It’s surreal visiting a British castle that was once home to Anne Boleyn, Heny VIII’s second wife who lost her head, as well as William Waldorf Astor, one of the richest men in America when he was alive. But thanks to both of them Hever Castle is now a major tourist attraction. It was one of those […]
Hever Castle – a midwinter’s tale Read More »
I spied the book The Plant Hunters by Carolyn Fry on a visit to Wakehurst, the country estate of the world renowned Kew botanical gardens. It was open on a table with an exhibit on the history of tulips and tulipomania. I couldn’t help myself as I had to order it as soon as I
What stories and images come to your mind when you think of an enchanted forest? Let me take you on the fairy tale adventure of the twins Luce and Theo at Groombridge Place. They boarded a boat and went along a quiet canal where the trees appeared above and below the water. Alas, they were shipwrecked.
The Enchanted Forest – Groombridge Place Read More »
The flowers are fading but the colours of autumn are blooming right now. I gave my kids a simple task when we headed off for a walk – collect as many leaf colours as you can find. We then sorted them in colours and patterns when we returned home. “Autumn is a second spring when
Collecting Autumn Leaf Colours 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 »
