APPARENTLY THE PRINCE OF WALES visits Newby Hall in Yorkshire once a year to view its garden beds—such is its reputation as a garden of significance and agreeable design. With each house we view on my research tour, I discover something different and each house has its strengths, that is clear. Newby is made all …
SOMEONE ONCE TOLD me in a past life I was a bawdy, flame-headed actress in mid-nineteenth century, York. If you believe in that sort of thing. I’ve always thought this must have explained my thwarted desires to be a world famous film star, but after seeing Castle Howard—this must have been misguided. Surely. …
Day 1 – The Reunion. I’ve always said I don’t do hills – especially steep ones – let alone those of the positively vertiginous type. Well, slap that out of me! Hebden Bridge, in the heart of the far flung wilds of West Yorkshire, is like the little mining towns I remember from …
I AM EXTREMELY BEHIND. The last week has been somewhat frenetic getting ready for a combined family 21st and 20th birthday in the Kirk household, and I’ve headed off on a train to Hebden Bridge to visit my old English teacher for a couple of nights. Part of an especially writing-focussed tour been to indulge …
AS LUCK WOULD HAVE IT, in addition to the London Book Fair, the first weeks of spring are also host to London Design Week – and I just happen to be travelling with Sophie, who is an interior designer. Clapping hands here. We pop into Chelsea Harbour, for a little look at some beautiful show …