from £3,300 the aristocratic ‘must buys’ for Britain’s designer pets are being matched with a £4,950 handcrafted jeans belt for the owners.

“It’s just pure style,” says Joanna Way. “All the items are sophisticated and classy with the plain, understated ‘wow’ factor of a single jewel glinting from the gold buckle on handcrafted leather.”

Joanna, an experienced pet product retailer, formed the North West-based Gladstone Collar Company to design and produce the exclusive collar, lead and belt, which will sell separately or for £10,000 together.

They are, Joanna admits, “exclusive ‘top-end’ buys” but, she adds: “something like this almost becomes an investment. It will never be mass-produced so the international market will not be saturated.

“As far as we are aware no-one has ever before put precious stones in the tongue of a solid gold buckle or set them into the edge of a solid gold dog tag.

“Not only are these products a testament to the very best of British craftsmanship, matched by innovative design and the highest quality materials, but we hope they will become as much a design classic as they are a work of art.”

Each item - designed and made by North West specialists - is put together in mid-Wales with finished leatherwork coming in from the English border and buckles from expert jewellers on the Wirral.

The durable collar, of finest English bridle leather, is backed with soft hide, stitched by hand, to offer luxury comfort to the dog’s neck. Curved, shaped collars are also available for hound breeds and whippets.

But this time, the usual metalwork, including D-rings, are solid gold. So too are the buckles, dog tags and clips on two widths of lead - discreetly set with a choice of real sapphires, rubies or, if preferred, diamonds.

And the belts - in navy blue, red, dark Havana brown or black - have solid gold buckles and keepers - with matching or toning gemstones set flush in the buckle tongues - a unique signature of Gladstone design.

“Women or men could, for instance, put a deep blue sapphire in the buckle of a navy blue leather belt or go for a ruby stone with a red leather belt,” suggests Joanna. “And then to match with a similar dog collar and lead makes a bespoke all-British combination that we believe is a fashion ‘first’.”

The range was revealed at a national Champagne launch at the Wirral’s exclusive Grade II listed country house Thornton Manor and went on sale to the public for the first time at Burghley Horse Trials at Stamford in Lincolnshire.

Each sale generates a contribution to ‘Help for Heroes’ - a charity that helps injured service personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. (www.helpforheroes.org.uk)

At 275 years old Keoghs and Nicholls, Lindsell and Harris is the country’s 25^th oldest law firm

BORN IN THE DAYS OF DICK TURPIN, GEORGE WASHINGTON … AND CASANOVA

An Altrincham law firm, that began when Dick Turpin was still robbing the rich, has celebrated its 275^th anniversary.

Turpin was 28 years-old and six years away from being hanged for murder when the founder of Keoghs and Nicholls, Lindsell and Harris started a practice that has now become the 25^th oldest in the country.

Celebrations came to a head on Monday, 29^th September (2008) in the Market Street area of town with which Keoghs and Nicholls, Lindsell and Harris has been associated with since timber-framed homes had wattle and daub walls.

“Our story is woven into the history of Altrincham,” says senior partner Michael Sandler. “An anniversary like this is a relatively rare event for any business, particularly in the legal profession, and we’re very proud of our history.

“Four of our partners have been mayors of Altrincham and there have been few businesses, clubs and charitable organisations untouched by our service to the community.”

The branded anniversary includes the publication of a commemorative brochure and a series of celebrations in the former Altrincham Town Hall building.

The firm’s very beginning - on 29th September 1733 - derives from an indenture signed by Isaac Worthington and whose practice eventually grew into Keoghs and Nicholls, Lindsell and Harris. It was his eldest son who negotiated for the Earl and Countess of Stamford when the Bridgewater Canal was about to slice its way through estate land.

The practice’s long association as clerks to local justices goes back to the early days of the town’s 18^th century Magistrates Court. It grew through the arrival of the penny post service and oil-fired street lighting - until a series of mergers created the present firm.

Michael Sandler had trained with Nicholls, Lindsell and Harris before being invited to join nearby Keoghs where he was instrumental in the 1990 merger. There are now two offices - in Market Street, Altrincham and at Commercial Road, Hazel Grove where it still operates under the original name of Gregorys Solicitors.

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So what else was happening in 1733 when young Isaac Worthington decided to be a lawyer?

• It was a time when courtroom punishment could be measured in lashes of a whip or hours in the stocks.

• Criminals could be executed on a public gallows and their bodies hung in chains for public view.

• It was the year that John Kay patented the ‘flying shuttle’ and kick-started the Industrial Revolution. Thirteen year-old James Hargreaves was destined to take things further by inventing the ‘spinning jenny’ … but, at hardly 12 months old, Richard Arkwright had a long way to go before inventing the cotton spinning frame.

• Robert Walpole was England’s first ever Prime Minister.

• Mathematician and physicist Sir Isaac Newton had been dead for little more than six years.

• Young Joseph Fry, aged five, had yet to create the first solid chocolate bar … and eight years-old Arthur Guinness was less than 20 years away from setting up his Irish brewery.

• Abroad … the Italian adventurer and self-professed world’s greatest lover, Casanova de Seingalt, was eight years old too.

• And, at less than one year-old, George Washington had a way to go before becoming the first President of the United States.

ASIAN BRIDES CHOOSE STATELY HOMES 

The stately homes of England are becoming venues of choice for a new generation of Asian brides. 

Because they are among the few preferred venues that offer enough space for Asian celebrations - which are typically up to five times the size of an average UK wedding. 

So the market interest is growing higher than ever - says leading wedding planner and event specialist Raj Somaiya. 

Raj runs Manchester-based Payal Prestige specialising in large-scale fairytale marquee weddings.  In the last four months he has organised receptions at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, Cliveden in Berkshire, Harewood House in Yorkshire and Knowsley Hall on Merseyside. 

“Asian couples don’t just invite family and friends - they invite whole communities,” says Raj, “so a wedding becomes a get-together of almost everyone they have ever known. 

“But we just can’t find enough large venues. That’s why the Asian market is moving towards country estates which have the right amount of space as well as car parks that sometimes need to take over 120 vehicles.” 

The trend is welcomed by Britain’s Historic Houses Association. “We are delighted whenever we can help bridal couples and their families to find the right venue for their wedding,” said President, James Hervey-Bathurst.  

“It is particularly welcome that more and more Asian families see historic houses as the right place for a wedding, because of their romance, tradition, hospitality and spirit of continuity.  That is the way their owners see them too.” 

Places like Capesthorne Hall - set in 100 acres of picturesque Cheshire parkland near Macclesfield and owned by the county’s Lord Lieutenant William Bromley-Davenport whose family has governed it since Domesday times. 

“Couples are growing bored with the same old hotel circuit,” says Nicholas Bromley-Davenport. ”They are discovering more romantic and photogenic places that offer alternative benefits of country space and exclusive privacy.”

*  Payal Catering and Payal Prestige are Manchester-based family-run national businesses offering full bespoke wedding, family and corporate event production - from planning, management and venue finding to décor, theming and catering - serving Indian, Chinese, exotic Indo-Chinese fusion and modern European classics. Tel - 0161 902 0010;  Web - www.payal.co.uk