By Paul Bazeley

Whether you are into your cars or you’re a fan of James Bond or whether you know nothing about either, you have probably still heard of the Aston Martin DB5. It is not just a car but a thing of beauty and is one of, if not the most famous car in the world.

The Aston Martin DB5 was unveiled at the Earls Court Motor Show in October 1963. The DB5 is the evolution of the DB4 and the two are very similar in terms of looks. This is because John Wyer the Aston Martin general manager at the time had insisted that the styling of the DB4 had to come from an Italian coachbuilder. In stepped the Milanese company Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera and the DB4 was created.

Aston Martin once again teamed up with Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera when creating the DB5. While there are many similarities to the DB4 on the outside, it was the inside of the car which really stepped up its luxury game. The car came with electric windows, chrome wire wheels, reclining seats, wool pile carpets, twin fuel tanks, leather trim and a fire extinguisher as standard and for an extra £320 you could also have air conditioning.

While these luxury additions came with added weight, Aston Martin improved the cars specs by adding a 4.0L engine, instead of the 3.7L which was in the DB4, and a 5-speed gearbox. This helped to produce a top speed of 142mph and meant the car could go from 0-60mph in 7.1 seconds.

While these specs look pretty impressive for 1963, the problem the car faced was it couldn’t compete with the Jaguar E-Type. Nevertheless, Aston Martin got the break they needed when Ken Adam, who was the producer for the James Bond film Goldfinger, asked Jaguar if they could use an E-Type in the film and the company declined. The producer approached Aston Martin after the effects expert John Stears suggested the DB5. The owner of Aston Martin, David Brown (the DB for the cars comes from the initials of the former owner), was unsure at first but he gave in and sent them the prototype. The car was then sprayed in its now famous Silver Birch and the rest, as they say, is history.

Goldfinger (released in 1964) showcased the DB5, gadgets and all, as the most famous car in the world and one of the most sought after. The sales for the DB4 had been good for the company, however, the sales of the DB5 were double that of its predecessor.

Today, the car has appeared in several other James Bond films and many other movies and has cemented itself as an icon in popular culture. When it was released the saloon would have set you back £4,175 and the convertible £4,490, if you wanted to buy a classic DB5 now it would set you back around £1m and in August 2018 Aston Martin revealed it was to build 25 replicas of the car seen in Goldfinger, revolving number plate and all, which would be available for approximately £2.75m.

Whether you are lucky enough to own one, have some money sat around ready to buy one or if it will always be a pipe dream the great thing about the DB5 is that we can all appreciate how much of a beautiful car it is. Now if you’ll excuse me I’m off to watch Goldfinger, again.

The amount of harmful plastic litter in the oceans grows ever greater, endangering sea life and marine ecosystems across the planet.

It is estimated that as much as 12.7 million tons of plastic enter the oceans annually. Most of this plastic is single-use items such as plastic bags, six-pack rings, straws and spoons etc, and these can be hazardous to the marine animals that get caught on or try to eat them and in many cases ingesting can be fatal.

These plastic items eventually break down into ever smaller parts to form microplastics, which are then more widely mistaken for food and eaten.
If that’s not bad enough, miscroplastics entering the food chain have an impact on humans, as we then eat the fish that ingested the microplastic which in turn enters our own bodies.

The way forward is clear. We as a global species, need to urgently reduce the amount of single-use plastics. The UK introduced the single-use plastic carrier bag charge in 2015, making it law that retailers must charge 5p per bag. The proceeds of which are then used for ‘good causes’. Many retailers are phasing out plastic bags and using biodegradable alternatives, which can only be a good thing. Other single-use items such as plastic straws and cutlery as used in bars, fast food outlets and other similar establishments are being replaced by renewable materials such as birch or bamboo or even corn starch and are 100% compostable.

There are also many things we can do individually to reduce the amount of plastics entering the environment. Reuse any plastic bags you may already have, try to buy in bulk to reduce the amount of packaging you throw away. Use refillable water bottles and use tap water instead of buying bottled. Pack your own lunches using reusable containers. Make sure you recycle correctly and regularly. If we all do our bit it will have an effect in greatly reducing the amount of single-use plastic waste produced and we just might save the planet.

In 1951, F D Welters Ltd were at the forefront of a minor revolution in the transportation of new furniture items. Previously, this service was carried out by the Road Haulage Executive, a postwar publicly owned organisation which had nationalised much of the prewar transportation firms operating nationally at the time, with Pickfords being assigned specifically for the purpose of furniture transportation. This had garnered strong criticism from the furniture industry and most notably the British Furniture Manufacturers Association, who proceeded to set up a joint committee between the RHE and the BFM with a view to having more control over conditions of carriage and charges.

The pressure applied by the BFM on behalf of the Industry resulted in an initial allocation of revised regional responsibilities, which was followed by further deregulation to allow manufacturers the freedom to manage their own transportation. Being on the committee for the BFM at the time, F D Welters Ltd provided their support in this change, which encouraged further dismantling of the Government controlled RHE, paving the way for privatisation across the road haulage network.

welters^® acclaimed Heritage Herd has acquired one bull and two new pedigree Whitebred Shorthorn heifers from the ‘Katrine’ herd owned by the Forestry Commission. The Commission use them for conservation grazing at Loch Katrine, a freshwater loch and scenic attraction in the Trossachs area of the Scottish Highlands.

Whitebred Shorthorn cattle are on the Rare Breeds Survival Trust (RBST) watch list and welters^® have been working with the RBST to source pedigree heifers as part of their Selective Breeding Programme.

Whitebred Shorthorn can be found mainly in the borders of Scotland and England. Bulls are bred primarily as a crossing bull and traditionally crossed with Galloway heifers to produce the Blue Grey, which is recognised as a pedigree breed in itself.

The Whitebred Shorthorn bull will be used to cross with selected black Galloways to establish a Blue Grey herd. The new heifers will also be used to produce new bulls that will further enhance the genetic stock to ensure a hardy and healthy herd well suited to the Border conditions.

Classic style appeals on a global scale as welters furniture items are traded across the planet.

The welters^® name has been synonymous with quality furniture making for almost 100 years. Although primarily serving the British markets, over time innumerous items have found themselves exported abroad, either through commercial outlets or more commonly accompanying families emigrating to far flung lands and bringing their beloved possessions with them.

The enduring style of welters^® mid-century designs has meant that over the years their appeal has grown and now considered desirably vintage and very collectable, especially amongst young professionals, who combine classic styling with modern gadgetries, creating a retro-techno hybrid of interior design in which welters^® furniture of this era is particularly suited. As such it is not uncommon to see such items appearing on various internationally based websites. Two most recent examples appeared on separate websites in Japan and featured the welters® sideboard and writing bureau/cabinet.

Other items have appeared for sale across Europe and in countries such as America and Australia, which really illustrates the longevity of the appeal in the company’s legacy of classic furniture designs.