Travel diary of gardens, nature reserves, walks, houses and historic places to escape to and explore in the UK, USA and Portugal. Includes travel photography, botanical stories and ideas for a family day out with kids.
I’ve always wanted to make a wreath to hang on our door during the winter but never had a clue where to start. Now I know how to make a Christmas wreath! But that’s only because I attended a workshop at Gravetye Manor in West Sussex. It’s one of the best luxury countryside hotels in […]
Christmas wreath workshop at Gravetye Manor Read More »
One evening during the carnival in Venice I stepped around a corner in a quiet lane and passed a couple in seventeenth century dress. It was as if I had stepped back in time. So I felt when I entered the formal gardens at Groombridge Place in the village of Goombridge, near Tunbridge Wells, in
17th Century whispers in Groombridge Place Gardens Read More »
There are some who don’t like Dungeness because this headland in Kent resembles a post-apocalyptic wasteland. There are those who are bewitched by the unusual pulchritude of its landscape. It is a place where the vast sky is dominant in the summer and the salty winds incessant in the winter. “Dungeness, Dungeness, your beauty is the best,
Derek Jarman’s Garden Read More »
To mark the start of the summer holidays, as a special treat I took Luce and Theo, my twins, for afternoon tea at Gravetye Manor. We were hoping for cakes and finger sandwiches in the garden, but it rained. Instead our reserved table was waiting for us in a beautiful wood panelled drawing room inside
Flowers and cakes for afternoon tea at Gravetye Manor Read More »
Little did I know that I had arrived in Dungeness this past June weekend at an ideal time for wild flowers. This headland on the Kent coast is a unique wilderness touched both my man and a spectacular plant life. I was gawping at the contrasting surreal and strange scenes when I began noticing the
Dungeness flowers in a strange wilderness Read More »
A great friend took me to Dungeness on Sunday and I’m already planning a return trip this summer with my kids. It’s the most surreal and visually fascinating place I’ve wandered around for a very long time. It’s located on a strip of headland in Kent on the most south eastern tip of England. The
Dungeness – Britain’s only desert Read More »
