It was by chance that I discovered Chiddingstone Castle. I was told that an old friend I hadn’t seen in years – Virge Gilchrist – was appearing in the play The Song of Lunch with Robert Bathurst of Cold Feet and Downton Abbey fame. It was part of a literary festival that took place on […]
Chiddingstone Castle – authors, eccentrics and gardens Read More »
Hever is one of the most important Edwardian gardens in England, and maintained to a very high standard…The best part is a spectacular five-acre Italian garden where a long pergola (cool dripping fountains all along) leads past a series of exquisite Italian gardens, stuffed with outstanding sculptures, columns, arches, urns, sarcophagi and other loot brought
Hever’s Italian Garden in winter Read More »
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 »
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 »
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 »
Our timing was perfect. You know that feeling when the air is crisp near the sea but the light in the sky draws you to the beach as soon as you awake? It was an early September morning in Kingsdown on the Kent coast. Cliffs loomed in the distance. Cargo ships were crossing the channel like
An early morning shrimping surprise Read More »
