Nigel Wilkinson Butcher Extrodinaire

I am always massively impressed by people who are truly good at what they do, people who are committed to giving exceptional service, delivering quality and value for money time and time again, Nigel Wilkinson is just such a person, I have a huge soft spot for butchers, my grandfather and uncle were both butchers and I spent a great deal of my childhood knee deep in wood shavings in very cold butchers shops, the smell, the cleanliness, the display of beautifully butchered meats still make me feel nostalgic.


Unfortunately for my Uncle a huge supermarket opened at the end of his street and sold pre-packed cheap meats, he struggled on for a while but inevitably lost his business and ended up behind the counter of the butchery department in the store that had put him out of business.


This is Nigel Wilkinson, his shop is in Holmefield Road, North Shore, he is a proper Butcher, he does butchery with a level of professionalism that is now sadly quite rare he should be a Fylde Coast Food Hero and he certainly is in my book.

Nigel has the most superb selection of locally produced meats and game, he knows how to butcher and prepare it for any random recipe I take into him, he always goes the extra mile and gives me excellent advice on timinigs, portions and oven temperatures.

Besides all of this he's also always there, morning noon and night like all of us that are self employed he's working his socks off to serve our community.

I do shop with him regularly so it was no surprise when the Land Lady Julie at Langtry's told me that she buys her beautiful sausages from Nigel.

Above and below are pictures of Nigel's right hand man Oliver, watching Oliver bone and roll my leg of lamb for today's lunch and then this lovely piece of beef is like watching a dance, he handles a knife elegantly and with precision, his sewing and tying is immaculate and fast, he is proud of his work and so he should be.

I always buy my meat from independantly owned butchers either Nigel or the lovely David Gigli in Wood Street, St Annes, we have businesses in both St Annes & Blckpool and I think it really is very important for all of us to support our local independent businesses, I could honestly say I don't have time but we were in Nigel's shop at the crack of dawn on Thursday morning, we'd done our shopping and were still in work before 9:00, it's just a question of making time to do things properly.

My lovely lamb has been marianading all morning and will be on the BBQ later, thanks to Nigel & Oliver for letting me take their pictures.

The Hotel Inspector on Channel 5

Jason and I were asked to have a little holiday in downtown Blackpool yesterday, it was all part of the TV Show "The Hotel Inspector" this episode is due to be aired around the end of July or early on in August. We arrived at The Langtry's in King Edward Avenue, North Shore at around 6:30, we were part of crack team hired to test, try out and ultimately enjoy the facilities, one of our party was the official Hotel Inspector responsonsible for awarding accreditation stars (His identity was a closeley guarded secret), we were all given aliases and questions to ask on check in, we had to ask for a very early breakfast and some green tea, the availability of internet access, where's a great place for a late dinner.

The Langtry's is really lovely, perfect for the business market, the most striking quality is how absolutely immaculately clean everything is.

The flowers looked great in the hallway and had been ordered from Flower Design with absolutely no knowledge of us being on the guest list, just a very happy coincidence.

Alex is the programme's "star", she was very impressive and really knew her jelly beans when it comes to hotels and hospitality. Some of the other guests, Allan & Gillian

Our lovely hosts David & Julie, they really looked after us incredibly well and the hotel really is a credit to them.

The bedroom and bathroom was so well appointed, all our needs had been thought of and considered and the details were just brilliant.

I particularly loved the forget me not box, with everything in it that we might possibly need, but more probably forgotten.









The breakfast was gorgeous my porridge was luscious, and the bacon and sausage was so good I Had to ask them where they'd bought it. The whole experience was truly good, and we would have no hesitation in recommending The Langtry's Hotel. Blackpool is a town full of lovely surprises and The Langtry's was a huge surprise to Jason & I and for those of you planning weddings in venues without rooms i.e The Great Hall, Staining Golf Club, Marquees at Home etc this really is the perfect place for guests to stay.

Next Stop Fantabulous Butchers Nigel Wilkinson!

Green Drive Golf Club, Wine Tasting for St James's Place Wealth Management

Fernando Fernandez asked Jason to do a Flower Design Wine Tasting for a group of St James's Place Wealth Management's Clients.

They tasted three wines, Rose was by far the most popular and a great evening was had by all

Jason said that the food and hospitality were absolutely superb at Green Drive, so much so he didn't even eat my world famous Lancashire Hot Pot whenhe got home.

Nicola & Paul Lundy's Exquisite Wedding Day at All Saints Church, Higher Walton & Mitton Hall

Gary & I started our Saturday bright and early, we headed off to Higher Walton to decorate All Saints Church, preparations were already under way when we arrived, the grass was being cut, the church sparkled and Simon the lovely Vicar was organising everything.

Jason had left even earlier to set up all of the table designs at Mitton Hall, we all merged later on but it's all about team work and we have the very best events team.





We opted for decorating the inner arch as the light was lovely in the porch and we decided there would be more protection from the elements.

I arranged little nosegays of fragrant Muscari, Lily of the Valley, Roses and other lovely garden gathered flowers in the porch area.

Some gorgeous David Austin roses were amongst the bevvy of beauty.

Once the church was ready to recieve visitors we moved on further up the road to the brides family home, I love the "The Big Reveal" I always get so nervous, heart pounding and all that...

Nicola is such a beautiful bride and it really was a great honour to create her flowers

The Bridesmaids were equally as beautiful and thankfully equally as thrilled with their bouquets

The very "Blooming Lovely Jane" from Pure Beauty in St Annes, to be fair these girls were so gorgeous Jane didn't really have her work cut out, but that said the make up was sensational, the colours, the application and finish were simply perfect.

Then back to All Saints

Pew End dressings with fragrant Jasmine, Sweet Peas & Avalanche Roses.


The Urns were filled with Spirea, Delphiniums, David Austin Roses Rosalind & Emily, Hydrangeas & Orchids.

This really is a beautiful Church

Nicola's Grandparents arrived and we pinned on their Avalanche Rose Boutonierres.

My favourite Choir in the world started to arrive "One Voice" they are totally amazing worth every penny, if you're having a Church wedding I honestly can't reccommend them highly enough.

The Uber-Handsome Groom Paul

wearing an Avalanche Rose, fresh Lily of the Valley.

Can this day get any better? Steve Ashton exceptional wedding photographer too! working with a career photographer is an utterly different experience, we do meet with lots of different photographers but the "proper" ones whose full time profession is photography really are head and shoulders above the rest. Ashton Photography epitomise professionalism.

Jamie the Best Man wore a slightly more special Rose Bouttoniere than the Ushers.

Wrist Corsage White Calla & White Rose

"One Voice" in full voice truly brilliant, the entire congregation was swaying and singing along, they raised the roof and everyone was so excited including the brilliant vicar Simon.

Groom's Mum Ellie looking far too young and beautiful, we made a lovely Hand Bag corsage for her, for Paul's Grandma a simple Avalanche Rose with Diamante detail.

Is this the cheekiest and most excited flower girl ever? The Bridesmaid's arrived, the flower girls are carrying bouquets of simple innocent, fragrant Sweet Peas.

The adult Bridesmaid bouquets were created from a collection of English Garden Flowers like Blue Bells, Clematis, Muscari, Sweet Peas & David Austin Roses. Angela the most glamarous Bride's Mum, her handbag corsage of Muscari, rolled rose petals & Hydrangea was a perfect match.

The bridal bouquet we created for Nicola was in a “Flower Design” hand tied garden gathered style I used a lovely combination of seasonal white and ivory together with some early summer fresh green shades, I included white Peonies, David Austin Patience Roses, Marousia Roses, Sweet Peas, Lily of the Valley, Lissianthus in pale green and Alchemilla Mollis.

Massive Congratulations to Nicola & Paul

Olivia looked adorable

Even the vicar was taking pictures...

Next Stop Magnificent Mitton Hall...
We arranged flowers and rose petals on the low tables in the orangery where the guests rellaxed and sipped Champagne.

These are the posies of delight that graced the top table, lots of lovely blooms including David Austin Roses

The Dining Room had been laid out perfectly Barry, Rachel & the team at Mitton Hall had done their usual sublime job.

The terraced area beyond the orangery leads down to the river and is simply idyllic

The guests were entertained by a superb violinist.

The canapes looked quite fabulous and the lovely young lady that handed them out did so with a serious amount of panache.

We designed some beautiful candelabra table centres to compliment the grape and ivory colour combination

The Chairs were covered by our old friends Creative Cover Hire

The pew end posies decorated the windowsills.

Hand tied posies with fresh Clematis, sweet Peas, Blue Bells and David Austin roses completed the table centrepieces.

Broughton Wedding Cars were looking mighty fine

Nicola & Paul had the most perfect day and all the team at Flower Design are really delighted to have been part of such a magnificent wedding day, thank you for choosing us.

The very last words on this posting belong to Nicola & Paul "The perfect flowers you made for our wedding were so beautiful and beyond our imagination, you have a fabulous service which we would recommend time after time, wish we could do it all again..."