Channel 5 Hotel Inspector TV programme to be shown on July 31st @ 9 pm

Welsh Living on the film set of the Hotel Inspector

Being invited to appear on The Hotel Inspector
as Interior Design experts was a fantastic
privilege and opportunity to raise Welsh
Living’s profile. We were introduced to the
film crew and host Alex Polizzi and spent the
evening being filmed for the show. We were
also invited alongside Josephine and Graham
owners of Exquisite Days a wedding,
catering and event planner.

Alex Polizzi and her array of film crew invited
Welsh Living magazine to the grand unveiling
of the West Usk Lighthouse in St Brides,
Newport. The Lighthouse overlooks both
the Usk and the Severn Estuaries and the
Bristol Channel. Owners Frank and Danielle
Sheahan, bought the semi-derelict property
in 1987 and restored the lantern room
in 1997 with a grant from the Wales Tourist
Board and CADW. The lighthouse is a grade
11 listed building and is over 180 years old.
As it is exposed to the elements, the restoration
work was never quite complete.

Alex the new host to the series has a wealth
of Hotel industry knowledge as she is the
proprietor of the Hotel Endsleigh near Tavistock,
in Devon, she is the daughter of hotel
designer Olga Polizzi and niece of hotelier Sir
Rocco Forte. She trained at the Mandarin Oriental
in Hong Kong, worked at Rocco Forte
hotels in Cardiff, Rome and St Petersburg,
and assisted at her mother’s hotel, Tresanton
in Cornwall, she is the perfect candidate to
cast her expert eye over the featured hotels.
With her practical advice and interior design
knowledge in the hotel industry, Alex helped
bring the Lighthouse up to scratch and
showed Frank and Danielle the light.

Her passion and warmth shined through and
acts as the perfect candidate to rejuvenate
not only the Hotel Inspector brand but the
properties featured. It was an honour for
Welsh Living magazine to be invited to the
unveiling and learn about the transition from
chintzy clutter to an elegant New England
feel.

The rooms that Alex targeted were the entrance
to the Lighthouse, as this provides an
immediate impact and first impression. Alex
embodied the idea that less is more, and let
some of the original Lighthouse pieces stand
out, including elegant blue prints and photos
of the Lighthouse over a period of time and
transition. Alex felt that it was important
not to infringe on Frank’s unique and quirky
personality but helped him tame some of
the pieces that littered the lighthouse. She
wanted the Lighthouse to have a personality
of it’s own without being overpowered with
quirky memorabilia. Now there are some
humorous pieces including a life size Dalek,
signed by John Pertweel hidden behind the
stairway to heaven and a telephone box
where you check in.

The bedroom has taken on a New England
feel with crisp white and navy blue linen that
is evocative of the Buenois Aires Belle Maison
Polo collection, which will be featured
in this edition of Welsh Living. A nautical
theme is featured without it being overpowered
or becoming a cliche. It’s elegant, clean
and above all a relaxing haven.

The piece de resistance and the highlight of
the filming experience was in the Lantern
room. We were invited to sit up in the lantern
room with a glass of champagne looking
out at the panoramic views and admiring
Alex’s design ideas. The space was opened
out and a relaxing seating area with padding
nautical blue and white striped seats that
surrounded one side of the panelled room.
A perspex material was placed in the core of
the room so that you could see all the way
down through the centre of the Lighthouse,
of which the dog found very intriguing.

The whole experience was overwhelming
but relaxing at the same time, everyone was
enchanted by the atmosphere in the room
and we were transfixed on the views from
an industrial view to beautiful green scenery
and watching the tide roll in. It would be
an amazing location to watch the sunrise,
sunset, enjoy the mystery of a full moon
reflecting on the waters surface and to be
centre stage in an electrical storm.

www.westusklighthouse.co.uk
Feature in Spring 08 Welsh Living 21

UFO sightings near Lighthouse

AFP - Friday, June 20 04:13 pm

LONDON (AFP) - UFO enthusiasts got a boost Friday when Welsh police confirmed that one of their helicopter crews had spotted an "unusual aircraft" flying over Cardiff earlier this month. An investigation into the sighting had been launched, they said.

The police clarification came after The Sun reported a UFO had "attacked" a police helicopter, following it for several miles over the Bristol Channel. "The pilot banked sharply to avoid being hit, then launched into a high-speed pursuit. But he was forced to give up the chase as the helicopter's fuel ran low -- and the UFO escaped," the tabloid reported. The helicopter crew had described the object as "flying saucer-shaped and circled by flashing lights," it added.

"Err... “Not so, said the police.

"South Wales Police can confirm its air support unit sighted an unusual aircraft. This was reported to the relevant authorities for their investigation," police said in a brief statement, avoiding the use of the term 'UFO', or unidentified flying object.

At the time of the incident, the helicopter with three men on board was waiting to land at the St Athan RAF base near Cardiff. The sighting reportedly took place at 00:40 am (23:40 GMT) on June 8.

South Wales Police denied there was a pursuit and indicated that the helicopter crew was never in any danger.

Yahoo News

Frank's interest in EVP

Frank Sheahan would like to hear from people with an interest in EVP- Electronic Voice Phenomena. Article to follow shortly.

Danielle Sheahan sells Turkish Properties with friend April

Danielle Sheahan is helping friend April Rogers sell properties in Turkey. This article explains the buying process.

The Buying Process in Turkey

Buying property in Turkey for sale is not as complicated as you might imagine. The procedure is often far simpler than in most other European countries. Foreigners may purchase land and property in Turkey under their own names provided that properties are not located close to a military airport, station or in a military zone such as along the coast of Bitez, Ortakent and Turgutreis.

A sale is agreed by signing a contract between the buyer and the seller and a 10% deposit is usually paid at this point. A contract will also be signed with the agent agreeing a % comission. For off-plan property a payment plan is agreed for the various stages of the building project.

In order for a foreigner to acquire the title deeds of a property or ‘tapu’, an application has to be made to the local Land Registry Office. The title may only be transferred once checks have been made and this can take sometime because permission must be requested from the army first. For off-plan property military permission can only be made once the property is completed and has an ‘iskan’ ie. signed off planning permission.

While waiting for permission however it is possible to get the keys to a house and to move in immediately. This is done by paying the full or almost full amount which can be protected by a ‘hipotek’ which prevents the deeds from being allocated to anyone but you except for in the case of full refunding of the money (minus the deposit). The cost for a ‘hipotek’ is off-set by the peace of mind it brings.

A lawyer/solictor is not compulsory in Turkey but we recomend you use one. Costs £300.00 plus. Once you have signed a contract and paid a deposit you can give power of atorney to a lawyer (to purchase) who will then deal with the purchase on your behalf without you having to be here. While in Turkey you need to set up a bank account (getting a tax number first from the tax office on presentation of your passeport) so that you can send payment to it. Your lawyer will then pay the money at the right time, with or without the hipotek depending at what point it is paid. If you are present for the transfering of the deeds a government registered translator will have to be present. Some lawyers are also translators.

A 1.5% duty both for the purchaser and seller must be paid on transfer of the deeds. In addition, there is an annual property tax, collected by the local government at the rate of 0.1% for houses and 0.3% for developed lands. New properties are exempt from 25% of the annual property tax for 5 years. All properties are subject to revaluation every year for tax purposes. The acquired property may be resold and the proceeds of the sale may be transferred out of Turkey. There is no time restriction for reselling property after having bought, you can get it registered in your name and re-sell it the next day.

Extract from one of our agent's website in Turkey

Please visit:
www.amazingturkishproperties.com www.businessesforsale.com

West Usk Lighthouse in book on "Discovering Welsh Homes"

The West Usk Lighthouse was chosen by Michael Davies to be one of the 18 Welsh homes in this wonderful book published by Graffeg @ £14.99 incl p&p or e-mail sales@graffeg.com Tel: 02920 377312

"Many of the houses we visited were in stunning locations, and it didn't really matter how good the house was architecturally, because the location was so amazing. But when you had both location and architecture, then you knew you were looking at one of the best houses in the country"
Author, Michael Davies

Many of these properties were featured in a TV programme called "Coastal Living".
www.westusklighthouse.co.uk
www.graffeg.com

Jed Sheahan won the Auto Trader Driver of the year 2008

Dan Trent writes:

Working on a forthcoming learner driver section for MSN Cars means I’ve been immersing myself in all things related to the subject. And as part of that on Friday I went along to the Auto Trader Young Driver of the Year final at Rockingham to watch one lucky winner drive home with a Ford Fiesta and a year’s insurance.

Only I wasn’t there as a spectator for the various driving challenges the finalists would be taking part in. “You’re the benchmark by which we’ll be judging the contestants,” was the cheery greeting I got from event organiser Caroline. No pressure then!

What a great bunch they were too, and about as diverse a group of youngsters as you could ever hope to meet. But they were all very switched on to the challenges and dangers facing young drivers and were all very appreciative of the chance to get some experience of Rockingham’s wet handling area. None of them had ever tried anything like this before and all expressed amazement that such valuable experience isn’t included as part of the test or the learning process.

Having done this kind of thing a few times before my honour was satisfied but the young upstarts showed me up on the ‘formula finesse’ exercise that tests smooth driving by keeping a ball within a bowl on the car’s bonnet while going through a slalom. My time was good, but the eventual winner of the event – car design student Jed Sheahan – was quicker by a couple of seconds.

Left to right: finalists Matt, Hayley, James, Jade, Jed, Andrew and Janina

He and runner up Jade Hansle deserve congratulations but all the finalists would have made worthy winners and I was glad I wasn’t the one having to choose between them. My hero of the day was self professed white van man Matt Bieliauskas, who seemed on a one-man crusade to prove the stereotypes aren’t necessarily true.

For more about Auto Trader’s campaign to raise standards among young drivers see www.autotraderyoungdrivers.co.uk

Dan

Young Driver of the Year announced

03 June 2008 by Adrian Hearn Jed Sheahan has beaten nearly 2,500 motorists to be named Auto Trader’s first Young Driver of the Year. The 17-year-old from Newport, Wales, was among the top seven scorers in a special theory test to be invited to take part in a set of driving challenges at the Rockingham race track in Northamptonshire, matching the theory score set by the original Stig, Perry McCarthy. He pipped 18-year-old Londoner Jade Hansle to second place in the event to win a Ford Fiesta and a year’s free car insurance with Jade picking up a cheque for £2,000. At the event in Rockingham, the seven drivers aged between 17 and 24 had to complete a string of skill-based challenges testing vehicle handling and control, distraction driving and using a wet-grip track. Jed, who has been driving for five months and passed his test first time with just one minor fault, was presented with his trophy by Trader Media Group’s head of partnerships Tom White. Jed said: “I’m shocked and delighted to win the competition. The Young Driver of the Year completed Auto Trader’s ‘Don’t Wreck the Ride’ safety campaign where alarming research showed road crashes are the leading cause of death for people aged between 15 and 24. Tom White added: “A huge congratulations goes out to Jed for becoming Auto Trader’s 2008 Young Driver of the Year. “We are extremely proud of the success our Young Driver Safety campaign in educating young people about the consequences of taking risks on the road. “We hope we have gone some way to draw the attention to the awful and growing statistics of young driver deaths.” For more information check out the Auto Trader Young Drivers website