WOLDS AWAY
DIDDLY SQUAT
Down on the farm with Lisa Hogan
DO YOU NEED A VISUAL DETOX? HITCHED!
Get your wedmin sorted
W hy we’re still crazy about The Cotswolds Gentlewoman
102
26 THE GOOD LIFE Alice B-B is having a spring clean
28 THE RURBANIST Beloved historical author Philippa Gregory
176 LAST WORD Michael Hayman on education, education, education
33 EASY DOES IT Not-so-slouchy PJs
34 THE STYLIST Denim you’re destined to desire
36 THE EDIT It ’s B Corp month
38 BLUE SKIES, BARE LEGS Stylish pieces for making an escape
40 THE MAGPIE Jewellery news
42 WELL GROOMED Men’s style
49 From dresses to honeymoons and everything in between, we bring you the ultimate wedding black book with the all the names, products and places you need to make your big day swing
73 TAKE A LEAP Dive into wellness
74 THE SCOOP Slip into Shleep for a dreamy night’s sleep
76 BODY & SOUL Don’t underestimate balance
78 BODY LANGUAGE Olivia Falcon investigates the latest health hype NAD+ infusions
81 COLLECT ABLE Pick up some inspiring new pieces at the A ordable Art Fair
82 CULTURAL CALENDAR What to see, read and do
88 GOOD NEWS An antidote to doomscrolling
90 ARTIST’S STUDIO Kojo Marfo
92 THE EXHIBITIONIST Ed Vaizey dives into the Tate’s Yoko One retrospective
94 LITTLE GREEN BOOK Meeting the man saving glass from waste through art in Kenya
95 THE CONSERVATIONIST It ’s o to court for James Wallace
96 ROAD TEST Jeremy Taylor gets behind the wheel of the Ferrari Purosangue
98 THRILLS, SPILLS & COUNTRY FRILLS We’re giddy for 100 years of the Cheltenham Gold Cup
100 SCARFES BAR Diana Verde Nieto is helping craft a new narrative around luxury – one with equality and sustainability at its heart
Fashion Director: Nicole Smallwood
Photographer: Paul Farrell
Make-up: Zoe Taylor @ Blanket
Hair: GHD UK
Manicurist: Christie Huseyin
MAR APR 202 4
102 BOSS GIRL Amy Wakeham meets Kaya Scodelario to talk about her feisty new role in Guy Ritchie’s e Gentlemen
112 FEAR IS THE ENEMY Legendary actress Harriet Walter talks to Lucy Cleland about tackling the refugee crisis
116 WHAT DO YOU SEE? In her new book, Marine Tanguy explains how imagery shapes our wellbeing
120 A COTSWOLDS & BULL STORY Sophia Money-Coutts on why the Cotswolds will never lose its allure
124 CLARKSON’S GIRL With a new series of Clarkson's Farm on the horizon, Lucy Cleland catches up with one of its stars, Lisa Hogan
128 NO PLASTIC? FANTASTIC! Join the re ll revolution, says Tessa Dunthorne
131 All you need for an interiors update with sumptuous wallpapers, fabulous fabrics and design advice straight from the experts
153 TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH Yasemen Kaner-White heads to the most ethereal part of our planet, the Antarctic
156 THE ESCAPIST Travel news
158 THE TRIP Francisca Kellett on how holidaying sustainably got sexy
159 THE WEEKENDER Maastricht
160 SUMBA STYLE Wild horses wouldn’t drag you away from this stunning Indonesian island
162 HOME FROM HOME Villa holidays both home and abroad
167 WINNER WINNER Kitty Coles’ leftover roast chicken tacos
169 GASTRO GOSSIP Foodie news
171
172 FIVE OF THE BEST Original designs
174 ON BROADWAY Anna Tyzack on the American adoration of the Cotswolds
IIt seems unlikely (have you seen the queues to get into to the Diddly Squat farmshop?). e Disney cation of the rolling golden elds and honey-stoned villages continues apace. With the recent arrival of Estelle Manor and a profusion of destination pubs sprouting up, it’s no wonder visitors confuse their ‘bells’ with their ‘bulls’, says Sophia Money-Coutts, who charts the area’s seemingly inexorable rise on page 120.
You can’t read a newspaper or hear a news bulletin without mention of ‘the migrant crisis’. Behind a pair of red doors in West London, a charity is working hard to help those who arrive on our shores – some legally, others not so. Most are traumatised from the very e ort of reaching somewhere safe, but their trauma is far from over as they navigate their new situation. One of West London
Welcome’s patrons is the actress Harriet Walter, best known as Lady Collingwood in Succession, and she tells me why fear is our greatest enemy when it comes to the political rhetoric around asylum seekers – and how, as an actor, it’s her job to get the audience to have a look behind the stereotype (p112).
t’s a fact that whenever we write about Jeremy Clarkson and his smash hit show Clarkson’s Farm , our website visitor numbers go through the roof.
Love him or loathe him, the guy has extraordinary pulling power. But so too does his similarly charismatic girlfriend, Lisa Hogan. I took a stroll with her around Holland Park to nd out what her own plans are for the Diddly Squat empire – and what Jeremy’s most romantic act is. You’ll have to turn to page 124 to nd out.
Will the Cotswolds ever fall out of fashion?
A picture tells a thousand words, but have we computed what that means in our consumer-led lifestyles? We see hundreds of images every day – persuading us, cajoling us, seducing us with their messaging –implicit or otherwise. It’s no wonder that kids now recognise the Coca-Cola logo better than they do an oak leaf. Imagery is powerful. Which is the thesis of art entrepreneur Marine Tanguy’s book e Visual Detox – in which she exhorts us to wake up and better understand our visual landscape (p116).
Finally, you’ll probably know our cover girl Kaya Scodelario best as E y from Skins, the groundbreaking drama that won acclaim for its honest depiction of the British youth experience. Now 31, and ‘all grown up’, Kaya seamlessly slips into ‘Boss Girl’ mode as Susie Glass in Guy Ritchie’s new Net ix series e Gentlemen. Cool and con dent, Kaya has been in the game long enough to call out ‘bullsh*t’ when she sees it and her candour is delightfully refreshing (p102).
Just like this issue, we hope.
Favourite design era?
Art Deco for its bold lines, vivid colours from the Fauvism movement and joy from the Ballets Russes.
What's on your wish list for your home? An artwork by Kara Walker. I absolutely adore her work. She was able to explore issues of race, gender and identity in so many formats from printmaking, installation, film and paintings. Favourite artist? I can’t answer this question! But I am very excited to release so many new names on our agency's portfolio over the coming weeks. It’s an exciting year for our talent pool.
Favourite gallery? White Cube, it has shaped the British art scene over the past decades. How I would have loved to have been in the first original square room in 1993 and witnessed the beginnings of Gavin Turk and Tracey Emin.
Favourite design era? Right now, I’m working on a Victorian project so I’m all about Victoriana – rich reds and maroons, thick curtains, dark furniture, dim lighting and tapestries on the wall.
What's on your wish list for your home? I’m obsessively ordering fabric samples for my sitting room curtains right now.
I am extremely lucky to have been given quite a lot of old furniture and art, so I’m thinking a more contemporary pattern. But will that look mad? Help!
Favourite artist? Anita Klein, an Australian artist who often paints chubby naked ladies. Or chubby naked angels. I have two of hers and I love them. Cheerful without being twee.
Favourite gallery? Whenever I have writer’s block, I walk from my house in Crystal Palace to the Dulwich Picture Gallery. Partly to be inspired by the art; partly for the excellent cake.
Favourite design era? It has to be Art Deco: the geometrics, sunrise motifs, striking colours and importantly the flashes of gold, so many attributes that I love.
What's on your wish list for your home? I'd quite like a Diptyque electric diffuser for the home. I think a large one in the hallway would be really ideal – attractive and functional!
Favourite artist? Frida Kahlo. The way she depicts her life in her artwork – it's a colourful diary come to life, and her personality really shines through each of her works.
Favourite gallery? The Saatchi Gallery on Duke of York Square in Chelsea, for the intriguing artwork it shows, as well as the handy location for shopping and eating afterwards. It's always a joy to visit.
Favourite design era? The Sixties. I love the clean lines and designs like the Panton Chair, which began to revolutionise the way we furnished our homes. I’ve recently re-watched Mad Men and the attention to detail to pieces from that period is exquisite.
Favourite artist? Lucian Freud. One of my first art buys was a poster of Double Portrait, his daughter with a whippet. I love the composition, the way they are intertwined. Up close you can see the mastery of his brushwork and his subject choice is always fascinating.
Favourite gallery? Tate
Modern. The beautifully curated exhibitions always engage and surprise you –like last year’s Hilma af Klint and Piet Mondrian: Forms of Life and this year’s brilliantly interactive Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind
LUCY CLELAND
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
EDITOR-AT-LARGE ALICE B-B
ASSOCIATE EDITOR CHARLOTTE METCALF
DEPUTY EDITOR AMY WAKEHAM
ASSISTANT EDITOR & SUB EDITOR TESSA DUNTHORNE
SUB EDITORS KATIE BAMBER, RUBY FEATHERSTONE, ANDREW BRASSLEAY
FASHION DIRECTOR NICOLE SMALLWOOD
BEAUTY DIRECTOR NATHALIE ELENI
INTERIORS DIRECTOR CAROLE ANNETT
CULTURE EDITOR ED VAIZEY
EXECUTIVE RETAIL EDITOR MARIELLA TANDY
TRAVEL EDITOR-AT-LARGE FRAN KELLETT
SUSTAINABILITY EDITOR LISA GRAINGER
PROPERTY EDITOR ANNA TYZACK
MOTORING EDITOR JEREMY TAYLOR
ONLINE CONTENT DIRECTOR REBECCA COX
DEPUTY ONLINE EDITOR ELLIE SMITH
ONLINE WRITERS CHARLIE COLVILLE, OLIVIA EMILY
ONLINE ASSISTANT MARTHA DAVIES
SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER DANIELLA LAXTON
CREATIVE & PRODUCTION DIRECTOR PARM BHAMRA
DESIGN & PRODUCTION MIA BIAGIONI
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER ELLIE RIX
HEAD OF FASHION EMMA MARSH
SENIOR ACCOUNT DIRECTOR PANDORA LEWIS
ACCOUNT DIRECTOR SERENA KNIGHT
DIGITAL COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR ADAM DEAN
SPECIAL PROJECTS DIRECTOR SOPHIE STONEHAM
SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER SABRINA RAVEN
SALES SUPPORT, OFFICE & JOINT B CORP PROJECT MANAGER XA RODGER
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR MARK PEARSON
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER GARETH MORRIS
FINANCE CONTROLLER LAUREN HARTLEY
FINANCE ADMINISTRATOR RIA HARRISON
HUMAN RESOURCES CONSULTANT ZOE JONES
PROPERTY & MARKETING ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR AND JOINT B CORP PROJECT MANAGER GEMMA COWLEY
CHIEF COMMERCIAL OFFICER TIA GRAHAM
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER JAMES THROWER
MANAGING DIRECTOR JEREMY ISAAC
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS AND WRITERS
TIFFANIE DARKE, JAMES WALLACE, STEPHEN BAYLEY, FIONA DUNCAN, OLIVIA FALCON, DAISY FINER, AVRIL GROOM, MICHAEL HAYMAN, LAUREN HO, RICHARD HOPTON, EMMA LOVE, MARY LUSSIANA, ANNA PASTERNAK, CAROLINE PHILLIPS
THE EDITOR editorial@countryandtownhouse.co.uk
FASHION fashion@countryandtownhouse.co.uk
ADVERTISING advertising@countryandtownhouse.co.uk
PROPERTY ADVERTISING property@countryandtownhouse.co.uk ACCOUNTS accounts@countryandtownhouse.co.uk
SUBSCRIPTIONS subscribe@countryandtownhouse.co.uk
COUNTRY & TOWN HOUSE is a bi-monthly magazine distributed to AB homes in Barnes, Battersea, Bayswater, Belgravia, Brook Green, Chelsea, Chiswick, Clapham, Coombe, Fulham, Hampstead, Holland Park, Kensington, Knightsbridge, Marylebone, Mayfair, Notting Hill, Pimlico, South Kensington, Wandsworth and Wimbledon, as well as being available from leading country and London estate agents. It is also on sale at selected WHSmith, Waitrose, Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury’s stores and independent newsagents nationwide. It has an estimated readership of 150,000. It is available on subscription in the UK for £39.99 per annum. To subscribe online, iPad, iPhone and Android all for only
What to do with Country & Town House when you’ve finished reading it
1
Ideally, we’d love you to pass it on to a friend or a community place which might enjoy it (doctor or dentist surgery, community centre etc), but you can also rest assured that your issue can be recycled.
2 The magazine (including cover) can be disposed of in your paper waste recycling bin.
3
The outer plastic wrapping is made entirely from 100 percent compostable material sourced from potato starch. It can be disposed of in a compost heap, your garden waste bin or your food waste bin (why not use it as a liner?). Please do not put it in your recycling.
‘I can’t take HRT, so I need to find help NATURALLY instead ’
LIFESTYLE CHANGE… is bloody hard. Tougher still, is making the changes stick. However, I think Combe Grove, the UK’s rst metabolic health retreat led by Dr Campbell Murdoch, might have the answer (poor metabolic heath is the driver for most modern diseases). I visited the glorious Somerset valley to trial the menopause retreat. I’m swooshing down the peri-menopause vortex and as I’ve had breast cancer it’s suggested I don’t take HRT, so I need help naturally supporting my body, brain and perk (while all my pals sail through, merrily rubbing in hormones!). My week was ace and here’s why I think it works: 1. ey teach you the actual science behind achieving good metabolic health. So not just didactically prescribing the usual – more sleep, more veg, more exercise, less stress. But via doctors and pros explaining how and why. 2. I wore a continual glucose monitor so I could see the e ects of fasting, food and exercise. 3. Results are encouragingly instant – after a week I was less tired, my eyes and skin were brighter and, yes, I’d lost some weight. 4. e game-changer; do a week’s retreat and you get a year of hand-holding from the Combe Grove team including regular blood tests, nutritional consultations, webinars, cooking classes, meditation sessions. All of which help to cement those blasted lifestyle changes. On that note – I’m booking a consultation with fabulous dietitian Dr Rebecca Hiscutt to discuss my outrageous sugar cravings (combegrove.com).
A FRESH START. Not just a spring clean. Like fashion, it’s a good thing to keep decorating so you don’t get stuck in a house rut and nd your once hot Crittall windows suddenly look terribly dated. e designers whose projects I salivate over include Rose Uniacke, who treats every element like a show-stopping movie star, whether a burr poplar desk, a sofa or even a light switch. ere’s nothing, ‘that’ll do’ with Rose. I also can’t resist Rita Konig’s delicious colour combinations and her way of making rooms feel like you want to ll them with people and parties and fun. I adore Fran Hickman’s talent for making the mundane (e.g. a spiral staircase) become a stunning piece of sculpture. e elegant British tradition of layering colour, fabric and things found on your travels is perfected by Victoria von Westenholz. And boy do I lust after Gavin Houghton’s instinctive originality; a yellow ceiling, glossy apple-green window surround and dirty pink carpet. e frustrated decorator in me is ready to burst out again – tape measure and dungarees at the ready.
IT WORKS... I know it works because I took before and after pictures (and no you can’t see them!). After manual lymphatic drainage with Brazilian bombshell Flavia Morellato, my tummy went from stu ed with pancake to pancake at. I’m a bit obsessed with the lymphatic system, which helps the body lter out waste and bacteria. So I’m also using the body roller at Re Place in Notting Hill; a machine with a rolling lattice of wooden balls that works for sports recovery, keeping the dreaded cellulite at bay and – most importantly – working to optimise the lymphatic system. n
THIS MONTH I’LL BE...
TRIALLING Lyma’s new pro laser; saggy arms, crinkly knees, jowly jaw – begone (lyma.life). ILLUMINATING with jeweller Solange Azagury-Partridge’s portable Murano glass lights (greenwolf.co.uk). SWALLOWING Seed Daily Synbiotic; brilliant science ensuring the probiotics reach your colon alive (seed.com)
What’s bringing you joy at the moment? So many things. My dog, a beautiful Irish setter, always my children, and the emerging spring in my garden where I have a stream of snowdrops and a wood lled with bright yellow aconite.
What’s annoying you most right now? e rain. e mud. When is it going to stop raining?
What advice would you give your 15-year-old self? Almost all the things you are most upset about are beyond your control, and the things that are in your control are going to come out all right.
What keeps you awake at night? Excitement about work, which wakes me with stories in my head. What could you have been arrested for? A couple of misjudgements, but never any risk to life.
Best life hack you can share with us? Always carry your toothbrush in your hand luggage when ying, in case they lose your luggage.
What does sustainability mean to you? It’s a constant attempt to not damage the place I am in, and if possible improve it.
How can we save the world? We have to change our western lifestyles to consume, spoil, and destroy a lot less – and support developing countries to adopt new clean technology. We’ve got to live like stewards of the world and not like greedy maniacs.
Your greatest failure? I’m sorry I lost some campaigns I worked on, and I’m sorry that I lost some friends along the way.
Your greatest triumph? Probably the best thing I have ever done is raise funds and pay for wells to be dug in rural schools of e Gambia, Africa, so that school children can learn sustainable agriculture and not depend on the rains, have clean water to drink through the day and grow their own school dinners. We’ve dug 250 wells so far.
Your epitaph would read... Just my name and dates to help historians centuries from now. I couldn’t de ne myself in such a short word count. What does a life in balance mean to you? A mix of self-care and care for others, work that is pleasure, and being ready to work on the joys in life.
Philippa’s debut stage play, Richard, My Richard, will run at Shakespeare North Playhouse from 8-30 March, followed by eatre Royal Bury St Edmunds from 11-27 April n
For generations, we have been creating peerless appliances for those who know the di erence.
The wrong denim can date you. A friend following the Rule of Five (whereby you only purchase ve new items of clothing a year) was bullied into buying a new pair of jeans when her teenage daughter declared her denim ‘waaaay out of date’. In 2024 they are baggy, wide-legged, voluminous. Showing your thigh gap is very pre pandemic. Trends are hard to deal with if you are trying to curate a sustainable wardrobe. Impermanent by their very nature, it’s best to duck out of trends entirely. Country core, Mobwife, Uniqlo’s cross body pouch: give them all a skip, they’ll be dead by the time you read this.
But jeans? ey really show your fashion credibility. If you’re still wearing skinnies, it’s time to move on. But you don’t have to buy a new pair – the best denim brands are using their imagination to issue an update. Patched up denim is very acceptable, and thanks to the ‘double’ and ‘triple denim’ styling trends of the last few years, layering up shades earns you cool points. E.L.V. Denim founder Anna Foster takes it one step further, splicing two vintage styles together to create one contemporary look. As an ex-stylist for i-D, she has a laser fashion eye; the styles she issues guarantee front row status. What’s more, you don’t even have to buy new. Send her a couple of pairs of your own, and she will turn them into something even a teenager would wear.
Alternatively, try Fanfare the Label.
Taking a similar model of upcycling unwanted fabrics and applying contemporary design, Fanfare o ers imaginative ways to customise a tired pair. It recently embroidered white cord piping over a pair of my mom jeans, which I think look even better than last year’s hit Loewe pair. A partnership with Liberty saw Fanfare o ering its signature fabric patches (I got them to cover two of my belt loops), but it also o ers so many creative solutions using silk and sequin embroidery, laser and screen printing and more.
Founder Esther Knight, who cut her sustainable fashion teeth at Vivienne Westwood, says ‘I want to encourage customers to keep hold of their clothing for as long as possible. Denim is one of the most unsustainable products in terms of the way it is produced. Upcycling your jeans not only keeps them relevant, it helps tell your own story. at means you’re likely to cherish that garment for longer.’ So: don’t let your jeans date you. Just use your imagination. n
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Fanfare the Label’s embroidered jeans; the cult Loewe pair; E.L.V. Denim only uses upcycled denim
The new haircare heroes of 2024
Loro Piana’s luxury heritage and savoirfaire is encapsulated in its new Loom Bag. A versatile tote bag for every day, it has a metal bar under the flap that recalls the way fabric drapes over the heddle bar of a loom, as well as the workshops of maison’s master craftspeople. Available in the softest calfskin leather, as well as cotton and linen canvas for summer, this is destined to be the new quiet luxury it bag. £3,775 (from April), loropiana.com
Rado’s Anatom watch was given cult status when painted by Andy Warhol in 1987. Now, e Anatom has received a rather meta update with colourful dials inspired by Warhol’s painting. £3,150, rado.com
A taste of vibrant Brazil has landed on the King’s Road in the form of B Corp fashion brand Farm Rio, which has opened its rst London store on the iconic street. Head there to try out its signature tropical print dresses and rainbow-bright knitwear. 86 King’s Rd, London SW3. farmrio.eu
Inspired by her trips to Barbados, Suzannah London has launched her rst collection of vacation wear that sits alongside her much loved mainline collections. Tea dress, £900. suzannah.com
Ahead of World Sleep Day (15 March), the celebrity bed brand of choice for the likes of Emily Blunt and Cillian Murphy, Hästens, has just the thing for us insomniacs: its very own Sleep Restore app. It’s based on Dr Jussi Eerikäinen’s mindset methods, combining frequency tones and music to provide users with tailored soundscapes to listen to throughout the day. It aims to improve listeners’ concentration, focus, gratitude, creativity, productivity, stress management and relaxation, with the ultimate goal of enhancing sleep quality. hastens.com
Gucci enlisted supermodel Daria Werbowy to showcase its latest High Jewellery collection in the pool at Chateau Marmont in Hollywood. e new designs re ect nature’s transformations through an array of precious gemstones in rich tones, featuring incredible Paraiba tourmalines, emeralds and yellow sapphires. gucci.com
Gra ’s new Tilda’s bow collection symbolises awless perfection and family bonds – perfectly tied in beautiful diamond bows. £POA, gra .com
is season, Audemars Piguet has collaborated with haute couture designer Tamara Ralph to create the Royal Oak Concept Flying Tourbillon, showcasing an 18ct pink gold case adorned with frosted gold. Its multi-layered dial takes inspiration from the bold femininity and textured detailing of Tamara’s couture creations.
Audemars Piguet
Royal Oak Concept
Flying Tourbillon
Historically only found in bridal or high jewellery, US brand Platinum Born, which just landed in Battersea Power Station’s ROX boutique, is de ning the material for a new generation. All of the Earth’s platinum arrived on this planet via a meteor shower two billion years ago – meaning this naturally occurring and hypoallergenic pure white metal, 30 times rarer than gold, is truly out of this world. platinumborn.com
Key-themed jewellery
‘Tamara Ralph’ Limited Edition, £POA, audemarspiguet.com 1
2
3
Unlike most modern sportswear, Community Clothing’s new line of high performance athletic clothing is 100 percent plastic free, organic, natural and biodegradable.
Organic Athletic range, from £29. communityclothing.co.uk
Lock & Co may be the oldest hat shop in the world and one of the oldest family businesses still in existence, but that doesn’t stop it from being thoroughly modern milliners when it comes to essential headgear stylings.
Tremelo bakerboy cap, £225. lockhatters.com
Head for the hills this season
Luxury made-inEngland essentials brand SPA has released a limited capsule using fabric supplied by Raeburn, the London-based design studio that is a stalwart in the eld of upcycling. spa-studios.com
ere’s a new workto-weekend sneaker style in town. Scandicool brand CQP has just launched its Roamer collection of Italian suede kicks, which are elevated enough for a (casual, admittedly) o ce, but slick enough for your o -duty wardrobe, too. Available in four colourways, £358. c-qp.com
1
2
3
4
We can all picture the scene: American archaeologistcum-adventurer, Indiana Jones, slides under a closing stone door, loses his hat, and, against all odds, reaches back to rescue it just in the nick of time. It’s no wonder, then, that House of Swaine – which comprises Swaine, Herbert Johnson, the hatter behind Indy’s favourite accessory, plus umbrella maker Brigg – can claim to create goods that last for generations – they’ve survived attacks and traps all around the globe (at least on the screen). The House of Swaine was founded in 1750, and so predates the first blockbuster flicks, but since the talkies took off, it has been accessorising movie stars. Indiana
Jones is but one character in Swaine’s silver screen stable (he was initially kitted out by Herbert Johnson for the first movie in 1981, and then in every successive movie including the recent Dials Of Destiny). The rest of the cohort includes James Bond (From Russia With Love, released 1963, sees a Swaine attaché case bandied about), while Don Lockwood’s umbrella is made by Brigg in Singin’ in the Rain, and the Peaky Blinders’ sport flatcaps are by the heritage hatter Herbert Johnson. Whether it’s fedoras, umbrellas or attaché cases, every Swaine product is handcrafted in Mayfair, London, by skilled artisans employing well-honed craft techniques. www.swaine.london
Swaine products feature in the James Bond classics Dr. No From Russia With Love Goldfinger and Octopussy
David Bowie wears Swaine in The Man Who Fell to Earth
Bond attaché, £3,200. swaine.london
The classic rainy day musical Singin’ in the Rain is one of the famous flicks in which a House of Swaine product appears – but they’ve also been in The Avengers (1960s), Mary Poppins, The Man Who Fell to Earth, Dr Who and Dad’s Army, among others.
Patrick Macnee wears Swaine in The Avengers spy TV series Harrison Ford wears Swaine in the Indiana Jones franchise One of the iconic Fedora Hats as worn by Indiana Jones. The Raider Poet, £495. swaine.london
Gathering together the best of British at the annual GBB celebration
Not even a wet and windy night or a train strike could prevent our Great British Brands from turning out in force at e May Fair Hotel to celebrate the publication of GBB ’s e Human Issue, which explored how important it is for brands to keep the human touch in a world that’s set to become more and more dominated by arti cial intelligence. After all, what could be more human than connecting in real life? Glasses were raised to this year’s very worthy award winners – Red Savannah (community), Barbour (sustainability), 886 by e Royal Mint (product), eatre Royal Drury Lane (craft) and Berry Bros. & Rudd (Judges’ Award) –whose representatives were each given a bespoke trophy designed by omas Lyte in a ceremony sponsored by Rathbones. As we gear up for Great British Brands’ 10th anniversary edition next year, it was wonderful to survey the buzzing, glittering room lled with over 300 people, all invested in innovating, supporting and creating Great British businesses.
Anabel Kindersley
Naeem Anthony
Francesca Barrow
Nicola Purdue
Azzi Glasser
Claudia Stebbings
Cameron Duodu
Luca
del Bono
Jamila Saidi
Nazy Vassegh
Trevor Griffith
Dominic Jones
Mo Mohsenin
Edwin de la Renta
Paul Stockton
Julian Vogel
Hector Maclean
Geoff K Cooper
Cindy Chambers
Annoushka Ducas
Katy Wickremesinghe
Juliet Kinsman
Silmiya Hendricks
George MorganGrenville
Jez Bassinder
Nicola Hodson
Nick Carter
Rob Carter
Natalia Cassel
Nowadays, true luxury is about craftsmanship, sustainability, and impeccable customer service. Aranyani offers all this and so much more in its Mayfair boutique, the only place where you can buy its exquisite, handmade bags.
The luxury brand draws its inspiration from the rich heritage of the Vedic Indian civilisation, which has thrived for over 30,000 years. Exquisite craftmanship, heritage artistry and creativity are at the heart of everything it does, with its master craftspeople using ancient techniques to create truly unique designs, made by hand in super limited-edition numbers.
Its Stone Drops collection, for instance, takes inspiration from the dew drops found at sunrise in Rajasthan. The bags feature handcut amethysts and bloodstones arranged in 24ct gold to reflect the
Hemachandra numeric pattern of nature. Each bag comes with a gift of three precious stones, intended to elevate your meditation practice by enhancing energies.
The Golden Trails collection, meanwhile, features bags embellished with 24ct gold Champa flowers, symbolising ‘psychological perfection’. The gilding technique used to create the decoration is ancient, and requires years of practice from artisans before they become accomplished.
The name Aranyani means ‘goddess of the forest’, which exemplifies the brand’s approach to sustainability, nature and community. It only uses the highest quality Italian leathers that are a byproduct of the food industry, carefully sourced from tanneries with advanced waste-water detoxification and recycling processes. The atelier is also totally plastic free, a Net Zero development that incorporates rainwater harvesting, water recycling, and energy-efficient fixtures. Its local workforce is upskilled to learn leadership skills and be at the forefront of modern techniques, as well as preserving the traditional craftship that is at the heart of Aranyani bags. The company also funds the education of its staff’s children until senior school.
An Aranyani bag is a true heirloom, intended to be treasured and passed down for generations. Each also comes with a unique QR code so you can get to know the artist behind the masterpiece.
Aranyani, 21 Bruton Street, London W1. aranyani.com n
Amoura bag from the Stone Drops collection, featuring handcut amethyst arranged in 24ct gold
1
2
3
4
Beautiful bridal lingerie
1 Agent Provocateur Mercy corset, £495. agentprovocateur.com
2 Wacoal Embrace lace bra, £30; shorts, £32. wacoallingerie.com
3 Eres Paris Flocon bodysuit, £435. eresparis.com
4 Bluebella Isadora bra, £39; brief, £20. bluebella.com
Take your time and be purposeful when it comes to choosing what to invest in. Embrace telling YOUR story in whichever way is right for you. Try to gently let go of any preconceptions, expectations, or pressure you’re feeling, and be really honest with yourself and with each other about what matters the most. Being clear on these priorities will make budgeting, communicating, and decision-making easier and much more fun. thestarsinside.com
Valentina Ring, Wedding Planner Nadine Merabi Kimberley dress, £395. nadinemerabi.com Galvan London Santorini dress, £1,395. galvanlondon.com Halfpenny London Secchi dress, £3,600. halfpenny london.com The OWN Studio Style 016 dress, £2,750. theownstudio.com Miller White Muste dress with bow, from £3,500. millerwhite.co.uk
Sparkle
They won’t say no to one of these
1
2
3
4
M/G
Dior
Mark
Ignore
886
Goossens
social feeds, and friends’ and family opinions. Return to what is you in style and detail – it’s a celebration of the two of you. Feel empowered and confident to stick to your own taste, not a trend. niemierko.com
3
1
2
3
Chenai
Always think about your guests’ experience. Consider them in how you structure your wedding and how you look after them – always ensure there is enough to eat and drink, and make it easy for them to get to and from your venue. bychenai.com
3
2
1
We often use toptableplanner.com to do our clients’ table plans, which is a fantastic piece of software that really limits the stress of the table planning exercise. We upload the guest list and then the clients can play around with the table plan and add information. We always encourage doing this with a glass of wine and music playing – remember to make it fun again! gsp-uk.com
Be the best-dressed guest in flirty florals and impeccable tailoring
Set a budget (including a contingency) before booking or committing to any suppliers. Create a month-by-month wedding planning timeline to ensure that you stay on track and don’t become overwhelmed. Take time off (together) to do and discuss anything BUT the wedding! katrinaotterweddings.co.uk
Dior @ Vestiaire Collective Vintage brooch, £212.75. vestiaire collective.com Anya Hindmarch Neeson tassel clutch, rent from £48. reanya hindmarch.com Sellier Gianvito Rossi preloved heels, £265. sellierknightsbridge.com Kitri Studio Cherub print dress, £180. kitristudio.com Fope ‘Flex’it’ Souls ring in 18ct rose gold with sapphire, £1,265. fope.com Lalage Beaumont Hermione tweed jacket, £850; Chrissie skirt, £779. lalage beaumont.com Suzannah London Montecito shirt dress, £1,150; La Plage hat, £645. suzannah.com The Deck London Knatchbull jacket, £1,295; waistcoat, £650; trousers, £695. thedecklondon.com Acler @ MWHQ Temple midi dress, rent from £10. mywardrobehq.com Jane Taylor London Xanthe hat, £3,600. janetaylorlondon.com Katrina Otter, Wedding Planner Susan Caplan Givenchy vintage earrings, £375. susancaplan.co.uk Malone Souliers Perla wedge 85, £550. malonesouliers.com
Four treatments to look good, and feel great
1
Dr Haus HydraFacial
Target stressed-out pre-wedding skin with Dr Haus’ awardwinning treatment. After a consultation with the experienced team, a bespoke facial is crafted for your unique requirements, using a sixstep process that stimulates your collagen production, awakens dull skin, removes blackheads, and leaves your skin radiating a youthful glow. £230, drhausdermatology.com
2 Dr Sebagh UltraLift Facial
Also known as the ‘Glass Skin Facial’, this innovative treatment combines cuttingedge multi-functional HIFU technology with a bespoke application of Dr Sebagh’s Advanced Ageing-Maintenance Skin Care products for a lifted, sculpted and tightened visage. £350, drsebagh.com
3
111 Harley Street Regenerative Facial
Head to Dr Yannis Alexandrides’ (founder of 111Skin) clinic on Harley St for a facial that combines -30°C cold air and cryotherapy-inspired skincare, which energises skin, reduces puffiness, minimises dark circles and enlivens dull and lifeless looking skin. £195, 111harleystreet.com
4
My Osteo Buccal Massage Charlotte Mernier
Destress and depuff with osteopath Charlotte Mernier’s signature Buccal Massage treatment, which merges osteopathic methods with sculptural face lifting, lymphatic drainage, along with unique intra-oral techniques designed to alleviate built-up tensions within the jaw. £165, myosteolondon.com
Grace de Monaco Ombre Sereine EDP. harrods.com Boadicea the Victorious Resplendent EDP, £1,400. boadiceaperfume.com Jo Loves White Rose & Lemon Leaves EDP, £115. joloves.com Elie Saab Le Parfum Bridal EDP, £49. theperfumeshop.com InLight Beauty Under Eye Revive balm, £61. inlightbeauty.co.uk Chantecaille Bio Lifting Mask+, £191. chantecaille.co.uk Oskia Skincare H2Glow Serum, £63. oskiaskincare.com Equi London Beauty Formula, from £51. equilondon.com Neal’s Yard Remedies Aromatherapy Blend - Calming, £18. nealsyardremedies.com PHOTOS: PEXELS
CREATING BEAUTIFUL BATHROOMS SINCE 1988
0800 107 0700 | ripplesbathrooms.com
BATH, BEACONSFIELD, BOURNEMOUTH, BRISTOL, CHELMSFORD, CHICHESTER, HARPENDEN, LINDFIELD, LONDON, NEWBURY, NOTTINGHAM, OXFORD, SAFFRON WALDEN, SOLIHULL, SOUTHPORT, TOWCESTER, TRURO, TUNBRIDGE WELLS, WINCHESTER, WOKINGHAM
1 ROSES ALWAYS WORK
‘Flowers in pastels and lighter tones are always popular for weddings,’ says Neill Strain. ‘And personally I’m a huge fan of roses, for the abundance of shapes and textures they come in, as well as the vast variety of shades, tints and tones.’
2 SHOP LOCAL
‘ ere’s an increased focus on locality,’ says Erik Karlsen. ‘I think this is mainly connected to trying to use growers closer to venues and source English varieties that prevent transport. In this way, this year’s trend focuses on sustainability and suitability.’ Look for recommendations from a local owergrower, or owers that are native to the county that you’re getting married in.
3 THINK FRAGRANCE
‘We’re noticing a lean towards fragrant owers,’ continues Erik. ‘Particularly for the ceremony venue – you get full e ect by positioning oral arrangements by the entrance point. Less so for dinner tables, though, as food and scent are not always an appropriate mix.’
4 SIGNS & SYMBOLS
Erik Karlsen CEO Pulbrook & Gould. pulbrook andgould.co.uk
Amie Bone
Floral artist and event designer. amiebone.com
Neill Strain
‘An enchanting ower frequently requested for bridal arrangements is the Lily of the Valley,’ adds Neill. ‘It symbolises purity, love, joy and luck. It’s one of my favourites as it’s so elegant and romantic. Its scent has also become synonymous with Dior Diorissimo, and Christian Dior himself held a deep a ection for these timeless owers.’
5 BABY BLOOMS
‘Gypsophila is back en masse,’ says Amie Bone. ‘It’s going to be a huge hit at weddings through 2024 and beyond – it symbolises innocence and eternal love – and we’ll see it in themes, bouquets, displays and crowns. It’s also grown in the UK, and has a slightly wild look, which ties in with the growing popularity of wild owers.’
6
‘Orchids, be it Phalaenopsis, Vanda or Cymbidium, add a sense of drama and exotic allure to a oral design,’ says Neill. ‘We enjoy them for our designs as they’re a bold choice that adds a touch of luxury.’ n
Floral designer and owner, Neill Strain Floral Couture. neillstrain.com
Redistribute
Connect with charities like Floral Angels, or use florists who are already in touch with the good guys, like Neill Strain Floral Couture – and they’ll ensure your flowers brighten up the lives of those in care homes, hospices and more.
Gift Bag
Encourage guests to take home tablescapes to brighten up their houses after the event – and to compost these bunches after.
Missing You
Take flowers to loved ones who couldn’t be there because they’ve passed on – you can honour their memories by leaving bunches of your flowers at their graves.
Norton Park Hotel & Spa is a characterful escape located just on the outskirts of Winchester, and sits on a sprawling – but enchanting –54 acres of grounds. The hotel is a superior choice for those seeking sumptuous spa experiences and indulgent yet homely cooking, and also boasts an impressive array of wedding packages, plus in-house wedding coordinator Emma Chapman to realise your dreams, accompanying you every step of the way. Whether it’s a cosy gathering or a grand celebration, Norton Park Hotel & Spa’s three venues promise to make any wedding a seamless, unforgettable and unique affair.
For Intimate Moments
The Manor House is the perfect space for smaller gatherings of up to 30 guests. Brides can enjoy the opportunity of a moment with their closest kin in the bridal suite beforehand, before a ceremony held in the romantic walled gardens. With exclusive use of the 13-bedroom manor house, couples can enjoy privacy and luxury throughout their special day.
For
For couples seeking a rustic yet charming ambiance, the 17th-century Hampshire Barn is the ideal setting for celebrations of up to 120 guests. The interiors are perfectly formed: think wooden beams and stone flooring, with the option of curtains framing the aisle. Guests here can sip champagne on the lawn, before moving onto the Norton Suite as the party really gets started.
For those with a guest list that simply can’t be cut down, the Norton Suite is a spacious setting for lively, larger weddings. It’s able to host an evening reception (or full day event) of up to 300 guests without compromising on opulence and style. With its own bar, dancefloor, and sophisticated decor, this venue is the stage for a celebration that will leave a lasting memory.
Less than an hour from West London
Named one of the 'finest wedding venues in the UK' at Hitched's Wedding Awards 2024 54 acres of gorgeous grounds
Call Emma Chapman on +44 (0)1962 763000 to book your tour or enquire online at nortonparkhotel.com
From the elegant orangery to the characterful Hampshire Barn, there’s a venue for all tastes and sizes at Norton Park Hotel & SpaDiamonds are forever… but what about a dress? Priya Raj meets the brides reimagining their wedding looks
Gone are the days of brides storing their wedding dress in a box under the bed or at the back of a wardrobe, never to be seen again. Many are instead turning towards thrifting and rental services for their big days, or choosing to don their gown for another special occasion, too.
Charlotte Stavrou, the founder of SevenSix Agency, rented her London civil ceremony look, a short, fun, statement dress from Rotate Birger Christensen. She said her decision was more logical than sustainable – while she could wear this dress again anyway, she didn’t feel any compromise by renting it. ‘Why do I need a dress in my wardrobe that I’m not going to wear again?’ Charlotte pondered. And she’s not the only bride asking this question. is shift in the bridal fashion market has a lot to do with couples becoming more environmentally and economically conscious. e pressure of social media might also play a part. Some modern brides are opting for multiple wedding looks and celebrations, each re ecting a di erent aspect of their personality and aesthetic. Renting gives brides more room to play, as well as the option to hire multiple looks with the same budget that might otherwise be blown on a single showstopper gown.
Danielle celebrating in her €38 vintage gown from eBay
DANIELLE
Photo: Bertie Watson
Dress: Savannah Miller
Model and creative director Danielle Copperman not only created her ceremony dress with Savannah Miller out of deadstock fabrics from the designer’s fabric supplier, but also thrifted her reception gown and re-wore it to a gala the following year. ‘For me, the option to re-wear was almost more important than getting something secondhand,’ she said. A fan of pre-loved fashion since her teenage years, Danielle hunted through sites like eBay and Vestiaire Collective to nd her €38 gold beaded oor-length reception gown, which was modelled on a headless mannequin. ‘It was really not sexy,’ she said, but she had the creative vision to turn it into a one-o dress that’s totally unique to her. Danielle rewore her vintage dress a year later at a Parisian gala at e Ritz, and though it might seem a risky choice, she said it was ‘the best feeling in the world’. e beaded dress isn’t the easiest to maintain, and some of the beads at the hem have fallen o or been stepped on, but that it showed it has been loved and worn. ‘If it really brings you joy – it’s worth the risk,’ she says.
Danielle also found the bridal showroom appointment process overwhelming, and the pressure to choose there-and-then made it feel too serious, too quickly. ‘Secondhand shopping is a little bit more fun, and there’s no expectation,’ she added.
For those without galas to attend, or whose dress is too bridal to wear to another event, renting out their gown is also becoming popular for nancially savvy brides who still want to hold on to their dress as an heirloom. Clothing rental platform By Rotation told us they saw a 130 percent increase in brides listing wedding dresses, shoes and bags in 2023. And demand is growing. Zoe Graham, stylist and co-founder of P.S. Bridal Rental, a hire platform for brides, has her own custom-designed wedding dress up for grabs for brides looking to borrow it for their own big day. ‘I really enjoyed wearing it and I would hope that other people would be interested in wearing it, too,’ she said.
Her gown has been a popular choice among other brides, and is booked up for the ‘try-on’ service o ered by the platform. For £20, brides-to-be can sample dresses at home, with the assistance of a stylist over Zoom who can discuss styling or alterations needed – which P.S. Bridal Rental can also carry out. is concept isn’t widespread, and might explain some brides aren’t initially keen to consider thrifted or rented dresses – the try-on experience still carries a lot of weight for brides who want the champagne, tears and ‘say yes to the dress’ moment with their family and friends. However, as P.S. Bridal Rental, with a little imagination it’s possible to do both.
Zoe also notes that it’s getting harder to nd wedding dresses at a reasonable price, and as more people take to social media to nd inspiration from luxury wedding pages, expectations are getting higher, even if budgets are not. But with rental and preloved options, you really can go out and nd the dress of your dreams – and also be assured it won’t just sit at the back of your wardrobe for decades to come. n
Bath
With its honeyed Cotswold stone and glorious panoramic views, this is quite simply one of England’s most romantically beautiful and enchanting houses. The 16th-century manor is set in 50 acres of gardens in the Cotswolds AONB, and is the home of Rupert and Victoria Legge. The award-winning venue is available for exclusive hire for a wedding to remember. For your ceremony, there’s the glorious 18thcentury orangery with huge arched windows, or alternatively you can exchange your vows under the boughs of a 400-year-old lime tree. For a traditional English church setting, the charming St Mary the Virgin is nearby. Afterwards, toast the nuptials with champagne on the terrace (there's no corkage fee) and there's also a splendid marquee that can seat 200. Guests can also explore the lovely walled grounds with the 200-year-old wisteria-clad pergola, knot garden and 18th-century water garden. Close to Bristol and Bath, the venue is under two hours from London. hamswellhouse.co.uk
Two venues, countless ways to celebrate your wedding
Penrith
Couples seeking a country estate to call their own for their wedding day need look no further than Askham Hall. The elegant Grade II-listed medieval hall, owned by the Lowther family for over 300 years, is set in the dramatic fell-scapes of the Lake District national park, and offers 360 acres of green parkland, a choice of gorgeous ceremony locations – including St Peter’s church, overlooking the River Lowther, and the characterful Bank Barn – and equally beautiful reception venues, for up to 150 guests. Askham also has wedding planners on hand to make sure everything goes smoothly on the big day, and many of the ingredients for the custom menus are grown, reared or foraged on the estate. The wedding party will be happy to know they can even stay in the historic hall, with 19 luxury bedrooms on offer that can accommodate up to 38 of your guests, plus dogs and children. With all this, it’s no wonder this romantic hall was named Cumbria Tourism’s Wedding Venue Of The Year in 2022. askhamhall.co.uk
PHOTOS: © LUCY DARBY PHOTOGRAPHY;
Explore the Bahamas’ 700 islands with a once-in-a-lifetime bespoke yacht expedition with Cookson. Get up close and personal with tiger sharks and reefs in state-of-the-art submersibles; party on private beaches with rum and freshly caught seafood; help research scientists tag turtles; and get the adrenaline pumping with watersports in azure coves. £POA, cooksonadventures.com
Make memories to last a lifetime with a luxury safari in a private game reserve in Nairobi. This nine-day trip takes in the exclusive Enasoit Game Sanctuary Lodge, situated on the Laikipia Plateau at the foot of Mount Kenya. Spot giraffe, zebra and gazelle from horseback, or with a bush picnic, and relax in the evening with an al-fresco spa treatment. Next, you’ll fly to the Kenyan coast to stay on a traditional sailing ship, on which you’ll explore the islands of this picturesque part of the world, snorkelling, kayaking and exploring the picturesque streets of Lamu. From £17,033, redsavannah.com
Renowned for its rich biodiversity and breathtaking rainforests, this couple’s adventure in Costa Rica will be a trip to remember. The itinerary takes in exploring a coffee plantation, hiking the Arenal Volcano National Park, spotting monkeys, wild boars and frog monkeys, and visiting Diamante Eco Adventure Park with its famous dual zipline. From £9,100, elegantresorts.co.uk
March/April 2024 |
Thundering waterfalls, granite mountains dusted with snow, and towering gullies greet you as you explore the Norwegian Fjords with Cunard. The seven-night adventure is the perfect chance to escape from the madding crowd. From £2,899, cunard.com
Atzaró Agroturismo Hotel, Ibiza
Luxury meets sustainability at this gorgeous nature-filled hotel. A celebrity favourite, it features 24 elegantly understated bedrooms, two restaurants serving organic produce from its gardens, and the renowned Atzaró Spa. €245, atzaro.com
A new barefoot luxury resort opening on the island of SainteMarie this spring, Voaara will launch with just eight exclusive beach bungalows and one villa. It’s one of the world’s best spots for sighting the mighty humpback whale, and from July to September pods return to the shallows to birth their young. Giving back to the local nature and community is at the heart of this understated new hotel. £300pp per night, voaara.com
This Four Seasons resort has everything you need to recover from wedding prep: easy, elegant dining options, spoiling spa treatments, and 2,000 acres of Quinta do Lago’s nature reserve to explore together. From £1,100, fourseasonsfairways.com
Waldorf Astoria Seychelles Platte Island
Paradise awaits here, with 50 private seafront villas, each with a pool and concierge. It’s largely powered by its own solar farm and conservation of the island’s wildlife, including migratory seabirds and hawksbill turtles, is paramount .€2,400 B&B, hilton.com
Just a 30-min boat ride from Athens, Kéa Island is the Cyclades’ best-kept secret. One&Only has just opened an outpost there, featuring 63 secluded cliffside villas positioned for privacy, with incredible views over the island and Aegean sea. Tired of oneon-one time? Head to one of the resorts glittering cocktail bars or the Bond Beach Club to get the celebrations going (again). From £1,500, oneandonlyresorts.com n
Dive into health and wellness this spring – whether it’s working on your balance or investigating the benefits of NAD+, we have everything you need for a new season refresh of mind, body and soul.
Slip into Shleep, says Charlotte
ColeShleep is the new password to gain you access to that lovely place we all like to go to dream. Imagine the nest Australian merino jersey sheets or a luxury merino jersey sleep mask relaxing you into the Land of Nod. at’s what Shleep o ers. Merino wool is not just natural, sustainable, renewable and biodegradable, but research also shows that we sleep better with wool. It’s thermoregulating, actively responding to the body’s temperature changes and adapting – keeping you cool when you’re hot and snug when your body temperature falls. It’s also ultra-breathable, absorbing moisture from the skin, allowing you to stay cool and dry – great for everyone from a baby with a sweaty head to a menopausal woman. Plus it’s super soft – the bre diameter of their wool is so weeny that the fabric feels as smooth as silk or cashmere, and as light and luxurious. Which all helps you fall asleep faster and stay in the shleep zone for longer. e other good news?
ey’re soon introducing Shleep Beauty, Shleep Travel and Shleep merino silk leisure wear. Meanwhile, just enjoy a good night’s sleep and a better waking day. From £48, available from johnbellcroyden.co.uk
For detox a cionados, one of Switzerland’s top longevity clinics has set up camp at one of London’s loveliest hotels, Hyde Park’s Mandarin Oriental. Plump for the three-hour Full Monty experience – in for a penny, in for an indulgent me-time, I say. Herbal tea whipped away and it’s o to the nutritionist. You think you know everything, being a semi health-conscious individual, but these guys set your brain on re with how you can fuel and heal your body for your individual needs. Next it’s time to get moving with a Bodyspace PT, in a session that aims to energise you before that much-needed delicious massage. You’re sent home with two months supply of the clinic’s excellent supplements –mind, body and soul well and truly treated. mandarin oriental.com
With the rotten state of access to dental care in the UK, it’s more important than ever to ensure our gnashers are kept in tip top condition. It’s not only the vanity of pearly whiteness that should be sending us to the chair, but the health of our mouths can be a mirror to what’s going on in our bodies elsewhere. A visit to Dr Mahsa Nejati’s Belgravia clinic for an Oral Detox & Cleansing Treatment is a great way to step up your regime. First up is eliminating bacteria from the mouth with Air ow technology, followed by an antiseptic treatment – a pleasant tasting rosemary and thyme gel. A boost of red LED light helps with cell regeneration, then a nal blast of hydrogen peroxide to remove stains and brighten up the teeth. All pain free too. Smiles all round.
From £179, nejaticlinic.com
Wh ile balancing a busy lifestyle might top your wellbeing agenda, improving your actual balance might not be something you’ve considered. Staying steady on our feet is essential to preventing and healing from injury, particularly as we get older. Chiropractor Dr Luther Moss (osborne-chiro.com) tells us, ‘Balance is complex, made up of information we receive from our eyes, our ears, and the movement of joints and muscles. ese tell our brain the position and direction in which we are moving. If these systems aren’t working well, the brain doesn’t have a complete picture and will not be able to control movement e ectively.’
We know balance can deteriorate with age and injury, but our screen time may also be leaving us a little shaky. Osteopath Nadia Alibhai (nadiatheosteopath.com) comments, ‘I have many 70+ aged patients who are more mobile than my 30-40 year olds as they go for regular walks, do gardening, and potter around the house, whereas some of the younger generation are glued to screens and stuck to desks.’ Nadia continues: ‘A study by Lee JH in 2016 showed that forward head posture can have an e ect on static balance. Forward head posture is something we see a lot due to the increase in screen usage; it alters the centre of gravity of the body compared to the head being in a neutral position. e body then attempts to adapt to these changes by altering its balance control, which decreases balance ability while performing di erent activities and increases the risk of falling and musculoskeletal injury.’
But there are ways counteract this. Dr Moss says, ‘Improving your balance is possible and can be done e ectively with only a few minutes of practice each day. A great starting exercise is simply to stand on one leg
while cleaning your teeth in the morning and the other in the evening.’ (Always make sure you have something to hold onto to prevent falls.) Nadia adds, ‘Someone who is dominant on one side will likely have built more strength on that side, and so when asked to stand on the weaker leg, they may nd they wobble more.’ Her tip: ‘Try to be ambidextrous! Alternate holding your toothbrush with the right and left hand so your muscles get used on both sides.’
Other exercises to try include seated leg raises, heel-to-toe walking and, as your balance improves, side leg raises and walking lunges. Ball sports that require hand-eye coordination will also lessen your wobble, as will classes such as tai chai, qigong, and pilates. Kirsten King, founder of Fluidform ( uidformpilates.com), tells us, ‘Pilates activates our slow-twitch bres and smaller muscles, which support our joints, posture, and balance.’ She recommends trying a pelvic curl with a small ball to stabilise your pelvis, activate your abdominal muscles, and improve your balance. n
If you have been looking for an excuse to book into Heckfield Place, this might be it. Guests there have access to its 17,000 sq/ft wellbeing space, where you’ll find Master Practitioner Benjamin Raphael Pluke. Having trained in osteopathy, he uses manipulation and muscle work techniques to encourage a balanced spinal posture.
For me, ageing well involves not only looking good but feeling great too. With this in mind, I headed to the NAD clinic on Wimpole Street (nadclinic.com) for a series of NAD+
Anti-Fatigue IV infusions (£449) that promised to boost my energy and immune system, help me to sleep deeper and promote overall longevity. While I can’t yet speak to the longevity part, I can report I found the infusions uncomfortable (common side e ects include ushing, nausea, rapid heart rate, chest tightness, and cramping in the tummy) until the nurse slowed the infusion rate down. Results-wise, I did indeed feel brighter, bouncier and, as witnessed by my Oura ring (that tracks sleep cycles), I slept better for a couple of weeks, too.
NAD+ (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) is a form of Vitamin B and has been a hot topic in wellness for a while now. To recap for those who aren’t so familiar: NAD+ is a coenzyme that energises and repairs every cell in the body but like most good things depletes with age. Addiction centres worldwide have used NAD+ IVs to help with issues such as burnout, detox, anxiety, depression and many patients have reported lifechanging results. However, strong clinical data to support this is still lacking, so even though NAD+ therapeutic infusions are gaining traction globally, many doctors remain sceptical and caution against the potential risks, which need further investigation.
Although there are medical studies that suggest NAD+ can inhibit certain cancers, there is concern in that as NAD+ kickstarts the mitochondria (the batteries of every cell in the body) and turbocharges cellular energy production it could possibly ‘excite’ some cancer cells, so NAD+ IV therapy is not recommended for people with cancer or a family history of cancer. My top tip, if you are interested in having
This super stylish red leather car scent diffuser, with eight alternative scents available, brings the uplifting aromas of Amalfi fig and citrus fruits to your vehicle. £144, acqua diparma.com
Can NAD infusions truly boost energy and immunity? There’s only one way to find out
NAD+ IV therapy, is to consult your doctor and have a thorough assessment at a reputable clinic before proceeding. As well as the excellent sta at the NAD Clinic, I also rate e Hum2n Clinic in Chelsea (hum2n.com), which organises comprehensive medical screenings before you proceed.
Another way to boost your NAD+ levels is via oral supplements that don’t illicit concerns as such as NR (nicotinamide riboside) and NMN (nicotinamide mononucleotide). ese are NAD+ precursors, which help your body make the coenzyme. I myself will be continuing on my NAD+ journey with Invity Ultimate NMN 12000 (£47 for 60 capsules, uk.myinvity.com) which I hope will keep the brain fog at bay. n
A saffron sunset in a bottle, this Cappadocia scent is inspired by the town in Turkey famous for its hot air balloons and majestic views. The ambery spicy scent has notes of saffron, sandalwood and myrrh. £235, selfridges.com
This indie fragrance brand hits all the high notes with Pillow Talk, with its showstopping bottle and a sophisticated blend of bergamot, cinnamon, balsam woods, musk and ylang ylang. It conjures up images of lazy sunlit Sundays basking in bed. £160, sidestoryparfums.com
Spring River has zesty citrus notes, and is the ideal companion for a spring break as it also includes a 10ml travel sized fragrance and a cap that transforms into a travel case. £260, harrods.com
THERE’S YOU YOU , THEN THERE’S THE EARLY BOOKING PRICE ENDS MIDNIGHT 29TH MARCH
March into these spring events, says
Tessa Dunthorne
Drop into Legion: Life In e Roman Army to get a avour of the ancient world – families should look out for the Horrible History trail, which invites youngsters to follow the story of Rattus, who’ll be telling them what it takes to make a soldier. Until 23 June, britishmuseum.org
Silicon Valley bro buys an island with some pals in a bid to maximise their productivity; sounds like a story for modern times? In reality, it’s a restaging of Love’s Labour’s Lost, and the RSC has cast Bridgerton boy Luke ompson to lead. 11 Apr to 18 May, rsc.org.uk
If Hampstead Heath is your local greenspace – or you simply enjoy a stroll down Parliament Hill – Simon Gazzard’s rst solo exhibition at Burgh House has captured the feeling of your weekend meanders.
20-24 March, simongazzard.co.uk
Each year Design Centre Chelsea Harbour gathers the country’s finest interior designers and brands under its Imperial Wharf roof to showcase what’s hot for homes. Get house proud between 11-15 March, dcch.co.uk
Awe-worthy sounds to accompany awe-worthy views: Soundscapes is an audio-visual sensory journey debuting in Skipton, North Yorkshire, with work by immersive artist Michaela French and composer Ben Crick. Be transported by nature – and an impressive 360° purpose-built dome and its symphonic soundtrack. 14 March to 1 June, skiptontownhall.co.uk
The summer festival for puppy lovers. Expect 10,000 dogs to rock up for Dogstival, the annual pooch paradise in the New Forest. Enjoy ‘barkour’ and the paw-lympics, and rack up those steps. 1-2 June, dogstival.co.uk
Be inspired to get crafty – or simply drink in the beautiful displays
London Craft Week is a city-wide festival that shines a light on the world’s most beautiful objects – and the craftship that goes into them. It’s your annual opportunity to discover how artists and artisans feather, crochet and mould their most incredible works.
Craft displays will take over many museums and galleries over the week. At Cromwell Place, explore an immersive exhibition dedicated to delicate jewels and wearables, as well as a pop-up from Soluna Art Group celebrating the Hallyu wave with a presentation of the best Korean makers. At the V&A, there will be live demos from featherwork artists Julien Vermeulen and Matéo Laurent. At the Design Museum, a spotlight on artist and furniture designer Enzo Mari will teach visitors how to make a Sedia 1 chair with reclaimed timber after an exhibition tour. Still hungry for practical skills workshops? In the Barbican Gallery shop, Christabel Balfour will be weaving on a loom each day and talking her craft process.
e beauty of a city-wide festival is that it’ll take you to unique locations across the city. e redeveloped Chelsea Barracks is one such spot; this year marks the inaugural Modern Masters Art Walk, an outdoor trail celebreating the
craftmanship behind today’s modern masters. It will showcase artist Dale Chihuly and his spectacular colour-saturated glass sculptures. Interiors lovers should also pop into a ‘vintage supermarket’ pop-up in Soho, curated by Merchant & Found (see p140 for more info).
Take advantage of the expert talks the festival will be putting on across the city. Rose Uniacke will be chatting about the Heritage Craft Young Weavers award, and Jay Blades MBE will discuss honouring the past and celebrating the present through craft.
13-19 May 2024. For the full programme, visit londoncraftweek.com
Ellie Smith looks forward to the upcoming Blue Rider Group exhibition at the Tate
In the early 20th century, a group of friends came together to form e Blue Rider group, a collective who would go on to play a key role in the development of modern art.
Founded in Munich by Russian-born Wassily Kandinsky – whose famous painting the group is named after – and fellow artist Franz Marc, the members of the group were loosely connected by a desire to express spiritual ideas, in the midst of a rapidly changing, industralised, pre-WWI Germany. With members hailing from all over the world, the aim was to form ‘a union of various countries to serve one purpose’, and the group was built on a belief that ‘the whole work, called art, knows no borders or nations, only humanity.’
A new show, Expressionists, at Tate Modern will tell e Blue Rider group’s story, displaying over 130 works from renowned artists including Kandinsky, Marc, Gabriele Münter, and Paul Klee. It will explore the multicultural nature
of this important art period, and looking at how the artists’ friendships inspired their work.
ere will also be a particular focus on how these artists experimented with sound, colour and light, the exploration of which was central to the movement. e exhibition includes Kandinsky’s Impression III (Concert) 1911, which showcased his interest in synaesthesia, a condition where you experience one sense through another, alongside Marc’s 1911 Deer in the Snow II, an examination of colour theory and optics.
e exhibition will close by depicting how, despite being dispersed during WWI, the collective’s transnational legacy lives on today.
Expressionists: Kandinsky, Münter and e Blue Rider is at Tate Modern from 25 April to 20 Oct. tate.org.uk
Derry Girls’ Louisa Harland on her dashing new show, Renegade Nell
What’s Renegade Nell about? It’s a swashbucklingadventure-romp. It’s set in 1704, and it’s about a woman who returns from war and is wrongly accused of murder. She nds herself on the road with her sisters and does everything in her power to protect her family.
I prepped for the show by… Living for two years over lockdown with a Cockney family to learn the accent. ey taught me it’s more than just the sayings; it’s the way in which you hold yourself – the way in which you look up, even.
I did stunts for the show but… if you ever see me do something incredibly cool – it isn’t me. ey were keen on me doing pretty much all of the ght sequences myself. But they wouldn’t let me – even though I begged – fall o a carriage, for example. So that is the incredible Melissa Hulmer, my stunt double, who did that with no wires, no padding, nothing. I’m currently reading... Long Day’s Journey Into Night by Eugene O’Neil. I’m in the play from mid-March in London. The last film you watched in cinema? Anatomy Of A Fall – I think it’s the lm of the year.
And TV? Truthful answer – RuPaul’s Drag Race season 16. Is there a band or singer you have on repeat? I always listen to John Martin, he’s my go to. You know when you rewatch shows when you’re feeling anxious, because it’s comforting? John Martin is that to me.
And finally, what do you hope people get out of watching the show? at it’s one that everybody can watch together – the whole family.
Renegade Nell is on Disney+ from 29 March. disneyplus.com
PHOTOS: SHUTTERSTOCK
Richard Hopton on three books about East and West, and the city that sits between them
e great walls of Istanbul were built in the 5th century AD by the Byzantine Emperor eodosius II to defend the city’s landward approaches. Four miles long, they have survived in varying states to the present day. ChristieMiller uses them to illuminate Turkey’s complex history and its controversial present, from the Byzantine era to the catastrophic earthquake of February 2023. He worked in Istanbul as a journalist between 2010 and 2017, a fact re ected in the book’s elegant mélange of history and reportage. He uses the testimony of individual interviewees to lay bare the repression, corruption, sectarianism, and ecological vandalism of the Erdogan years, especially since the botched coup of 2016. (William Collins, £25)
e East has exerted a powerful in uence on the imagination of Westerners since Herodotus wrote about goldmining ants in India in the 5th century BC. It has bewitched explorers, merchants, missionaries, imperialists, spiritualists, as well as novelists and poets - ‘In Xanadu did Kubla Khan/A stately pleasuredome decree,’ wrote Coleridge - ever since. Physical links between East and West have existed since earliest times, too: a trade in pepper was established between India and the GraecoRoman world by the 1st century; Roman coins have been found in India. Alexander the Great invaded India in the 4th century BC. is book explores the Western fascination with the East, by which he means principally India, China, and Japan. Full of anecdotes, written with verve and humour, this book is an entertaining guide to an age-old preoccupation. (Allen Lane, £30)
It is a historical commonplace to assert that the roots of Western civilisation lie in the classical world of the Greeks and the Romans but Quinn thinks otherwise. ere is, she writes, ‘no privileged connection between ancient Greeks and Romans and the modern “West”’. e Greeks and the Romans had ‘their own histories, rooted in other places and older peoples’. e modern West is the result of millennia of interaction in almost every sphere of human activity between numerous di erent societies. How the World Made the West ranges far and wide, both geographically and chronologically to prove her point. It begins in the eastern Mediterranean 4,000 years ago and ends with the Black Death in the 14th century, covering the intervening span of history with lucidity, erudition, and breadth of vision. (Bloomsbury, £30)
In Clear, John Ferguson arrives at a remote Scottish island to evict its last inhabitant, Ivar. How did the story begin? I do a lot of my reading and writing in the beautiful old reading room at the National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh, and late one winter’s afternoon I stumbled across a dictionary in Norn, an extinct language once spoken on Orkney and Shetland. I started lea ng through the covers of two ancient-looking volumes containing thousands of words collected in the 1890s by an indefatigable Faroese scholar called Jakob Jakobsen and was enchanted. It was an extraordinarily rich and precise language, bound up with lots of words about the sea and the weather. Slowly my island began to take shape and Ivar, John and Mary all emerged from how these words worked on my imagination. Why do your stories often start with an arrival or departure? It brings an element of danger, tension and uncertainty, a feeling that we’re on the brink of something. I never know where my stories are headed, I set out with my characters and see where they’ll end up. at’s what’s exciting to me. If I knew what was going to happen, I’d never write them.
Why are your male protagonists often lonely and damaged? I need distance, a way of worrying about things in someone’s else’s head, and very often that ends up being a man’s. I’m preoccupied by the kinds of men I write about because ten years ago two of my friends, both men, both su ering from chronic depression, committed suicide. With Cy Bellman in West, Hilary Byrd in e Mission House and John Ferguson in Clear, I’ve been writing in some way about their struggle to survive in the world. By contrast, your women are often stoic. I think women in historical ction are sometimes given an anachronistic degree of agency. I’m interested by the ones who manage to be ercely
independent, resourceful and brave within the formidable con nes of their time – like Mary in Clear
Your characters typically dare to take a risk for the sake of happiness or redemption. Life is short. What do we do with the brief time we’ve been given? How do we behave in di cult situations that demand courage, or kindness, or an open mind? For me, the best de nition of happiness is that it’s a kind of freedom; most of my characters are seeking that in some way. Which authors embrace human frailty? My favourites include Dickens, Gogol, Flannery O’Connor, Miranda July, Flaubert, Dermot
Healy, Joyce Cary, Sylvia Townsend Warner, Carson McCullers. Why are languages so important? Language is like bird song, designed so insiders can communicate but also to identify and exclude outsiders. Learning one feels like a kind of magic – being given a key to a previously locked box. John, in his slow and limited way, picks up the rudiments of Ivar’s language and through it begins to glimpse the world di erently, through his eyes. The Scottish land clearances echo the global plight of refugees. Why are we unable to learn from history? It’s a troubling question that runs through all my novels. Bellman, Byrd and Ferguson share a kind of blindness, walking into situations they don’t fully understand, because they’ve failed to see there’s an alternative historical perspective. It worries me that schools are so afraid of courting controversy that few now teach the Israel-Palestine con ict. Years ago my husband set up an educational charity, Parallel Histories, to try and tackle this problem. You’ve won multiple awards, does writing get easier with experience? No! Every story is di erent and for me it’s a long process of trial and error. Experience teaches that the long periods of failure, frustration and despair are unavoidable, and you have to keep trying. Why do you love libraries? My best nds have all been in archives – some little piece of gold that’s turned up in an obscure handwritten notebook, letter, shopping list, invoice, or some other treasure, and taken hold of my imagination.
What became clear as you were writing?
Mary says: ‘You never knew in advance if a decision was the right one.’ is expresses the story’s beating heart: that in life things are rarely entirely clear, but with courage and uncertainty, hope and doubt, love and a generous helping of pragmatism, we do the best we can.
C lear by Carys Davies (Granta , £12.99). Read the full interview at countryandtownhouse. com/culture/cth-book-club
REMOTE Orkney life changes for Manod when two strangers arrive in Elizabeth O’Connor’s pre-WWII novel, Whale Fall (Picador, £16.99); LONELY women rediscover love and friendship in Ericka Waller’s Goodbye Birdie Greenwing (Doubleday, £16.99); a 1970s Leeds brothel is the beating HEART of Katy Massey’s Ripper-era mystery, All Us Sinners (Sphere, £16.99); an old man’s LOVE story enthralls his Amalfi audience in The Gentleman from Peru by André Aciman (Faber, £12.99); HUMOUR refracts Jan Carson’s brilliant Belfast stories, Quickly While They Still Have Horses (Doubleday, £16.99) n
Tessa Dunthorne brings you the sunny stories to brighten your day
In time for this summer’s Olympics, Veja has opened a new store in Paris. But it’s not a shoe shop. While the French footwear brand has several ‘repair corners’ across Europe, the new ‘General Store’ is more like a shoemaker’s workshop with two cobblers on site dedicated to repairing your kicks (and other shoes). ere’s also a tailor to breathe new life into your clothes.
It’s no secret that British farmers are not a happy bunch, but is the government nally listening? At the recent National Farmers’ Union Conference, Rishi Sunak announced a £220 million funding injection to support farm communities across the UK. e package intends to send tech to farms – think automation and cost-saving energy measures such as rooftop solar panels – to keep British farming a oat for future generations. Source: UK Gov
ere’s a groundbreaking new development destined for Lewes, East Sussex. e Food Foundation and Human Nature Places have partnered up to build a sustainable new neighbourhood. e Phoenix Development aims to be the most eco-digs in the UK: think timberstructured homes, biodiversity and walkable with a central community canteen and community gardens. e hope is to create ‘a blueprint for sustainable placemaking and positive social impact that can be deployed at scale.’
How long’s the waitlist? Source: Food Foundation
Hedgefunds with purpose? at’s exactly what a group of young professionals in the US is ghting for. Unlocking America’s Future aims to ‘strike back against well-funded attacks’ on clean-investing. And it’s holding the very richest to account. Its new site –responsibleinvestingwatch. us – tracks the billionaires at the helms of the oil and gas industry who are funding misinformation campaigns and anti-environmental rhetoric. We think they might be right on the money. Source: Axios
TOAD CROSSING Each year, hundreds of volunteers in Richmond help toads cross the road in their annual migration. Fancy checking out the amphibian highway? Church Road in Ham closes every March for the annual occurrence (froglife.org). PRICKLY SUBJECT Sightings of hedgehogs are up by two percent, according to BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine, after having been in decline since 2000. WORK-LIFE BALANCE Of the 61 organisations that took part in the four-day work-week trial, 89 percent are still operating the policy. Time to beg your boss?
Caiti Grove meets the school truant turnedAfro expressionist with big ambitions
Kojo Marfo’s studio is literally crammed with creativity. In the small South London room overlooking residential gardens, he has stapled a huge canvas to the wall. Two people stand, one holds a cockerel, the other a baby with a mask-like face. ey are enormous, dramatic, a twist on the traditional African art that Kojo grew up with. ‘It’s a conversation about pushy parents. But it’s more to do with the pressure and expectations they put on us – we cannot cope,’ he explains. His bike leans against the wall and tubes of paint pile up on the oor. e working space might be small – ‘a big studio would feel like a false elevation’ – but Kojo’s ambitions are large, with exhibitions in Mayfair and New York in recent years, and more to come.
Kojo was eight when he started skipping school in his native Ghana. Instead, he would drop into the nearby library and read Asterix comics and art books on Picasso. ‘At ten o’clock in the morning I would tell them, “I’ve been sent home, my Mum will pick me up in the evening”.’ Or he would head to the zoo where children got in for free. After a few strict letters sent in his school bag, he learnt to read them rst and censor any to reveal his ruse. ‘It wasn’t like over here where you are coddled, school was tough. Primary school was hardest,’ he tells me of his education in Ghana. ‘I used to forget my socks were dirty. So my Mum would rush around, wash them and dry them by hanging them on the back of the fridge,’ before the rigorous uniform inspection in school assembly.
At home, his grandmother brought up her grandchildren while his mother and aunts worked, and he still refers to his grandmother as ‘Mum’, and his mother as ‘Auntie’. ‘I have a typical African family, we
lived in a compound house where my Grandma was the head of the family. We inherit our bloodline from our mother.’
Ghana’s violent coup d’état of 1988 overthrew President Hilla Limann’s government, and Kojo recalls hiding under the bed with his brother. eir house overlooked the broadcasting building where soldiers assembled to control the media narrative of recent skirmishes.
‘ ey would re at each other, it was scary. To escape back to their home towns, people had to pass through barriers as they travelled from Accra. It was one of those things that felt normal but when you look back you think, “How did we manage to survive?”’
At 18, Kojo moved to New York for art school, but the city proved to o er too many distractions. ‘It was the Nineties, everyone was in a band. We all wore baggy trousers,’ he says, smiling. ‘I was trying to get my head round the street art movement – I hung around just to observe them. But my Auntie [Kojo’s mother] got scared, she would say on the phone, “ ese guys are known for putting paint on trains. You’ll get arrested!”’ Kojo changed course and came to London. ‘ e houses looked all the same. I thought, “How do people remember where they live?”’
While working in a succession of retail jobs, Kojo painted with dedication and ferocity. In 2010 an LA gallerist declared that he would make Kojo famous – that was his rst breakthrough. He broke with them not long afterwards but the rest, as they say, is history. Kojo now rules his own world. He calls the tune and creates for a massive audience. Not bad for a school truant. He has shown them all what he can do. jdmalat.com n
Tate Modern has just unveiled its blockbuster of the year –an exhibition by Yoko Ono called Music of the Mind
Ono, of course, is a global gure because of her anarchic, in uential art, and because she was married to John Lennon. It’s hard to believe Lennon was only 40 when he was killed. Ono is now 91, and too frail to attend the opening.
e exhibition is a captivating testament to the artist’s groundbreaking career, spanning several decades. It features more than 200 pieces encapsulating her diverse and in uential body of work. e retrospective, thoughtfully curated by Juliet Bingham and Patricia Dander, will travel on to Düsseldorf. It o ers visitors a profound journey into Ono’s avantgarde world, where art is not merely an object of admiration but a medium for participatory engagement and societal re ection.
e exhibition spans seven decades from the 1950s, but at its heart are Ono’s works from the 1960s, when she was in London, a period marked by the emergence of conceptual art. Among these, Cut Piece remains a seminal piece, embodying Ono’s fearless exploration of vulnerability and trust. In this performance, participants are invited to cut away pieces of her clothing, blurring the lines between artist and audience, and challenging traditional notions of artistic creation. is iconic piece serves as a precursor to Ono’s enduring commitment to breaking down barriers and fostering a dynamic relationship between the creator and the spectator.
Integral to the retrospective are Ono’s collaborative e orts with John Lennon, most notably their series of Bed-Ins for Peace. rough these unconventional protests, the couple used their celebrity status to advocate for global harmony and protest against war.
What you will love about the exhibition is its emphasis on interactive installations that invite you to be active participants in the artistic experience. For example you can write your wishes on tags and hang them on a tree – in an attempt to articulate a collective expression of hope and aspiration.
Of course, the song Imagine is forever associated with John and Yoko and the theme of ‘Imagine Peace’ resonates profoundly. Ono’s enduring commitment to this concept is re ected not only in her renowned Imagine Peace Tower but also in various other pieces that echo a call for unity and social change.
Ono was a trailblazer. She seamlessly blended conceptual innovation with a deeply rooted commitment to activism. As visitors navigate through the diverse array of works, they are not only exposed to the evolution of Ono’s artistry but are also prompted to contemplate the broader implications of art as a force for societal introspection and change.
Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind is at Tate Modern until 1 September. tate.org.uk n
FROM ABOVE: Add Colour (Refugee Boat) (2016) at MAXXI Foundation. Photo © Musacchio, Ianniello & Pasqualini; Cut Piece (1964). Performed by Yoko Ono in ‘New Works by Yoko Ono’, Carnegie Recital Hall, NYC, 21 March 1965. Photo © Minoru Niizuma; Apple (1966) from Yoko Ono: One Woman Show, 19601971, MoMA, NYC, 2015. Photo © Thomas Griesel
Emma Haworth - Henry Holiday - John Holcomb - Barbara Macfarlane
Alice Macdonald - Sidney Nolan - Tom Phillips - Ed Ruscha - Nikoleta
Sekulovic - Phil Shaw - Hepzibah Swinford - Tobias Till
exhibition runs from 9 March - 4 April 2024
John Holcomb, Dante and Beatrice, 2024, acrylic and oil pastel on canvas, 109 x 160 cm
Lisa Grainger is entranced by a tale of glass art on the plains of Kenya
Anselm Croze didn’t have much choice about becoming an artist. He was surrounded by it. His German mother, Nani, came from a long line of artists and when she arrived in Africa with her English naturalist husband, Harvey, in 1967, she had to be creative to survive.
When the couple bought a piece of land on the Kiserian Gorge overlooking Nairobi National Park in the 1970s, it was pretty wild. ere was just one tree, but the plains were home to proli c wildlife. When a tent proved not to be safe enough, they built towers whose ladders they could pull up at night, when lions would prowl, then mud and thatch huts – between which Nani planted
hundreds of trees, under which Anselm and his two siblings would play with their pets: a zebra, a duiker, various dogs and snakes and birds (including a vulture, called Vultch, who’d often, rather disconcertingly, sit on Nani’s head).
Ever creative, Nani spent her days creating imaginative spaces, and lling them with paintings and eccentric sculptures and murals. When it was suggested to her that making stained glass windows for the churches might make her some money, she took herself to London to do a three-week stainedglass course at Goddard & Gibbs.
Today, it’s hard to believe that her home and Kitengela glassworks – 45 minutes’ drive from Nairobi – is the same arid, treeless plain on which
the couple erected their tent in 1979. Above the gorge, where leopards still prowl, grows a blanket of green trees. Amid the greenery, clutches of organic, Flintstones-meets-Gaudi-esque buildings sprawl, their multi-coloured stainedglass windows sparkling in the sunshine, amid wildly imaginative mosaic-coloured creatures: a dragon, perhaps, or sculpted bird with glassadorned wings. And at the heart of it rises a giant Florentine-style brick kiln in which Anselm runs his glass-blowing atelier.
Like everything around here, Anselm admits, the dome was built bit by bit ‘as we had money: I sold a goblet I’d made, buy a few bricks’. As a young man, the Kenyan had gone to learn glassblowing in Holland with Willem and Bernard Heesen and been introduced to the Finnish glassblower Mikko Merikallio who taught him how to build a furnace. Being in the middle of the bush, with no mains electricity, he needed to generate his own power. So they started to collect recycled engine oil and heated the kilns with that. ey lit the space by inserting into the ceiling bottoms of old bottles –in a pattern that replicates the position of the stars in the skies – through which shards of light shine. And to blow glass, they melted o cuts of sheet glass discarded by construction sites.
e process is not entirely green, the 58-year-old glass-maker admits – he’d love to have the funding to construct a big enough solar farm to power the works. But since they opened it in 1990s, Kitengela Glass has re-used ‘hundreds of tonnes, I reckon’ of waste glass that would have ended up in land ll and thousands of litres of discarded oil. It employs over 90 sta , from glass-blowers to retailers, who sell its organic ranges – from the best-selling see-through, bubbled glass tumblers to wildly coloured bespoke light- ttings for hotels. And it has created a model which has now been widely copied in other countries.
Anselm’s next task is to polish what Nani built. e founder, now 80, no longer has the strength to run the operation (which is not a bad thing, Anselm admits, given how frequently they fell out). So he’s refurbishing her extraordinary organic cottages to turn into a boutique hotel and gallery to show her work; transforming the business digitally; harnessing greener power and holding more classes to teach next generation to turn waste glass into something useful.
What they’ve achieved, from nothing, he says proudly, is ‘to produce a great Kenyan product with a proud Kenyan ethos. We’ve taken it online worldwide – boxes now go out from here to all over the globe. e next step is to go solar. It’s a big ask – but look how far we’ve come…’ kitengela.glass n
It’s 7 February and I’m sitting in court, heart thumping as I witness either history in the making or my demise. No, I haven’t nicked a loaf of bread or blocked a road. is is a far more existential crime and it a ects us all. Will the judge rule in favour of the common man, or government and industry?
After 25 years of leading pioneering environmental enterprises and charities, I look back and wonder exactly what I and those of my ilk have achieved. Created lots of jobs, invested piles of money, developed disruptive innovations, protected pockets of countryside, made a few headlines, even released a few beavers. Yes. But still the machinations of ecologically destructive economic and political systems drive us towards planetary catastrophe.
Like many others, I am taking increasingly drastic action. Daring to raise my head above the parapet to empty my heart on the pages of magazines and across the airwaves. Putting my liberty at risk by protesting the destruction of our climate, rights and wildlife. And now, taking the law into my own hands.
Technologies such as renewable energy, changing consumer behaviours and nature conservation are key. But none of these mean anything if the industries that produce the things we consume – from electric cars and clothing to food and freshwater – are allowed to over-exploit and pollute the natural world that sustains us.
Our request is simple: that the government does its job and enforces the law. Whether it’s factory farms polluting our rivers or water companies dumping sewage, regulators like the Environment Agency must use all their clout to make industry abide by the rules of the land. It’s not an option. e law either exists to be enforced or it doesn’t. If you decided that it was inconvenient to stick to the speed limit because you are in a rush on the motorway, you would be instantly ned and possibly banged up. So why is it that a corporation can quite literally shit in our rivers because it saves money – breaking the law everyday – and go on to reap huge nancial reward?
So along with Charles Watson, the founder and chair of River Action, I nd myself having no choice but to take the UK Government to court, accompanied by the clarion call of infuriated demonstrators rallied by Feargal Sharkey and a giant papier mâché Goddess of the River Wye outside.
e details of our case – a judicial review – don’t matter.
e Government has a constitutional and legal responsibility to uphold the law. But with 14 years of cutting red tape and regulator funding, we watch as our health, security and environment are being washed down the drain. And let’s not forget the reason behind this: it’s not just their neoliberal experiment, the people who have ruined our country are the owners, bene ciaries and paid up advisors to the big businesses exploiting us. How tragic it is that citizens have to protect themselves by suing the legislators who are meant to protect them. Thankfully, the media and public are waking up. When we win our case – and we surely will – it will unleash a wave of legal actions that the Government cannot ignore. Rather than persecuting peaceful climate protesters, the judiciary will turn its gaze on those who have sold our future for a quick buck, crony peerage or PPE yacht. Ministers and their minstrels are not above the law. Could political prosecutions be the new gong for leaders without a conscience?
James is Chief Executive of River Action n
DONATE
to River Action’s legal campaigns to protect rivers and wildlife. riveractionuk.com/donate
ENGAGE
Environmental lawyers Leigh Day Solicitors against Government injustice. leighday.co.uk
FOLLOW
The latest wildlife legal actions against the Government with Wild Justice. wildjustice.org.uk
COMPLAIN
To the Office for Environmental Protection about illegal Government actions. theoep.org.uk
LEARN
About your right to judicial review and human rights with liberty. libertyhumanrights.org.uk
PHOTOS: UNSPLASH; PEXELS
Carpets made from old fishing nets and recycled polyester headlining – is this the greenest Ferrari yet? asks
Ferrari has never been rst on the grid for sustainability. In the past, the iconic brand only equipped hybrid supercars like the SF90 Stradale with battery power to generate more phenomenal speed, rather than boosting economy. Which is why the new, petrol-powered Purosangue is especially important. e brand’s rst four-door, four-seater is guaranteed to attract a new segment of family buyers and also o ers some genuine eco-friendly cred.
With the rst, all-electric Ferrari not due until the end of 2025, the Purosangue proves Ferrari is intent on change. After all, this is a £313,000 car with recycled headlining, carpet made from reclaimed shing nets and ecological Alcantara seat cloth.
It’s a small step but supports Ferrari’s decision last year to join the UN Global Compact – a voluntary initiative to support sustainability principles. Ferrari shies away from questions about future versions of the Purosangue featuring a battery pack –which suggests the Maranello factory is already on the case.
For now, the super-SUV features an unfashionable, V12 6.5-litre engine that competes with the Aston Martin DBX and Lamborghini Urus for a spot on Sadiq Khan’s naughty step. Averaging 12mpg around town isn’t a good look in 2024. At least the Purosangue’s modest 473-litre boot is genuinely useful for shopping trips. Access to the back seats is via rear-hinged doors that, when opened at the same time as the conventionally hinged front doors, gives an unhindered entry to all passengers. e doors are also electrically operated, which looks even cooler.
RATING: 3/5 HANDBAGS
Jeremy TaylorFerrari becomes ustered when the Purosangue is branded an SUV but a four-door, four-seater with extra ground clearance ts the desciption perfectly. Perhaps it’s because the Purosangue doesn’t look like a conventional SUV that the label irks the marque so. I’d say the Purosangue is one of the best-looking, most entertaining SUVs a lot of money can buy. Ferrari engineers have ensured sure-footed handling thanks to a highly technical active suspension system, providing thrilling levels of grip.
However, the four-wheel drive system doesn’t lift the Ferrari high enough to cope with serious o -road work – buy a retro Mercedes G-Wagon for that – although a 30mm suspension lift system is an optional extra, which seems mean in a car this dear.
On longer journeys, the front bucket seats are multi-adjustable and supportive, with a choice of massage functions. Rear head and leg room are excellent, while trim levels are on a par with class-leading Bentley. Front seat passengers also bene t from an individual infotainment screen in front of them on the dashboard.
Purosangue may not be as practical as the rival Urus or a DBX but it does drive better than both, or any other SUV for that matter. Ferrari announced last year that the car was sold out until 2026, so buyers are already voting with their wallets.
Ferrari purists will hate the Purosangue because it’s not in keeping with the values of an historic brand. ere is a tad less glamour than any other car bearing the prancing horse badge but the Purosangue still has the pace and feel of a true Ferrari.
RATING: 4/5 WELLIES
Read more of Jeremy’s latest reviews at countryandtownhouse.com/tag/cars
Destination: The Inn at Whitewell, Clitheroe
For centuries, travellers have arrived on the welcoming doorstep of the Whitewell Inn by horse power. e clip-clop of hooves remains a regular sound outside this unspoilt Lancashire pub today
Guests are greeted by the crackle of an open re and, more than likely, a brace of labradors curled up on the hearth. e décor of the 14th century inn, owned by the Duchy of Lancaster, complete with ancient agstone oors, is unashamedly an homage to country pursuits.
ere’s more warmth from the welcoming sta at reception too, where a well-curated shop sells local honey and treats – don’t miss the orange marmalade. Adjoining St Michael’s church, with a 300-year-old tapestry, is worth a visit.
In the evening, my advice is to ignore the dining room and opt for the candlelit bar area, where dogs of every shape and size lounge at their owners’ feet. ere are more roaring res, snugs and a legendary haddock pie to boot.
While Whitewell thrives on old-school charm, my steed for the weekend is a Lotus Eletre – a car that will have traditionalists spluttering over their pint of real ale. e company’s rst family car has plenty of horsepower but also marks the dawn of a new era for the Norfolk-based manufacturer. Now designed in Coventry and built in China, the veseat Eletre is an all-electric ying machine, with a space-age interior that looks more Top Gun than retro cool. e largest car ever made by Lotus also weighs a not insubstantial 2.5 tons, thanks to its heavy battery pack and luxurious trim.
Like Ferrari’s Purosangue (opposite), Eletre is Lotus’ rst SUV – except the Norfolk brand is happy to shout about its car with a boot and four doors. ‘Looks like an SUV, drives like a Lotus,’ goes the slogan.
But Lotus engineers have still ensured this is very much a driver’s car. Equipped with fourwheel drive and the extra ground clearance of an SUV, Eletre is the perfect car for a dextrous exploration of the Lancashire fells.
True, it’s not as comfortable as a similarly priced BMW or Mercedes SUV but the Lotus is a riot to drive, with strong acceleration and a real-world driving range of around 300 miles from the 112 kWh battery. ere’s a sportier ‘R’ model that goes even faster.
Anyone who has driven a Lotus will recognise the step up in quality – soft-close doors, a 23-speaker audio system and giant infotainment screen to name but a few. Eletre is probably the rst practical Lotus too, with a massive 688-litre boot and plenty of leg room both front and rear.
Lotus made its name on the racetrack and the move away from traditional sportscar values will upset some. However, the rest of us can enjoy the winning formula of a premium family car that should help secure the future of this fabulous British brand.
BOOK IT: From £250. innatwhitewell.com
Lotus Eletre
PRICE £89,500
BATTERY 112 kWh
POWER 603hp
0-62MPH 4.5 seconds
TOP SPEED 160mph
RANGE 373 miles
STREAMING Sparks Fly – Taylor Swift
BATTERY BEAUTY
This foldable, lightweight electric bicycle has an ingenious, rear-mounted luggage rack for shopping trips. GoCycle CXi Family Cargo, £5,999. gocycle.com
SECRET
FORMULA
How F1 reinvented itself – the story of geniuses, rogues and speed freaks. The Formula by Joshua Robinson (Monoray Books, £22)
COOL COMMANDO
The ultimate boot accessory – wellies! Natural rubber from approved forests and a robust Vibram sole. Balmoral Commando, £200. hunterboots.co.uk n
Deep
Each year over 260,000 people flock to Cheltenham Festival for four days of horse racing, live music, food and drink. Horses are made heroes and the reputations of top jockeys are on the line. Champions return to ght for their crown, while others battle to steal the limelight. It’s a week of drama and high emotion, with moments of pure theatre thrown in for good measure. ere’s plenty to enjoy o the track too: from shopping to restaurants to entertainment. And this year is even more special, as the Festival celebrates 100 years of the Gold Cup, sponsored by Boodles – the most eagerly anticipated event in the annual jump racing calendar.
Operated by Cheltenham Racecourse (run by e Jockey Club), in partnership with the Rotary Clubs of Cheltenham, this initiative raises funds for local organisations, charities and community groups. So far, seven groups have been awarded money, from causes such as adult literacy to a wheelchair rugby team.
‘Gold Cup 100 is an incredibly exciting project, and it really is a once in a lifetime event to be a part of,’ said Andre Klein, Assistant General Manager of Cheltenham Racecourse. ‘We want to leave a legacy from the celebrations that will truly help and enhance our local area, and this felt like a great way to do that.’
Book your tickets to this year’s Cheltenham Festival, 12-15 March, at thejockeyclub.co.uk
While there is no formal style code in place, many guests like to dress up for Cheltenham Festival – think contemporary takes on country wear. is year’s fashion partner is Holland Cooper, which has just launched a new men’s range, celebrating British tailoring and timeless styling, and including towncoats, blazers and waistcoats, plus elevated casual wear. Troy London has also collaborated with the face of racing, presenter Francesca Cumani, for its collection of chic wool coats.
ONE
The number of greys that have won the Gold Cup: Desert Orchid in 1989.
FOUR
The number of wins by the most successful jockey, Pat Taaffe, who recorded three on Arkle (1964, 1965 & 1966) and Fort Leney (1968).
The fastest winning time recorded, set by Long Run in 2011.
SEVEN
The total victories by the most successful owner in the last 100 years, Dorothy Paget.
EIGHT Horses that have won more than once: Al Boum Photo (2019 and 2020); Kauto Star (2007 and 2009, the only horse to ever regain the Gold Cup); Best Mate (2002, 2003, 2004); L’Escargot (1970, 1971); Arkle (1964, 1965, 1966); Cottage Rake (1948, 1949, 1950); Golden Miller (1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936); and Easter Hero (1929, 1930).
COUNTRY COTTAGE OR PENTHOUSE?
You know the answer!
GARDENING OR THEATRE?
Can I have both? We just saw Dear England and Joseph Fiennes was amazing.
HEELS OR FLATS?
Heels at parties, presentations or meetings, as I’m super-short.
DOG OR CAT?
An adorable (and playful) four-yearold working cocker spaniel called Rufus.
COUNTRY PUB OR MICHELIN STAR?
Pubs – luckily, my London local, The Pelican, is in the Michelin Guide.
COUTURE OR COUNTRY CASUALS
I love vintage and mixing things.
Diana Verde Nieto arrives exuding the same sparkling, smiling energy as when I rst met her in 2011. Back then she was launching Positive Luxury from a small Shoreditch o ce, aiming to equip luxury brands with the necessary knowledge to embrace environmental and social topics. Positive Luxury acknowledged their e orts with the instantly recognisable Butter y Mark of trust. Today, it’s under the leadership of Amy Nelson-Bennett, and though Diana is no longer at the helm, the culture and her ethos live on.
Diana grew up in her native Buenos Aires dreaming of being a human rights lawyer, but her father forbade her from taking on such a ‘dangerous’ profession in a then fascist country. Meanwhile, she fell in love with a Brit and followed him to London. She arrived one rainy November nearly 30 years ago, speaking hardly any English and without the money for a return ticket.
‘ e romance didn’t last, but I’ll always have London,’ she laughs. ‘From there, the only way was up.’ Diana is now one of the global luxury industry’s most pioneering, in uential voicesand a major force behind the sustainability movement.What’s more, she’s excited to have a new book, Reimagining Luxury, under her belt.
‘After 12 years running Positive Luxury, I wanted to take a pause to be and think,’ she says. ‘ e one thing that we sustainability practitioners could have done much better was to talk about it in an aspirational and positive way.At rst, we needed to wake people up but now we don’t need to keep gloom-mongering and shocking people.Climate change has a bigger advertising budget that the entire Mission Impossible franchise, and it needs to be spent promoting a positive vision of the future in which business success thrives on robust innovation and aligns seamlessly with societal wellbeing.’
She is adamant that the luxury industry must go much further.‘In our ever-evolving and unpredictable world, luxury brands must confront inequality, prioritise sustainability and shift its mindset to regard people as citizens rather than mere consumers,’ she insists, pointing out that this principle extends to all companies. ‘People are seeking out brands that align with their values and they’ll vote with their feet, so boards and leadership teams are under scrutiny.’
Despite being one of the world’s most prominent sustainability champions, Diana believes it’s high time
to stop banging on aboutsustainability and act. ‘Business has no choice but to innovate and transition to being net positive,’ she says, ‘and that way it’ll deliver positive social and environmental outcomes alongside economic growth.’
She radiates optimism as she talks about the racy pace at which brands are innovating. ‘It’s astonishing to watch because the next generation of Gen Z consumers are so open to embrace and explore the new,’ she says. ‘Gen Zs are 100percent digital and sustainable, and see the world di erently. ey love pre-loved and vintage, are conscious of what they eat and aren’t afraid to challenge convention.
‘Storytelling is also crucial to have a collective positive vision of the future,’ she adds. ‘Take Nike or Apple. ey don’t push their trainers and phones, but instead tell us we can just do it and enable us to think di erently. But we have frightened and paralysed people by insisting on a turnaround too massive for people to grasp what role to play, whereas e ective system change is about little hacks people can manage one at a time.’
Diana cites Chantal Gaemperle – LVMH executive c ommittee member and g roup d irector of human resources and synergies – who said, ‘Luxuryis a dance with paradoxes.’
‘Luxury’s a ne-tuned dance between modernity and heritage,’ says Diana, ‘like a complex, ne wine, [it is] really reimagining itself, embracing the modern via innovation.’
Diana is on a hectic schedule promoting her book and has what she refers to as a ‘portfolio career’. It comprises advising and sitting on numerous prestigious boards, including the British Beauty Council, the UN Conscious Fashion Network, the UN Department of Economic and Social A airsand Sustainnovate. ‘Companies like Sustainnovate are so exciting because they’re unlocking the power of open, breakthrough innovation,helping companies recognise which small hacks can really drive change and e ciencies,’ she says. ‘Its CEO, Penny Brook –former CMO of Canada Goose – always reminds me that companies will change fast when they can envision growth.’
Diana’s own mission is to change our mindsets, by driving us to collaborate and take action. ‘I hate to give away the last line of my book,’ she laughs, ‘but if we stopped talking about sustainability and got on with doing it, the world would be very di erent.’
Reimagining Luxury is out now (Kogan Page, £31.99) n
Dress Celia Kritharioti
Necklace with 8.6ct white diamonds set in white gold Graff
Shoes Rene Caovilla
AMY WAKEHAM meets Kaya Scodelario, star of Guy Ritchie’s new gangster series The Gentlemen
FASHION DIRECTOR NICOLE SMALLWOOD PHOTOGRAPHER PAUL FARRELL
e all love an It Girl. Exactly what makes them ‘it’ can be hard to de ne – a combination of looks, charisma and style, perhaps – but we can certainly spot them a mile o .
Kaya Scodelario has been an It Girl for 17 years, ever since she made her on-screen debut at the age of 14, striding down a suburban Bristol street in a tartan kilt and smudged eyeliner. E y in Skins has cast a spell over every generation of teenagers since, with her raven hair, huge blue eyes, and give-no-shits attitude.
It was a role that changed Kaya’s life, putting her on a trajectory that has blasted through Hollywood, blockbusters and indie lms, before ending up here, today, in the lobby of the Standard Hotel in King’s Cross. She appears in a trench coat and ankle boots, fresh from a two-day press junket. In person she’s warm, open and straight-talking, with a north London twang to her accent – she was raised just up the road in Camden Town by her single mum. We’re meeting to talk about her
role in e Gentlemen, Guy Ritchie’s new Net ix series spin-o of his 2019 lm of the same name. But before we get to that, we must start at the very beginning – with E y.
‘I love that people still bring her up. I’m very proud of her. And I’m very proud of that show,’ says Kaya, who had zero formal training before she accepted the role. Why does she think the character and the show still resonate, almost two decades after it was rst released?
‘At the time it was the rst show that wasn’t a moral story. It wasn’t “teenager does drugs equals bad”. It was asking the audience to make the decisions for themselves,’ she says. ‘It never talked down to its audience, because our writers were actually young people, and because we were the age of the characters [we were playing]. ere wasn’t a writers’ room of old white men. ere were young people, and people of colour and women. It was way ahead of its time.’
She stayed on Skins for four seasons, before going on to star in blockbusters such as e Maze Runner (2014) and Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge (2017), Net ix’s Ted Bundy series Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019) and Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021). In the middle of it all, she had two children with actor Benjamin Walker, and before she returned home to lm is Is Christmas (2022), she hadn’t worked in the UK for over a decade.
e Gentlemen, then, is a real homecoming. e series follows Eddie Horniman ( eo James), who unexpectedly inherits his father’s peerage and sizeable country estate – only to discover it’s sitting on the largest cannabis farm in Europe.
In it, her character, Susie, is ‘an absolute boss’. She runs her dad’s (played in a cameo by Ray Winstone) criminal empire with con dence and cool-headed charisma, teaching eo’s Eddie the ropes with ease. What drew Kaya to the character?
‘She’s a grown-up woman. I’ve spent a lot of my career playing teenagers and young women that were lost or trying to nd their path,’ she explains. ‘Susie is already this machine: she’s good at her job, she commands every space that she moves into. And I thought that that would be so much fun to embody.’
e series has everything you expect from Guy Ritchie: gangsters, guns, drugs and quick-paced quips. Despite loving her character, initially Kaya had reservations about what the male-dominated set would be like. ‘But I’ve spent so long in these environments, they don’t scare me anymore,’ she says. ‘It’s very important for me that work is a safe place and a productive environment. I have a no arseholes policy – I don’t care how famous you are, how big an actor or director you are. If you’re
Dress AADNEVIK Shoes Manolo Blahnik 18ct white gold mother of pearl and diamond earrings Annoushka
Dress Miu Miu
Sunglasses Celine @ MATCHESFASHION
Top and skirt Sportmax Shoes Jimmy Choo
a dick, I’m not going to do it anymore. And luckily, no one was a dick.’
Ritchie’s directing style is famously spontaneous – he’s a big fan of on-the-spot improvisation. ‘It was a unique experience,’ says Kaya. ‘I’ve never worked with a director who, on the rst day, told us to un-memorise our lines and change everything last minute. Which was terrifying, because acting 101 is “know your lines’’. So there was a little adjustment while I was trying to gure out his style, but once I let go of control and trusted him, I was able to go along on the journey with him.’
Another highlight of shooting was Susie’s wardrobe, created by costume designer Loulou Bontemps. As an underworld kingpin (should that be queenpin?), Susie is dressed to the nines for all occasions.
‘We developed this idea [through the costumes] that she’s a chameleon because she goes through these two worlds: aristocratic high society and the underground gangster world,’ explains Kaya. ‘In the country, she dresses in tweeds and berets, and when she’s in London, in the boxing gym, she’s a bit more Kate Moss, with platform heels and sparkles.’
For Susie’s accent, Kaya found inspiration close to home. ‘I built upon my north London roots,’ she says. ‘A lot of the kids I went to school with were quite working class… I based her accent and her energy on two of my friends’ mums. ey were the scariest people I knew, but also the loveliest.’
Her Brazilian background –Kaya’s mum is from Brazil, and she says she considers herself ‘a Londoner rst, then Brazilian, then British’ – is central to the other project she’s been working on, a miniseries called Senna that’s based on the life of Ayrton Senna da Silva, the Brazilian F1 racing legend.
‘For a very long time I’ve wanted to tell a Brazilian story,’ Kaya explains. ‘A lot of my culture, my music, my food, my emotions are very connected to that side of me. It’s an incredible story and for so many Brazilians Senna is an absolute hero. So to get to be a small part of that story is really exciting for me.’
With that ticked o , Kaya’s also keen to be involved on a project from the very beginning. ‘I want to produce, I want to work with directors, I want to be involved from start to nish on a project. And I think that’s what, after having 17 years of experience on set, I can bring. I still get imposter syndrome – I think, “I’m a girl, a woman, only 30, they won’t take me seriously.” But I’ve been around this for so long that I do know what I’m talking about and I have to bring out some Beyoncé energy and be like, “No, I deserve to be here.”’
However, for now she’s back in London, juggling press for e Gentlemen, childcare – it’s half term when we speak, and she has to take her son to gymnastics camp –London Fashion Week and the Baftas. ‘I’ll soon get itchy feet though,’ she says. ‘I love working. I love being exhausted. I love doing 18-hour days. My therapist would say it’s some sort of weird form of selfdeprivation. But it’s all I know. I grew up with a parent who was an immigrant and had to work hard all the time.’
To relax, she has ‘really got into hot yoga’, and she loves taking her old dog – ‘the most consistent man in my life’ – for walks on Hampstead Heath, which she calls her ‘special place’. Kaya also loves ‘nothing more than going to the pub with my friends and talking for hours. at’s so much more interesting than going to some chichi party with actors telling me how hard their lives are. I’d much rather be around real people.’ e original cool girl may have grown up – but she’s still got ‘it’.
e Gentlemen is streaming on Net ix now n
Dress and blazer Philosophy di Lorenzo Serafini
TEAM
Make-up: Zoe Taylor @ Blanket using Lancôme
Hair: GHD UK Pro Ambassador James Earnshaw using GHD Fashion Assistant: April McCarthy
Photographer Assistant: Freddie Farrell
Manicurist: Christie Huseyin using CHANEL Le Vernis in Diva and CHANEL La Crème Main
DOP: Ryan Nicholas
Shot on location at Cliveden House (see p108)
Cliveden House was a glamorous setting for the C&TH cover shoot with Kaya Scodelario
Gorgeous Kaya Scodelario lounges about the halls of Berkshire’s Cliveden House for C&TH’s March/April cover shoot. Should you, too, wish to don a ballgown and sip champagne in this historic manor, it’s just 40 minutes from London – the ideal weekender for couples seeking a romantic retreat within easy reach.
e Grade I-listed stately home is a National Trust property enjoying a sprawling 376 acres of quintessentially English grounds. e hotel is a ve-star Relais & Châteaux property belonging to the Iconic Luxury Hotels collection, and its dining room (plus grill) serves mouthwatering seasonal fare led by exec chef Chris Hannon.
Its history, though, might make you raise an arched brow. e 2nd Duke of Buckingham George Villiers built the original house as a lavish gift to his mistress, the married Countess of Shrewsbury, Anna Maria Talbot –whose husband the Duke later mortally wounded in a duel. Scandal and celebrity have been central to Cliveden ever since, and over the years it has hosted royalty and Hollywood stars alike. Of the rakish duke’s original lodge, only the arched terrace remains today.
Perhaps this history will tempt you to visit. Otherwise, we’re sure it’ll be the incredible views enjoyed by this gorgeous hotel.
BOOK IT: Rooms from £445, B&B. iconicluxuryhotels.com n
Harriet Walter is one of our most highly regarded actors, but behind the scenes she concerns herself with the plight of our refugees as patron of the charity West London Welcome. She talks to LUCY CLELAND about why fear is really our greatest enemyPHOTOGRAPHY BY ALEXANDRA DAO
You probably last saw Harriet Walter, now in her 70s, nailing acidic matriarch as Lady Caroline Collingwood in Succession, or for theatregoers, as the titular tyrannical mother in Lorca’s oppressive e House of Bernarda Alba at the National eatre. But, here, in a room in an unprepossessing red-brick building in west London, she plays quite a di erent role – that of patron of West London Welcome, a community centre run for and, critically, with refugees, asylum seekers and migrants
A lthough well-heeled Kensington and a uent Chelsea are just a short SUV drive away – this area has some of the highest inequality in the country. You’ll just as likely nd Harriet helping in the kitchen (the food, cooked fresh and served up daily for up to 100 people – today it’s by Diyaa from Palestine – is exceptional), chatting at the tables with the refugees, or using her formidable skills to shine a light on the charity through fundraising and ambassadorial work. e then Prince Charles was a visitor to the centre in 2022.
Given there’s barely a day when asylum seekers and migrants aren’t part of the political discourse, engorging column inches and
radio waves, and dividing the populace, chatting to Harriet about her involvement with the charity, her thoughts on immigration and listening to those who have made it to UK shores (some via the most unimaginable means) puts a very human story behind one of the most important issues of our times – and one, thanks to the escalation in global con ict and the e ects of the climate crisis, is only going to get worse.
But rst a little about West London Welcome. Founded in 2018 by Joanne MacInnes – a former actress herself, who had previously been a volunteer at the Calais Jungle – the centre started by opening just one day a week and seeing about 40 people, referred by local councils, GPs, schools and word of mouth. Now, up to 250 come through the doors on the four days it’s open each week, speaking more than 40 languages, from 54 countries.
While many refugee charities o er one form of assistance, West London Welcome is rare in the fact that it o ers wraparound holistic support – except mental health counselling and employment aid. However, Joanne points out that just being welcomed into the warm, colourful centre is a form of wellbeing in itself. On o er, vitally, is casework support (imagine negotiating your housing, health and education needs and asylum application if you neither speak the
Harriet Walter, photographed at West London Welcome
language nor know the law), English tuition, a healthy, vegetable-packed home-cooked lunch, exercise classes, stay-and-play for mothers and children, gardening, cooking – and moreover, a place that is safe, a word that cannot be underestimated. Joanne says living as a refugee or asylum seeker in the UK is not the end of their painful journey, but the beginning of another one.
e biggest challenge facing the centre is homelessness – something that is also dominating headlines. According to Joanne, since the Home O ce rushed through ‘all those asylum decisions last autumn’ in a bid to get people o waiting lists and to be able to ‘tell the Daily Mail that they’re bringing down the hotel bills’, this has placed huge pressure on accommodation. Since housing was already at breaking point, this means there’s often nowhere for refugees to live. Once they’re are granted asylum, they have 28 days to leave their provided accommodation (usually, a temporary hotel room, where they are paid £8.86 a week) and nd housing. ‘And, because asylum seekers aren’t allowed to work, they’ve got no credit or employment history, so they’ve got to go on bene ts, which takes six weeks… and even then, what landlord is going to take them on?’ says Joanne with a shrug. West London Welcome’s assurance is that none of those under its care will go homeless. rough their close working with councils to get people into temporary accommodation, hard-fought-for network of landlords and private individuals who are willing to house refugees in spare room, it’s never let someone wittingly sleep out in the cold. However, Joanne points to a board on the wall, saying, ‘ at board there represents everyone who we’re trying to nd housing for.’ I see 33 names. It seems a formidable task (although since autumn they have found housing for 55 singles and families housing since the autumn)
Meanwhile, Harriet has been concerned with the refugee plight for over 40 years ever since she attended a meeting held by the Refugee Council in south London. ‘It made me aware of how biased the reporting [about refugees] was in the papers and how in ammatory words could spark public opinion. Of course, everybody would rather live in their own country with their own family, their own history and their own culture. at’s what we want as human beings. But on the whole, in our immediate environment here [in the UK], we don’t experience the kind of threat that makes us need to
leave. It makes people quite unsympathetic and if you’ve never met anybody who’s a refugee, then you tend to believe what you read in the papers.’
Joanne and the other sta members, like deputy director Leyla Williams, are vehement in laying the blame for recent turning against refugees, at David Blunkett’s door and his hardline immigration policies which began in the early 2000s. ese were then doubled down on by eresa May as Home Secretary in 2012, when she introduced the Hostile Environment Policy, saying that: ‘ e aim is to create, here in Britain, a really hostile environment for illegal immigrants’.
‘Anything that dehumanises a group of people, is dangerous, negative and cruel,’ says Harriet, whose other main concern is the state of our prison system. ‘ at again is about dehumanising people in order to push them about and control them and create negative pictures about them.
e common-sense bit of me thinks this all just comes back to shoot the perpetrator in the foot. If you’ve got angry people, if you’ve got insecure people, if you’ve got poor people, it is a general fact that if a society is very unequal it creates social problems that negatively impact everyone – rich and poor. We all live on the same planet, we breathe the same air. It lazily categorises people to the point where we no longer think it’s important to know the truth, and that’s dangerous.’
I wonder how all this relates to Harriet’s career as an actor. Her roles over the past 50 years leap from Hedda Gabler to Henry IV, via Dr Kalonia in Star Wars: Episode VII - e Force Awakens and Lady Shackleton in Downton Abbey. ‘It is related, I suppose, because what I do for a living is to try and get behind stereotypes and say, “have another look and try and relate to that person and identify with them”.’ While she admits to not being a ‘vocal activist on the picket line’ and being prone to spread herself thin (her role as Bernarda Alba has meant she hasn’t been able to come to the centre for the past three months), her intrinsic skills of communication mean she’s a great teacher when she is here. During the pandemic, particularly, she found herself mostly ‘washing up and teaching’.
‘ ere was a group who really had no English at all that I was teaching through drawings and mime, and smiling and connecting.’ It’s nice to think that someone who has had some Harriet Walter training might go far in articulating their own needs one day.
Being able to express yourself is, she points out, critical. ‘If you have to speak in a foreign language, you lose a lot of yourself until you’re better and better at it. You lose your sense of humour. You lose your individual quirks. You lose your connection with your family. So I think one of the great gifts we can give people here is the English language because it transforms their experience.’
W hat Harriet would like to see most is a shift in perspective. ‘I think that where people have absorbed and assimilated an immigrant population, it’s been a bene t on the whole to that society. We are the product of that. If you get a bit of a perspective, all the people not in this room, all the people in London were immigrants from somewhere else before.
‘And a change in rhetoric for political gain. If they stopped talking about “stopping the boats” or whatever, and started nding safe ways of passage… Which is never talked about. You’re not going to stop people trying
to get away from hunger, famine, bombs, persecution, torture, imprisonment. You’re not going to stop people trying to get away from that and they’ll come by whatever means possible.’
As for Shakespearean-trained Harriet’s seemingly inexorable rise to stardom, having scored standout roles in global smash-hit streamers, from Succession, of course, but also Killing Eve and Ted Lasso, she assiduously reminds me that, ‘she’s never not worked’. ‘It’s funny because people speak as though I’ve had a rebirth or something. But in fact it’s more to do with the changes that have happened in the machinery of fame. It’s not like, “oh gosh, I’m suddenly on telly”. I’ve always been on TV, lm and in the theatre.’
e new recognition though that the streamer success has brought her is double-edged. She’s not one for fame, you get the impression, preferring anonymity in ‘glasses and a woolly hat’. But she does acknowledge ‘being known as a means to an end [rather than for fame’s sake’], because ‘it brings in other work’. ‘It lifts the glass ceiling for you a bit,’ she says. ‘ ere’s always been a glass ceiling for me in that I was never a big enough name. ere were things I did that got rave reviews that weren’t transferred to the West End because people wouldn’t bank on my name.’
at has changed. A Harriet Walter lead is surely now a box-o ce success. If she continues her incredible work behind the scenes at West London Welcome – along with people such as Joanne and Leyla, putting humanity front and centre of everything they do – perhaps the narratives of the lucky souls who pass through the red doors of a rented room in west London, will also change, and other glass ceilings will be smashed.
To nd out more, donate or if you’re a landlord with a at to let, visit westlondonwelcome.com. Harriet Walter’s next role will be in the TV series of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall: e Mirror and the Light airing later this year.
Mounia eventually found a new life in the UK thanks in no small part to West London Welcome
Mounia, now 36, was 17 when she was married off in Morocco. ‘Marrying daughters is very important for the family,’ she recounts on Zoom, still visibly shaken by her past. Despite scoring high grades at school and with hopes of being a teacher, Mounia had no choice but to go with a man she hardly knew.
The abuse started on her wedding night: a slap across the face. For the next 14 years, having moved to Spain with him, the abuse intensified and was also targeted at the two children she would go on to have. ‘I thought he would kill me,’ she recalls. On more than one occasion he would pin her down by her throat and cover her mouth until her legs would shake.
Her attempts to communicate that her husband was hurting her and her children ended up with social services removing them for six months: ‘a feeling like it you’ll never know,’ says Mounia.
When her husband moved to England for work, Mounia stayed in Spain trying to hold down a job in hotel housekeeping (a condition of having her children back). But she had very little to live on. Everyone urged her to go to her husband, and she felt she had no choice but to do so. But when she did, the abuse – including rape, which resulted in a third pregnancy –inevitably continued.
Her children’s school got the police involved and this set her upon a journey that would eventually end up with a nonmolestation order against her husband, involvement by a children’s charity called Solidarity Sports, and a chance meeting with a solicitor who would go on to tell Mounia her rights, including access to universal credit, of which she had had no idea. She spoke no English.
She was introduced to Joanne at West London Welcome by another ‘amazing’ charity, Migrants Organise, and suddenly felt like she’d ‘found a home’. Now, five years later, her English is really good, she has a paid job with Joanne, and counts herself ‘very, very lucky’. n
If you live in a city, it’s likely that you will see hundreds of commercial images a day, exhorting you to buy or behave in certain ways. It’s no wonder that our society has become so consumeristic. Flooding our public spaces with well-known wellbeing enhancers – nature and art – would help us reset ourselves as cogent citizens rather than passive data points. Are you ready to change your visual narrative? asks Marine Tanguy
lose your eyes. Imagine your commute to work where you would encounter visuals narrating the importance of your mental health, the need to be inclusive and to lead sustainable lives. Imagine how much it would change your priorities. Would you be rushing to Zara to buy that discounted little top? Would you feel that your happiness lies in that fat and sugar-laden snack advertised to you? Wouldn’t you call a friend instead, or just daydream for a while, or give someone you don’t know a broad smile?
O pen your eyes. Every day we’re surrounded by images, many of which are commercials. Coca-Cola spends on average $4.7bn a year on advertising, which means that you are likely to frequently encounter one of its ads on your commute. In the 21st century, we have become data points, pushed to sustain the gargantuan consumeristic society we have created. We forgot our need to be citizens, our need to share spaces, and to have valuable conversations where we live and work.
Images reach our brains 10,000 times faster than words. Most of us, 65 percent of us, in fact, are visual learners, meaning we learn most e ectively via pictures, videos and diagrams. Yet we tend to receive imagery passively, believing that the endless onslaught of visuals doesn’t a ect us. Would you accept someone shouting at you on the street all the time? Probably not. Yet images shout at us constantly.
Most advertising sells us the falsity that you can only be happy if you consume this product or buy into this lifestyle. It’s no surprise that when behavioural scientist Professor Andrew Oswald conducted a study between 1980 and 2011 on 27 countries in Europe, which compared our wellbeing according to our exposure to visual commercial imagery, he discovered that the more exposure to these kind of images we had, the more miserable we were. Given that over-consumption is fuelling the ongoing climate crisis, these images also aren’t conducive to the many changes we need to make as a society for the sake of the planet.
However, once you are aware that you live in this visual world,
PHOTO: PEXELS
there are so many actions you can take: endorse content you wish to see digitally and the brands that are respectful to you when advertising; demand more public spaces, more public art, and more common visual narratives.
Before founding my company MTArt, I researched the increase in wellbeing of residents and commuters after the implementation of two public art projects. e study found that 84 percent of people were willing to contribute more money via their taxes to fund more public art because of the way it promoted their wellbeing.
We cannot continue to say our society will change if the oldest language in the world, the visual language, remains the same. As arti cial intelligence is on the rise, we also, more than ever, need to develop our visual critical thinking to ght against a sea of visual misinformation.
I tested teaching visual education at the school of my eldest son, Atlas. e children loved understanding how the daily visuals they saw made them feel but also how visual prejudice is built – using a certain composition or a certain colour – so subtly and yet so e ectively. is was particularly true of the colour yellow, which they associated straight away with happiness.
e children could therefore understand that the advert was making them believe they would be happy with this toy because it had yellow everywhere. We also looked at characters who were fully yellow, such as SpongeBob, and tried to understand the meaning of the choice of the colours that cartoons picked.
Very few of us can control the visual narrative that we consume daily, and therefore the advertising sector – and those with the money and power – can shape it as it suits their objectives. We have been made to believe it’s not our business – and yet these visuals shape who we are, our deepest desires and who we become. In Richard Easterlin’s happiness–income paradox studies, when asked what would be the ideal salary in 2011 in the US, pre-social media, people responded $60,000; ten years later it was $150,000. Not only was this down to in ation but the sheer number of social media images they were exposed to telling them they needed these extra things to be happy.
On the ip side, nature and art always score highly when it comes to positively impacting our wellbeing, as has been proven
by countless studies. Why, then, don’t we support the daily integration of both nature and art in the places we live and work, to balance the commercial imagery we are subjected to?
Nature and art shouldn’t be something we are seldom exposed to. ey are not a luxury; with the current mental health and environmental crises, they have become a necessity.
Words and visuals need to align; I am excited for more of us to open our eyes to a new reality where our visual world is one we have participated in, shaped and wished for. I am excited for artists to become a central part of our societies, to make us rethink our existence, dream and hope again.
M y English hero, the 19th-century social reformer Octavia Hill, pushed for an amendment many moons ago to make sure that our parks didn’t get destroyed, which led to the founding of the National Trust, and the protection of Hampstead Heath from development. Now it’s time to recreate the same movement for public art projects and to build our own visual narrative that represents us all, protects our mental health, and empowers us. n
Marine Tanguy is the founder of B Corp artist agency MTArt. Her rst book, e Visual Detox: How to Consume Media Without Letting it Consume You is out now (Square Peg, £16.99) n
PHOTOS: © CHRIS HOWELLS/ WIKICOMMONS; RAZIA JUKES; PEXELS
The Cotswolds has long been quite a silly patch of the country, but here’s a quick story to illustrate why, recently, it’s become even sillier. I went that way for a romantic weekend a couple of months back to stay in a bougie new pub called e Bull. e food is sensational, tipped a pal, and it’s where all the cool kids are hanging.
Imagine my dismay, therefore, to arrive at this fashionable pub in Charlbury only to be told that they didn’t have any such reservation. No booking, no room. I frowned at the manager and insisted they must be wrong. Could they look again?
ey did. No luck. Would we like to have a drink at the bar while they tried to sort this out?
We would, I said grandly, and with as much dignity as my boyfriend and I could muster, we sat in the corner and waited for their embarrassing oversight to be put right.
Eventually, the manager returned. ‘Might you be staying at e Bull in Burford?’ he asked slowly, as if talking to a very small child. ‘ is is the Bull in Charlbury.’
I felt sick – the kind of instant stomach plunge that happens when you know you’ve made an embarrassing mistake. Yes, I think possibly that’s what’s happened, I replied quietly.
‘Don’t worry, happens all the time,’ he consoled. ‘We get people who’ve booked into e Bell, too.’
e Bell is Lady Bamford’s new pub, also in Charlbury. e Bull (in Burford) is Matthew Freud’s much-lauded new pub. e Bull (in Charlbury) is run by the enterprising team behind Notting Hill’s fashionable boozer, e Pelican. All relatively new, all within a scotch egg’s throw of one another in this extremely silly place. You see how confusion could arise?
(and 24-hour heated pool, steaming in the winter cold). Downstairs, the members’ bar was heaving, a DJ on the decks, and it felt more like Westbourne Grove on a ursday night than rural Witney. Breakfast includes the option of eggs with lobster and caviar for £60, and, in the very smart crèche, I’m told that the clothes in the fancy-dress box were ‘handmade’. Its spa has just opened – a 3,000 sq/m, neoclassical palace ‘inspired by the bathhouses of the Roman era’ where you can have a hammam, and relax after all that arduous eating and drinking.
Alternatively, there’s Kate Moss’s spa not far away, yet another glitzy opening last year at the sprawling Lakes by Yoo estate (where the likes of Jade Jagger and Mark Owen reportedly have houses). anks to a collaboration with Moss’s wellness brand, Cosmoss, you can now sign up there for a ‘Dawn’ or ‘Dusk Ritual’, which doesn’t sound remotely like the supermodel’s previous early mornings or late nights because they involve herbal teas and massages.
As to where the locals actually hang out, well, one tells me that she likes Restoration Hardware at Aynhoe Park, or ‘RH England’ as it’s technically branded. What was formerly a big posh house owned by a chap who’d made a lot of money in raves, and let out for raucous celeb parties, has been taken over by the luxxy American interiors brand and declared open last summer with a big party attended, slightly incongruously, by the likes of Idris Elba and Ellen Degeneres You can go there now for a juice or a wagyu ribeye sandwich (£48) while picking out a £12,000 onyx kitchen table.
‘In the past YEAR , what was already a sort of countryside DISNEY has become even NUTTIER’
It’s not just new pubs that have opened down here. In the past year, what was already a sort of countryside Disney – Soho Farmhouse, Jeremy Clarkson’s Diddly Squat farm shop, Daylesford – has become even nuttier.
Take the 108-bedroom Estelle Manor, opened last May as the Cotswolds outpost of the Mayfair members’ club, Maison Estelle. It’s an old Jacobean hall that took ve years (and a gargantuan sum of money, although everyone’s being quite tight-lipped on the gures) to renovate. Blimey, it’s swanky. Imagine country house meets Paris brothel – that’s the vibe (in a good way). Sensational art on the walls, sofas as big as cruise ships and lighting so dark it would be an excellent place to conduct an a air.
My room, on a quick it there in November, was much like the one I assume monarchs slept in at Versailles – four-poster bed, lacquered furniture, an open re and a view of the perfectly manicured garden
‘And I hate to say it,’ adds another resident, who’s moved down not so long ago from west London, ‘but [Soho] Farmhouse still has it.’
ey have a crèche, she says, where you can drop your kids for a couple of hours if you want brunch in peace, or to do a class in the gym. ‘So long as your child has membership which, by the way, has an 18- to 22-month waiting list even if you’re already a member. Obviously, it’s still rammo at the weekend, but if you live there you just go during the week.’ e other place they exercise is the Bamford Club, the members’ o shoot of Daylesford, which opened last March. ey have a gym, a biomass-heated pool, ice-barrels for wannabe Wim Hofs but Padel’s the craze. ‘We’ve all dived in in the most major way,’ one member told me excitedly last year. ‘Many have never done more exercise in their lives.’ She added that racquets kept selling out in the club shop, which was quite telling given that they’re being ogged for £400 a pop.
Chichi sorts pick up their sourdough or have a quick browse of trench coats and boots at Dunkertons, the new posh shopping and food hub just outside Cheltenham, created by power couple Julian Dunkerton and Jade Holland Cooper. Idris Elba has been known to DJ so it kicks o .
Which Bull is it? Charlbury’s or Burford’s – finding the Cotswolds’ hottest pubs can be challenging
Existing pubs – the Lamb at Shipton, the Double Red Duke in Bampton and the Bell in Langford (another Bell!) are popular for those who living down there who want to avoid sceney interlopers from London. ‘As is DJ night on a ursday at e Fox in Oddington,’ says Katrina Kutchinsky, co-founder of AKA Communications and another newbie to these parts. ‘ ey do pizzas, it’s great. I’m usually there with my toddler bopping along. Mama’s still got it!’
Are you considered an arriviste if you’ve only just landed there?
‘No,’ says Katrina, because there are still so many people ocking into the honey-coloured villages. ‘It’s super sociable. When I moved in, my neighbours threw a champagne and canapé party to welcome us, when in London you can go for a year and not even meet your neighbours’.
I’m told by another spy about the existence of a WhatsApp group called e Cotswold Grapevine, with dozens and dozens of 30-something residents on it. ‘Yummy mummy types,’ says the mole, ‘who’ve usually moved from
London and are trying to nd nannies or a local seamstress. Somebody asked if anyone knew a party entertainer that could bring ponies to your house dressed as unicorns, and within a minute there was a photo of a pony dressed as a unicorn and the name of the company that do it.’
Will the Poshwolds hysteria ever calm down? Has it become so popular that it’s now a cliché? Friends moving out of London now talk of Somerset and Herefordshire, ‘places where you actually need a pair of gumboots’, one says sni ly, in reference to the Cotswolds.
‘Look, it’s incredibly beautiful, incredibly fun, and incredibly accessible,’ says a Burford resident. Another, who lives just outside Great Tew, points out she has ve train stations within reach, all o ering access to London in an hour or so, which means the lure for many remains strong.
Although there is one teeny tiny problem, which a friend who recently bought a house in Charlbury discovered. ‘Both times I went to see the house, there was a helicopter buzzing overhead. So I said to the estate agent, “Is this going to be a regular occurrence?” And he said, “Well yes, it’ll be either Lady Bamford or Sir Tony Gallagher.”’
But if you don’t mind a bit of helicopter noise, the silliest patch of Britain is still booming. n
FROM ABOVE: Bamford Club; find Cosmoss treatments at Lakes by Yoo; Idris Elba has been known to DJ at Dunkertons; bedroom at Estelle Manor; The Bull in Burford
Lisa Hogan is Jeremy Clarkson’s charming other half – whose presence on the smash hit TV show Clarkson’s Farm provides a calming counterpoint to telly’s popular provocateur. But she’s also building up the Diddly Squat brand on her own terms, as she tells LUCY CLELAND
he second series of Clarkson’s Farm ended on a cli hanger. Would Jeremy and his band of merry men and women get away with keeping the restaurant constructed from a crumbling barn in just two days; or would the local council dash his culinary dreams? Would Jeremy’s barren cow Pepper be kept as a family pet or would another fate await her? Did the costly echium crop reap him ample reward or barely sprout a shoot? I could tell you but then I’d have to kill you. Or perhaps Jeremy would set Maestro the bull upon me – or steer him towards the source of all this juicy farm gossip: his wonderfully open, warm and willowy Irish girlfriend Lisa Hogan – she’s 6ft 1in with possibly the longest legs in the Cotswolds. Unlikely though. eirs seems a happy match: ‘Yeah,’ she quips with her typical Irish humour. ‘He’s quite interesting and I’m quite lazy.’
I meet her in Holland Park, where the couple keep a at nearby, just before Christmas. She’s breaking in her new green leather Tod’s boots as we walk around the park and stop for co ee at the café. We were due to meet at Diddly Squat, the 1,000-acre farm in the Cotswolds that she now shares with Jeremy (and which he’s owned for over 20 years), but she’s up in London to be with her daughter Alice, 24, who isn’t feeling well.
Lisa has been Jeremy’s other half for the past seven years
since they met at a party in 2017 – and now they’re both fully committed to making farm life work. And work they do. ey lm Clarkson’s Farm for about 12 months, two to three days a week (and only had a two-week break between the end of lming season two and the beginning of three). When not being woken by cockerels at 4am, corralling renegade cattle or trying to outwit the local council, Jeremy has three, sometimes four, columns a week to write. ‘Jeremy works really hard. He’s always working. He loves it,’ although he’s recently wrapped the last series of e Grand Tour and will be hanging up his driving gloves for good, aged 63.
Meanwhile, Lisa has given up her work as a sculptor –for now – to concentrate on making the farm shop, and the burgeoning Diddly Squat lifestyle brand, a success. ‘It’s my heart and soul,’ she says. is year she’s channelling her creative energy into making her own perfume, called Drive (natch), candles and homeware. She has an eye on a kids and gardening range, too, as well as keeping on working with her ‘amazing’ local suppliers (everything sold in the shop must come from within a 16-mile radius and her biggest joy comes from haggling, ‘well, everything,’ she says). e couple never thought that the series would be the outstanding success that it is – the second one racked up nearly 4.3 million TV viewers, making it Amazon Prime Video’s most-watched original show in the UK, and a fourth series has already been commissioned. It originally came
Lisa Hogan at home on the farm with her two dogs
Arya and Sansa
The most romantic thing that JEREMY does for LISA is drive her to and collect from the TRAIN STATION . And when they’re both particularly KNACKERED and need to STOP DRINKING EVERY NIGHT, Lisa will whip them off to a HEALTH FARM
about because Jeremy’s contract with Amazon for e Grand Tour required that each of the presenters – Jeremy, plus James May and Richard Hammond – also do a solo show. Focusing his on the farm was a no-brainer for Jeremy because, Lisa recalls, ‘he quite fancied a new tractor and a new barn’. ‘I remember sitting down one night,’ she says, ‘and drawing a spider diagram of what we could do – the lavender over here, sheep over there etc, and in the centre was the heartbreak of farming, because in Ireland farming is really heartbreaking.’ at heartbreak is no doubt part of the appeal of the show – revealing as it does the sometimes brutal existence of farming and just how hard it is to make it a viable way of living. is is unvarnished viewing – the scenes are shot literally as they come. ‘If we’re lming a scene, we’ll be in the car going somewhere and I’ll say, “Do you want to give me a heads up?” And Jeremy’s like, “No, I want your reaction on camera”. We do the same to him. So Charlie [Jeremy’s land agent and adviser] and I’ll be in on something, and we won’t tell him. But he wants that. He is a perfectionist. He really wants to make it enjoyable for people to watch. And if it’s not good enough, he believes they won’t enjoy it.’ We’ll have to wait and see then whether a particular episode with the cows makes the nal cut in series three.
One thing that probably won’t happen is a complete conversion to organic and regenerative farming, although they are in talks with Andy Cato’s Wildfarmed, which produces regeneratively grown wheat. Jeremy, Lisa says, ‘can’t do a Bamford’, referring to the ‘amazing’ organic empire of their farming friends and neighbours, Lord and Lady Bamford: ‘He says he can’t feed people if he does that.’
However, series two saw a gear shift to more environmentally friendly practises with the introduction of mob grazing – letting the cows eat and defecate on the pasture, then moving them on after a day or so and leaving the grass to recover for a longer time than usual. en the chickens are freed to mush the manure into the ground – it’s better for soil and cattle health. ‘We still have lots to learn,’ says Lisa, ‘but instinctively Jeremy’s getting much better [at farming]. He’s kind of realising things that Kaleb Cooper [the knowledgeable and witty farmhand who’s sidelining farming with a season on the stage in his popular one-man show, e World According to Kaleb] knows automatically.’ But the couple are banking on science – and in particular hydrogen (maybe they’re in on Jo Bamford’s £1bn hydrogen investment fund) – playing its part when it comes to better practices: ‘I really believe in the progression of farming and that the scientists will come up with something that can help sustain it,’ says Lisa.
Meanwhile, you’ll be glad to hear that romance isn’t dead in the Clarkson household. e most romantic
thing Jeremy does for Lisa is ‘to drive her to and collect her from the train station’. And when they’re both particularly knackered and need to stop drinking every evening, Lisa will whip them o to a health farm. Well, she did once. To a juice detox clinic in Portugal. It did not go well.
‘Yeah, I got him at a low moment – really tired and really hungover. It pissed down every single day. I’m not talking normal rain. I’m talking sideways rain. And Jeremy said, “Why would I work for 34 years and then you bring me here?”’ But at least it made good copy. ‘By ursday, I was so miserable that I elected to go into hospital and have an operation,’ he wrote in his Sunday Times column afterwards.
It’s fair to say that while Jeremy and Lisa, now farmer and shopkeeper, aren’t entirely at the mercy of the farming way of life (they’re hardly short of a few quid), they have pushed farming – which has a critical role in managing the environment of more than 70 percent of the UK’s land area and produces 60 percent of the food we eat, into the front rooms of millions of people, who may not have given it too much thought before. Farmers – and others who feel some positive Clarkson e ects – overall seem to be delighted. Giles Reid, for example, who runs West Horsley Place, in Surrey, puts the success of his hedgerow festival rmly at Clarkson’s door, while Glebe Farm’s Philip Taylor says: ‘ e usual comment from farmers is that Clarkson’s Farm has done more for showing the reality of farming than over 40 years of Country le.’ Even the Soil Association’s Helen Browning credits them with ‘at least’ capturing the farming challenges of ‘the weather, farm gate prices, animals escaping at inconvenient moments’, while acknowledging it’s mostly for entertainment.
At a time when farmers are protesting against supermarket prices and cheap food imports from post-Brexit trade deals, Clarkson’s Farm feels like it’s more important than ever – giving an unvarnished narrative – with unvarnished performances – to the small-holder farmer who is struggling and needs all our help and support, as they confront the twin needs of food production and protecting our soil and biodiversity.
A s for Lisa, as well as playing the calming, charming counterpoint to telly’s popular provocateur, there’s no doubt that the industry and passion she’s putting into building up the Diddly Squat brand at the farm shop and online might see the couple compete as to who brings in the most farm revenue. Whoever wins, no doubt it will continue to make the most excellent telly.
For more about Lisa’s farm shop, visit diddlysquatfarmshop.com. Clarkson’s Farm series three airs on Amazon Prime from 3 May n
We’ve all seen them on the chi-chi shopping streets of well-heeled towns and London boroughs – those beautiful Scandi-looking stores with their rustic shelves impeccably lined with tall kilner jars of pasta, oats and organic spelt on one side and laundry detergent, shampoo and conditioner on the other. Welcome to the re ll store – the shops waging war on our culture of throwaway plastic, while looking immaculate in the process.
Given that microplastics have been found everywhere from placentas to breast milk, it’s obvious we need to address our plastic problem. It’s
not as if we’re unaware of it, of course – according to Ecover’s 2022 Re ll Report, about 45 percent of Britons view plastic as the government’s most pressing environmental issue. But it’s a hard problem to combat given the prevalence of it in our society. We’ve tried recycling it and failed dismally (globally only nine percent of plastic is actually recycled), so the focus needs to be on reduction and reuse. Re lling containers that you already have in your larder is one of the most obvious weapons in our arsenal for beginning to dismantle the problem.
e good news is that the re ll economy is on the up. According to Reuters and packaging analysts Smithers, the global market for re llables will grow ve percent a year to reach a potential value of
$53.5bn by 2027. Mintel’s Food and Drink Packaging report attributes this to people simply feeling happier when they use a re ll service; 60 percent say they feel like they’re making a di erence with this more considered approach.
Supermarkets, like Marks & Spencer, Aldi and Asda, have rolled out their own trials and stations –albeit to limited stores – o ering re ll at cost-e cient pricing. It’s a solution with the potential for mass market appeal.
e bad news is that the scale isn’t there yet; and while we may want to ‘do the right thing’, quite often ease and convenience override all our good intentions. You may not live near a re ll store or supermarket with the services, for example – or struggle with transporting jars and containers on a weekly basis to a bricks and mortar store.
Re ll, however, isn’t just a service found in stores – and this is where the re ll revolution has potential to go big. Home subscription or ‘e- ll’ services delivered to your door are fast becoming the biggest player in this plastic-reduction puzzle, resolving any clunkiness and convenience issues with the in-store experience. Nick Torday was thinking about this when he founded Bower Collective, an e- ll site with subscription options aiming to push the re ll movement into the mainstream.
‘It’s all about the customer experience,’ says Nick. ‘We know that getting all your empty bottles ready, then walking or driving to your nearest re ll store –if indeed you even have one – and then re lling in a store is an experience with many shortcomings.
‘ With Bower, and other e- ll, the products are delivered to your door, dispensers clearly labelled, and you can decant them at your kitchen sink in minutes – then you just send the empties back to us for free,’ he continues. ‘We’ve designed the easiest possible reuse and re ll option available in the market right now.’
another bene t is presented, i.e. the product makes you feel cooler, healthier, or happier too.
In a bid to address this, the digital players are focused on making their user experiences cool. Bower Collective, for example, enlisted ex-Soho House creative director Ulrich Boulon to refresh the brand with a particular focus on product packaging – a step towards making the products more covetable. And it ensured that making the re ll was as easy as possible – popping the product straight back in the post to be re lled for you, meaning no messy decants at home.
e reason e- ll is innovative – revolutionary, maybe – is that in terms of nailing behavioural change, it scratches an itch traditional re ll can’t. Digital services makes it easier when our intentions fail.
ere’s a phenomenon psychologists call the ‘intention-behaviour gap’ that tracks the chasm between our principles and actual lived actions. ‘ e intention-behaviour gap is a widely discussed idea in research on consumer choices when it comes to sustainability and ethics,’ says Dr Ada Maria Barone, from Goldsmiths University, ‘because while often intentions are predictive of subsequent behaviours, it’s not so for these particular choices.
‘Microplastics have been FOUND everywhere from placentas to breast milk – it’s UNDENIABLE that we need to be addressing our plastic PROBLEM’
Hugo Lynch, sustainability lead at Abel & Cole’s, which o ers Club Zero products [i.e re llable], agrees. ‘Having to bring your own pots was a barrier to purchase – it’s heavy and awkward to carry.’
Obviously, other challenges to changing lifestyle habits remain, the most obvious of which is how to make the ‘re ll’ aspirational, sexy and desirable. is is a challenge faced by the entire ‘conscientious’ market, but particularly di cult to address within re ll – given that it deals mostly with under-the-sink household sprays and cleaners (a distinctly unsexy product group). According to a recent New York Times article, sustainable products that take o are in categories that o er up ‘status markers’. ink a kinder cashmere jumper or an artisanal lampshade. is is down to psychology. Research in the Journal of Business Ethics shows that consumers are more likely to make sustainable purchasing decisions when
‘ Companies need to make re ll solutions more convenient and less e ortful to help consumers adopt these solutions into their daily lives,’ she continues. ‘While I don’t have data or evidence in relation to re ll stores, I expect that consumers nd it easier to engage with online re ll than brick-andmortar retailers.’ at’s t rue, says Nick of his customers. ‘Our customer retention is solid, and so the average customer does 36 re lls per year – with only a churn of three percent, versus industry average of six-toeight percent.’
L everaging technology through apps and online subscriptions help hop the intention-behaviour gap – they construct that necessary bridge to make it easy for those who just really can’t be bothered, or who are simply too busy.
e Ecover report claims that the key to making re ll work is to make it better than the conventional option. It’s clear that we’re making progress: Bower Collective and other brands present convenient, aspirational options that you covet more than the OG product. Ecover’s nal note, though, is that we’re still a while away from adopting widespread re ll in our lives.
Ultimately, mass implementation will require the set-up of holistic re ll channels throughout our entire society – a product is sent to our home, picked up by our milkman, or returned to your corner store, before the cycle starts over – in a genuinely interconnected web. e digital and the store, in short, need to properly join hands. But as far as the re ll revolution is concerned, home subscription services are certainly beginning to weave that web.
And then repeat
ABEL & COLE
Like the milkman, but for the digital age. Pick your refills from its Club Zero shop and they turn up on your doorstep. Once consumed, the packaging is collected with your next delivery. Easy peasy. From £1.60, abelandcole.co.uk
WE ARE WILD
This personal care brand believes we shouldn’t be throwing away so many bathroom products each year, so it has created a cool case for your deodorant, and a refill subscription that makes it easy to top up whenever you run low. From £10, wearewild.com
BOWER COLLECTIVE
Beautiful products turn up in decantable pouches that you squeeze into bottles and containers at home. Pop the big pouches back in the post, et voilà – the cycle continues. bowercollective.com n
“SIMPLY CHOOSE TWO KEY COLOURS AND WE CREATE THE REST”
Edited by CAROLE ANNETT
Your in-depth dive into a world of interiors inspiration, design and homeware
Pierre Frey Paris KUSI FP076 wallpaper in 001 Tropical, £166 p/m. pierrefrey.comWhat’s caught Carole Annett ’s eye this season?
WHISPER IT...
Why a new wood collection epitomises the trend we all love right now
VINTAGE IN VOLUME
A ‘vintage supermarket’ is dropping in Soho very soon
HOUSE PROUD
The Repair Shop’s Sonnaz Nooranvary is building her own house of interiors
SWEET DREAMS
The romantic interiors pieces we’re coveting right now
PARTNERS IN DESIGN
Aldridge and Supple renovate an Oxfordshire lake house
FROM PARIS WITH LOVE
Everything we found quite chic at Deco Off
143
The crocuses are popping and I’ve shed a layer of clothing - it must be spring. An exciting time in the design world, we get to see the latest collections and get a feel for current trends. Design Notes (p134) o ers a taster, which includes irregular-shaped side tables and the re-emergence of moiré, a textile with a wavy appearance caused by heating and distorting the surface so it looks ‘watered’. Dior loved it, Yves Saint Laurent explored its use in the 70s and Jackie Kennedy had the walls of a White House salon covered in a green silk version. Experimenting with couture nishes is what textile supplier Fameed Khalique does best. His wallcovering collection epitomises another mood – quiet luxury (p138), where richness and dazzle come from texture and exquisite craftsmanship. And we report from Paris Deco O (p150), an event showcasing fabric, wallpaper and lighting designs, including the magni cent Pierre Frey fabric chosen to open this section. Other standouts, Martin Brudnizki’s Sway lamp for Porta Romana in eye-popping yellow and a dreamy rug in the shape of a oral bouquet from Quenin. Another story on everyone’s mindsustainability. e Repair Shop’s Sonnaz Nooranvary tells Margaret Hussey about her own sustainable business (p142). ‘We want our future customers to buy less, but buy well,’ says the upholstery expert who is on a mission to change the way we purchase furniture, launching House of Sonnaz, with sustainability at its heart. Sa ron Aldridge, one half of design studio Aldridge and Supple is a strong advocate of vintage and upcycling. On page 148 she tells the story of renovating a lakehouse in Oxfordshire. London’s own design week happens March 11 to 15 at Design Centre Chelsea Harbour and I’ll be hosting a talk on 15 March (tickets available at dcch.co.uk). I hope to catch you there.
NEAT PETITE
Small uted wall light in antique brass, £86.40. corston.com
NEW FLAME
Former model Tilly Wood’s heavenscented candle collection uses a natural blend of coconut and soya. Each named after a favourite song and packaged in biodegradable boxes. Single wick candle, £80. ajabotanicals.com
What’s caught Carole Annett ’s interiors eye this season
Philippa Ross of @wearetwinset’s family washroom designed with bathroom specialist Ripples. ‘I love how luxe the space feels, like a boutique hotel.’ A similar design costs from £26,000. ripplesbathrooms.co.uk
1 Sherbet shades for spring 2 Moiré, the heat-treated silk beloved by Dior – what elegant walls are wearing this season. 3 An ocean commotion from textile designer Emerald Dangerfield.
Somerhill fabric by Nina Campbell, £95 p/m. osborneandlittle.com
LOOP THE LOOP
This Superstars fabric channels a double wave Seventies vibe, £170 p/m. zinctextile.com
ZigZag console by Kelly Hoppen, £5,199. davidson london.com
CLASS ACT
Timothy Corrigan’s Bagatelle collection for Samuel & Sons pays homage to a bygone era. Double tassel tieback, petal, £590. samuelandsons.com
Family Ties
Cameroon-born Amechi Mandi’s first home collection draws inspiration from his ancestors, and reinterprets the ancient art of Kidri beading in knock-out coloured prints. From £80, amechihome.com
Magnus Pettersen’s handsome Lando sideboard features stained oak sandwiched between slivers of forest green lacquer, £1,699. heals.com
EVERETT & BLUE Melides tile from Trincha Collection, £10 each. everettandblue.com
MANDARIN STONE
Safi Petula porcelain tile, £72 sq/m. mandarinstone.com
MAITLAND & POATE
Handmade Keidos tile, £7 each. maitlandandpoate.com
PETRA PALUMBO
Tartan tile, £32 each. petrapalumbo.com
FIRED EARTH X DESIGNERS GUILD Jaal tile, £79.80 per sq/m. firedearth.com
Handmade in England
Design Centre
Chelsea Harbour samuel-heath.com
Fameed Khalique’s new paulownia wood collection is all about quiet luxury
Asubtle gear change is happening at the upper echelons of the interior design world – the evolution of quiet. Much like last spring’s no-logo, stealth wealth fashion moment where brands like Loewe, Phoebe Philo and Saint Laurent leaned into a more low-key sensibility, the decorating trade picked up the scent, searching for new ways to embellish with a toned-down interpretation of showiness. Fameed Khalique, more used to supplying semi-precious stones, intricate leatherwork and rich embroideries to A-list companies such as Katharine Pooley and 1508 London, embraced the challenge and looked for new materials – enter paulownia wood.
Fast-growing and sustainable, paulownia is named after Anna Pavlovna, queen consort of e Netherlands from 1795-1865 where the wood’s traditionally used in clog-making. Its high ratio of strength to weight, and ability to take colour, makes it ideal for crafting. Fameed’s designs feature delicate slivers – veneers – of the wood in Art Deco-style wallcoverings. ‘I wanted to create an alternative to traditional straw marquetry and I have always loved the elegance of the Art Deco period,’ he explains. Paulownia wood was the perfect material with its delicate, silky grain that catches the light when laid at di erent angles. Martin Brudnizki of design studio MBDS, whose work includes the revamped Annabel’s in Mayfair
and recently opened Le Grand Mazarin hotel in Paris, has already featured Fameed’s Starburst wallcovering at the Vesper Bar of e Dorchester. ‘As designs have evolved, so too have our clients’ expectations,’ says Fameed. ‘Starburst pushes the boundaries of complexity and looks utterly glamorous – it works on ceilings and wardrobe doors, we can even trap it in resin for tabletops. I can’t wait to see how clients use it for themselves.’ In true low-key, no-logo style, the paulownia collection has no name but it’s already got a fan club.
From £163 per sq/m . fameedkhalique.com n
The Sunburst wallcovering features inlaid paulownia wood
Sumptuous materials make for luxurious finishes
A huge preloved interiors supermarket is coming to town. Carole Annett fills up her basket
‘We love saving stu ,’ says Paul Middlemiss of Merchant & Found, an online vintage furniture and lighting store he founded in 2017. ‘If a piece has been designed and made well, then yes, it’s great to have it new but it can be even better to have it when it’s old, showing the scars of life that tell so many stories.’ Paul buys from all over the world and a workshop team in Hampshire gives every piece the love needed to bring it back to life, ready for
its next home. ‘We champion the maker, highlight the sustainability of vintage and the environmental bene ts that come with saving and rejuvenating – not creating yet more new’. His warehouse is a favourite sourcing spot for clients including Sessions Art Club, Bottega Veneta and interior designers such as Rose Uniacke. Since launching, Paul and his team have dreamed of taking ‘good’ vintage to a wider audience and it’s about to become reality. Vintage Supermarket in Soho will feature 6,000 sq/ft of the world’s best vintage furniture, lighting and smaller items sourced from the furthest corners of Europe and beyond, a curated collection ve years in the making o ering the fun and the unexpected. e event is running in collaboration with London Craft Week (see p83) and includes hand-crafted products commissioned from, among others, renowned textile artist Clemence Joly, queen of pop-art crochet Kate Jenkins and paper artist Hattie Newman. ‘Vintage Supermarket will be fully sustainable, in line with our core values,’ says Paul. ‘We want to engage the wider public to experience, touch and feel what good vintage is about, to highlight the fundamental long-term contribution that shopping vintage can make.’ And no doubt, have a lot of fun in the process. merchantandfound.com n
WHEN? 15-18 May
WHERE? Vinyl Factory, Soho
WHAT? Events will span the ‘Forgotten Vintage Furniture Makers’, as well as exploring the skill and craft required in the ‘rejuvenation of vintage’. There’ll also be a the rare variety apple juice bar and supermarket-inspired café.
As an upholstery expert on The Repair Shop, Sonnaz Nooranvary is a driving force keeping British craftship alive, says Margaret Hussey
We want our future customers to buy less, but buy well,’ says a clearly passionate Sonnaz Nooranvary.
e upholstery expert, best known for appearing on the hit BBC show e Repair Shop, is on a mission to change the way we buy furniture and this year is launching House of Sonnaz, a unique interiors business with sustainability at its heart.
‘ I’m preparing to get it bubbling away out in the world,’ says Sonnaz, 37. ‘Mid next year we are going to be doing a very exciting launch, which will start with upholstered furniture. We’ve innovated with the use of bamboo, all the materials will be natural and the fabrics will be from a UK brand. It’s very exciting.
‘ The reason we are starting with upholstery is because I’m an upholsterer by trade. at was my rst calling. We’ve created this full cycle scheme which means we will buy back, at a much reduced rate, the furniture to reupholster or repair and sell on again. We want to reduce as much waste and land ll as possible. We will be the rst interior, home and lifestyle company to do that and we will be the rst to innovate with bamboo in a way that hasn’t been seen before. I’m extremely excited.’
S he clearly is – and for Sonnaz, it’s not just a good business model, it’s a way of life.
‘ ere are three reasons why I felt the full cycle element was something that I had to do. e rst was I don’t want to be part of the problem. I don’t want to just create products for a vanity project that has got my name on it and make money regardless. I felt I needed to be extremely responsible in what I was creating into the world.
doing everything I can for the environment while still creating beautiful things. is really is less is more.’
Even when it comes to scatter cushions, Sonnaz says they will be designed to t the width of a roll of fabric, so there is little or no waste. Her ambition is to eventually expand House of Sonnaz into lighting, dressing gowns, towels and ceramics.
It’s a dream she has had since she started as an apprentice upholsterer at luxury yacht makers Sunseeker International in Poole, Dorset.
‘Secondly, what we are going to be designing and making will be of fantastic quality, which should last a very, very long time.
‘ irdly, we don’t want to be contributing to land ll where possible. I thought: I cannot sleep at night, knowing that I’m not
‘ The year that I got chosen, there was just one space for an upholstery apprentice and over 300 people applied,’ says Sonnaz. ‘I was 17 and just so lucky. It changed my life.
‘ In the upholstery department I was the rst female apprentice that they’d had. But it wasn’t a thing. I was just one of the team members and I loved that.’
She stayed on for a few years after completing her apprenticeship – but it could have all been so di erent.
Her father, an Iranian businessman, had wanted her to study law. Sonnaz was born in Iran and returned there between the ages of 11 and 13.
‘ I was cajoled into being a lawyer, that was what I was told I was going to be. By the time we came back to the UK, our perspectives had changed and I thought I am going to do what makes me feel good and happy. I think because I had seen women particularly not be able to live their dream, I thought I’ve got this opportunity, I’ve got to take it.’ And take it, she did.
Working and honing her craft over the years, she set up her very successful business – eponymously titled Sonnaz – o ering bespoke interior services for country houses, yachts and commercial premises. A nd in 2016 she got a random phone call from the production company of e Repair Shop ‘ I was a bit taken aback,’ says Sonnaz. ‘ ey were casting for experts for series one. For lots of di erent reasons, I ended up not sending my casting video, so I missed the
Sonnaz is launching her own business with sustainability at its heart
opportunity. I was busy in my own world.
‘But in the end I went to the barn [in West Sussex, where they lm the series] and met the other experts and they were all so passionate and really genuine about the expertise, the integrity of what they do, the craftship, and why they were doing it. I really got the sense that this wasn’t just a television programme –that would be something much more.’
Since joining, highlights have included meeting Dame Judi Dench, and Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders for a Comic Relief special last year. ‘ What an experience to breathe the same air as these cultural icons,’ says Sonnaz. ‘French and Saunders were really interested in what we were doing. I remember speaking to them both and they were talking about their furniture and interior design and asking me questions. I thought you guys really care about us and about craft.’
It’s all a far cry from Sonnaz’s early days, living on ship as a baby in 1986/87. ‘ My dad was in the Iranian merchant navy and my Mum followed him around the world,’ she says. ‘I was on the ship for the rst year of my life during the Iran/Iraq war. My mum wrote a letter to my granny at the time saying they had run out of stu on the ship, waiting to be restocked. ings were scarce. It was wild.’
was in business over there, lost everything pretty much overnight and that is the reason why we had to come back because they couldn’t a ord to send us to school.
‘But it kept that ame of curiosity and adventure alive in me and also made me realise that I have got every opportunity that I want at my ngertips. Living in the UK I can do whatever I want.’
Her father stayed in Iran and she admits the relationship has been di cult. She went back to Iran in 2011 and travelled to Persepolis, near Shiraz.
‘ It really opened my mind up to the ancient culture of Persia, the craftship and the stonemasonry, Persian rug making... It reignited my connection with that part of the world and really helped to heal that part of my identity, my heritage.’
As well as working on House of Sonnaz and e Repair Shop, where she is back lming this March, Sonnaz, who lives in Dorset, is writing a book of 25 DIY projects, due to be released next autumn.
‘ is is a real beginner’s guide. I’m trying to be as detailed as possible to encourage and empower as many people to do projects themselves, learning skills for life.’
e family moved back to the UK – Sonnaz has an elder sister and younger brother – and returned to Tehran in 1997 for a few years. ‘I remember quite a bit,’ says Sonnaz. ‘It was equally as incredible as it was tough.
‘ It was quite traumatic in a lot of ways. e family dynamic was very di cult – going to the Middle East as a child when you have been used to living in the UK is a drastic change. I really struggled with that, seeing the divide between men and women.
‘Equally, being immersed in this ancient culture was amazing, as was seeing a completely di erent part of the world.
‘ But it was a very di cult time. Consequently my dad, who
She also has just done a pilot of a new television interior design show for the American market with presenter and furnituremaker Jason Pickens, and this year sponsored the Young Upholsterer of the Year with Heritage Crafts. ‘We need to recognise, encourage and support young people getting into these heritage crafts,’ says Sonnaz. ‘ e Repair Shop has been a catalyst and we are seeing a renaissance into people going back to makers and commissioning projects.’
She is also behind a campaign to stop the UK government putting through a bill on new draft re regulations for upholstered furniture, which will see an increased use of reretardant chemicals.
‘ e chemicals are toxic not just to the upholsterer but the end user,’ says Sonnaz. ‘We want the government to debate this. We are trying to say there is a better way of going around this, which will still comply with re regulations and will be less toxic to everybody. It’s on Eco-chair. co.uk if anyone wants to look.’
A nd she is just as conscious of her own carbon footprint. ‘With my existing business we are part of Ecologi, a tree planting scheme where every month we pay in and trees are planted. You can choose the UK or somewhere else – I’ve gone with wherever they feel they should plant them.’ To date she has planted nearly 800.
With such a packed diary already, 2024 is gearing up to be quite the year for Sonnaz. ‘I’m absolutely loving it – I feel like I’m just getting started now.’ houseofsonnaz.com n
Tessa Dunthorne’s in love with lilac and blushing pink
A former model with a creative eye and an ex-Soho House designer make a formidable pair, says Carole Annett – and this transformed country home agrees
Aldridge & Supple launched four years ago after a serendipitous meeting at Soho House when Scarlett Supple, a lead designer at the private members’ club, met Sa ron Aldridge and was enlisted to help decorate Sa ron’s own Cotswold home. A successful model in her early years, Sa ron grew up immersed in fashion and art – worlds that go hand-in-hand with interiors. After establishing a friendship and realising how they complemented each other in a working environment, they decided to set up shop and Aldridge & Supple was born.
eir latest venture, a grand country house poised on the edge of a picturesque village cradled by sweeping parkland, is a perfect representation of Aldridge & Supple. e commission, via referral from a past client, presented a challenge wrapped in an opportunity: to transform a recently built house into an elegant, cosy, and deeply comfortable family home that whispers a sense of timelessness and belonging. ‘Researching the history and local area of a house can inform the design scheme and create key details,’ explains Scarlett. ‘Conservation is extremely important to us as a studio: we always try to keep original features, such as doors and oorboards, and choose to restore existing features rather than replacing them. When this is not possible, as here, we select cornicing,
architrave and skirting details honouring the tradition of the house.’
A sitting room, the house’s main entertaining space, features two oversized caramel-coloured sofas separated by a rich, muddy-toned ottoman. Two expansive armchairs opposite the replace complete a convivial seating area. ‘Our brief was to inject character and layers,’ says Sa ron. ‘We used a calming palette of earthy and natural tones layered with di erent textures, worn leather and aged wood to complement the client’s existing art collection and the architectural details of the house as well as taking inspiration from the surrounding landscape.’
Sa ron is often involved in sourcing art, a passion gleaned from her father, Alan Aldridge, an artist, graphic designer and illustrator renowned for his record covers for e Beatles and e Who. Artworks, including a painting by Joe Tilson from the Marlborough Gallery and Barbara Levittoux-Swiderska’s Rural Winter Landscape from Richard Saltoun, sit within this particular room to draw the eye to the vaulted ceiling. A 19th-century walnut bookcase, sourced from Brownrigg Antiques, was introduced as a statement of elegance and history, housing the client's most cherished possessions and echoing the studio's philosophy of integrating personal narratives into their designs. Freestanding antiques are preferred over tted joinery wherever possible
– part of their ‘re-use, re-purpose’ philosophy.
While Sa ron’s role tends more towards sourcing artworks and editing the overall ambience once a scheme has been decided, Scarlett focuses on space planning and ow, furniture and fabrics, ensuring each area of the room serves multiple purposes without sacri cing comfort or aesthetic appeal. She has been instrumental in launching the studio’s own linen prints inspired by a trip to Japan, which the client was keen to incorporate. Here the curtain fabric is a beautiful embroidery fabric by Chelsea Textiles. ‘ e large print anchors the overall colour palette,’ explains Scarlett, ‘and we loved the deep petrol blue and rose hues within the print.’
e curtains are lined with a stripe fabric and trimmed with an antique hand-dyed linen – a subtle and elegant touch. A window seat cushion features Aldridge & Supple’s own ‘Naka’ design layered with ‘Katagome’ cushions in old rose, borage and rose colourways. Other fabrics included a heavy wool from George Spencer and Michael S. Smith’s Rose Tarlow printed linen. Side tables and lamps add air and character while books – ‘you can never have enough,’ says Sa ron – ensure the design is personal.
Low-level lighting throughout means that every aspect of the room can be su used with a soft glow. e room has di erent areas to suit di erent moods – solitary reading, playing games, sprawling by the re, reading the papers… one can imagine being here from dawn ’til dusk.
e studio’s ability to craft environments that are not just houses but homes, is ensuring their fan base gets bigger with every project. aldridgeandsupple.com n
Between the croissants and crowds, here’s what stole our hearts at Paris Deco Off
In Paris there’s always romance and here it came in a joyful collaboration between GP & J Baker and interior visionary Kit Kemp. Infused with whimsy and Kit’s trademark storytelling, the collection includes a fabulous selection of skinny and fat linen stripes plus a printed celebration of Robina Jack ceramics. Meanwhile, Martin Brudnizki’s Sway lamp for Porta Romana drew admirers for its eye-popping yellow hue. However, softer hues prevailed elsewhere, like at Bernie de Le Cuona, whose fresh paisley fabric, ‘Elizabeth’, will be a sure- re hit. Cole & Son’s temporary French home was decked out in archive favourite, ‘Hummingbirds’, now appearing in new colourways and as embroidered silk. Many brands highlighted sustainability credentials, not least Arte International, whose new wallcovering collection, ‘Lanai’, Hawaiian for ‘verandah’, features rattan and ra a, hand-crafted and inlaid. And nally, no trip to Paris is complèt without a visit to Maison Lelièvre, where the star of the show was the revival of the Quenin brand, which celebrates the rich character of La Belle Époque. Merci, Paris, you put on a great show. n
WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W
W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W
W W W W W W W WW W W W W W W WW W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W
W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W WW W W W W W W WW W W W W W W W
W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W
W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W
INVITES YOU TO
W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W
W W W W W W W WW W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W
W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W
W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W
WHERE AMAZING DESIGN HAPPENS Design Centre Chelsea Harbour at
TUESDAY 4 JUNE – THURSDAY 4 JULY 2024
W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W
W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W
W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W
W W W W W W W W WOW ! house
W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W
THE ULTIMATE SHOWHOUSE COMES TO THE WORLD’S LEADING DESIGN DESTINATION
SUMMER 2024 W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W
“THE OSCARS OF THE DESIGN WORLD” TIM GOSLING
DESIGN CENTRE, CHELSEA HARBOUR, LONDON, SW10 OXE
WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
WWWW
Maison de parfums d’intérieur eu.baobabcollection.com
Photograph taken in front of a work by Kudditji Kngwarreye. Nicolas Andrin - Aborigène Galerie Paris.
© Serge Anton
Can you travel to the Antarctic sustainably – and should you?
asks Yasemen Kaner-White
he sentence, ‘I’m going to the Antarctic’ is almost always met with a ‘wow’. at’s because it’s an intriguing mystery to those who haven’t been and a place of magic for those who have. If the opportunity arises to see this ethereal part of the world, you must. And if you’re wondering about the impact your trip will have on the planet, rest assured, there are sustainable choices to make. Back to the ‘mystery’ part; if you don’t visit a place, it’s harder to relate and compute the impact. Say, for example, a plastic disposable water bottle created from microplastic nurdles leaked into oceans and was then ingested by penguins you’ve seen play in the snow: you’re more likely choose a stainless-steel bottle next time. When you’re kayaking past a crystal-like glacier swiftly slipping into the waters around you, never to be seen again, you’ll think twice and choose a bike, walk or car-pool – thus doing your part against global warming. By visiting the great white vistas of Antarctica, you’ll gain an insightful perspective, returning home an ambassador in the position to profoundly teach others.
I cruised with Swan Hellenic onboard its stunning SH Diana, for the ship’s inaugural expedition to the Antarctic. I spent sea days attending on-board lectures imparting context to the scenery and wildlife we’d be encountering, gaining a greater a ection and respect for my astonishing surroundings. Making use of the binoculars in my cabin, no longer was it just a bird in the sky, but I was distinguishing not-so graceful giant petrels from a ock of black-capped Antarctic terns searching for small sh from up above. e biographies of expedition leaders are available and whomever you’d like to pick their brains you can ask to join you for dinner – a popular pastime. I was travelling alone and loved that there was a solo traveller meet-up, cementing friendships to dine and discuss activities with, for the rest of the voyage. e daily brie ng told guests what to expect, creating safety and new excitement for the day ahead. Guided wildlife surveys on deck were a chance to participate in citizen science. is could be as simple as making a log of what wildlife we saw in a speci c period, contributing to scienti c data. Polar regions are di cult and expensive for scientists to access, limiting essential research, so guests who participate help them better understand climate change and how it’s a ecting polar regions. ere’s ample downtime to have a drink at the bar, looking out the windows to the fairy-tale polar paradise. SH Diana has many nooks and crannies to be alone, too, should you want to sit outside cradling a hot chocolate, or sink into the hot tub with unobstructed views, for a surreal experience.
Size matters when it comes to Antarctic cruises; the smaller the ship, the less of an environmental footprint; fewer people means more landings and time on land to explore. SH Diana takes up to 192 guests, fewer than many cruises, so we could feel a di erent location frequently. Additionally, more people could go kayaking or do a polar plunge – the latter I couldn’t face, but had fun peering at plucky people from my balcony.
One of the landings that stood out was Whalers Bay, a rather gruesome, yet historical scene of whale oil tanks for fuel, thankfully something not prevalent now. You can walk around the shacks where the workers would have lived, imagining how remote their life was. Organisations such as the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators, which Swan Hellenic is a member of, promotes
environmentally responsible private-sector travel to the Antarctic. Before you start exploring, all your outer gear such as jackets and waterproof trousers go through a biosecurity check ensuring guests don’t bring in alien seeds or diseases. e age of the ship also matters; new ships such as SH Diana are nished with eco-friendly paint and use clean diesel.
One of the biggest joys of going somewhere remote is to record it with imagery and videos. is is not just the case with wildlife; scenery is a highlight too, such as the photogenic Lemaire Channel, or the shades of green and pink naturally gleaming from coloured algae, against the stark white snow and black volcanic rock. Every angle is picture-worthy.
e dining was discerning. Hotel director Philipp Reutener explained that they reduced portion sizes so guests can try di erent dishes, but also to reduce wastage.
e tantalising dishes are made from sustainably sourced ingredients and there’s something on o er 24/7, both in restaurants and room service. For those who enjoy a spa, I’d recommend the facial using vinotherapy products made from grapes. Although weather largely dictates the schedule, you rarely miss out – for instance, the Port Lockroy team came onboard to meet us as opposed to us landing – too many penguins to keep a respectful ve-metre distance!
e team shared stories of their research and support of the heritage of the port and Antarctica, working with the British Antarctic survey. A portion of proceeds from sales from their eclectic gift shop goes towards research. I posted a few postcards from the most southerly post o ce in the world, which they run, before paying for my novelty penguin passport stamp – what a memory.
You can’t quite put into words the magnitude of experiencing this otherworldly continent. Walking on the wintry white crunchy snow, crisp air awakening your cheeks, with nothing much around other than the odd sleepy seal or perky penguin exploring; it feels like another planet. Perhaps only a visit to Mars could rival. As Leonardo da Vinci said: ‘Learn how to see. Realise that everything connects to everything else.’ Once you’ve seen the Antarctic, your newfound a ection with the place and the planet will deepen. How could that possibly ever be a bad thing?
BOOK IT: e next Antarctic Peninsula Discovery departs 13 December 2024, from £7,035pp. swanhellenic.com
Yasemen’s return ights had a carbon footprint of 4,004kg. CO2e. ecollectivecarbon.com n
Luxury travel brand Belmond is on a roll this year. e legendary Eastern & Oriental Express will return to the rails with a new look and food menu courtesy of chef André Chiang; Venice Simplon-Orient-Express will embark on a new route between Paris and Porto no; e Royal Scotsman will see the launch of two new Grand Suites designed by Paris-based Tristan Auer; and in Peru, the Hiram Bingham and Andean Explorer will welcome Peruvian-born Jorge Muños as its executive chef. To boot, sustainability remains at the forefront with the launch of new pilot programmes at ten of its properties, which will create tailored roadmaps for them to meet the rigorous LVMH Life 360’s sustainability targets, and in partnership with EarthCheck – the world’s leading certi cation and advisory group for travel and tourism – all eligible Belmond properties are set to receive EarthCheck Silver certi cation by the rst half of 2024. belmond.com
Fans of Chiva-Som can now continue their wellness journey at home with the hotel’s newly enhanced skincare collection. Following on from the rst range, which rst launched in 2013, the updated gender neutral collection has been reformulated utilising natural organic ingredients and comprises three organic massage oils, eight facial and four body products that combine therapeutic botanicals, spices, and fruit and ower oils. chivasom.com
Aviation accounts for a not-insigni cant two percent (approx) of our global CO2 emissions. Pelorus has partnered with Neste, a producer of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), on a new scheme that means its clients can choose how much of their ights’ emissions they want to reduce by purchasing SAF to replace the fossil fuel, using a ‘pay it forward’ concept. SAF also works with current aircrafts and infrastructure – meaning there is no need to build new aircraft or set up a parallel fuel infrastructure. Pelorus addresses its clients’ remaining emissions via donations to Pelorus Foundation’s Climate Investment Fund, a carbon capture credit portfolio that contributes to the advancement of carbon removal technology. pelorusx.co
PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES; PEXELS
ere’s always a reason to visit Denmark, but never more so than this year. Not least because the country is celebrating two decades of the Nordic Food Manifesto – whose ten core principles centre around health, sustainability, ethics and seasonality – which inevitably gave rise to culinary gems such as Noma, among others, which rede ned the world’s gastronomic landscape of the 21st century. You can also visit the island of Funen and follow in the footsteps of Danish composer Carl Nielsen with a 110 km hike to a soundtrack of his music, or head to the remote island of Mandø in the north sea, which is set to receive its o cial Dark Sky Park certi cation, making it one of Denmark’s best locations for the stargazers among us. visitdenmark.com
With human activity and climate change threatening animal species worldwide, Global Humane – part of American Humane, the world’s largest certi er of animal welfare –has taken matters to the next level. It has launched a new Humane Tourism certi cation programme, awarded only to those that meet the comprehensive welfare criteria and rigorous standards for tourism and animal wellbeing. South African-based Mantis Group is the rst to be designated this prestigious award for select lodges and boats. Established 24 years ago by Adrian Gardiner, whose vision was to ‘create travel experiences where man and nature coexist sustainably’, Mantis, one of Accor’s conservation and sustainability brands, has plans for its other boutique hotels, eco-lodges, and waterway vessels within the portfolio to undergo the audit process and adopt this certi cation as a key brand standard. accor.com
THE STORE, Oxford, UK
Oxford’s beloved Boswells department store has been brought back to life as a hotel, with 101 rooms and a rooftop bar. £285 B&B, thestoreoxford.com
THE EMORY, Knightsbridge, London
This uber-luxurious new hotel boasts 61 suites over nine floors, plus a spectacular penthouse by Rigby & Rigby. From £2,000, the-emory.co.uk
MANDARIN ORIENTAL, Mayfair, London
The luxury brand has launched within a slick Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners building on Hanover Square. £925, mandarinoriental.com
HOTEL MARIA, Helsinki, Finland
A 117-room sustainable haven housed over four buildings. Inside there are two restaurants, a chapel, a boutique and a spa. £390, hotelmaria.fi
OUR HABITAS, Santa Teresa, Costa Rica
Forty-five rooms and ten luxury tents alongside local farm-to-table food in the laid-back surfer town of Santa Teresa. £560, ourhabitas.com n
When did sustainability get sexy? Why does everyone look like a model? Where can I get one of those cocktails? ese are the questions that went through my head when I rst saw the pool at 1 Hotel Miami, but it was the rst that seemed the big one. is was 2015 and the rest of the hotel was a dead giveaway – huge living wall in the entrance, bamboo keys, drinking water taps in every room, all very eco and refreshing. But the pool was a scene. Buxom beauties sipped cocktails in reusable cups, bronzed meatheads oiled themselves with reef-safe sunscreen and there wasn’t a plastic straw in sight.
It was cool and fun and I couldn’t quite believe it. Because go back ten or 20 years, and sustainability was de nitely not cool. We didn’t even call it ‘sustainability’. When I rst dipped my toe in this world, as a volunteer at Tourism Concern in the early noughties, we called it eco-travel, or green travel. Tourism Concern was brilliant and hard-hitting, a lone voice campaigning for ethical tourism. But it wasn’t exactly… fun. Its campaigns were serious and thought-provoking –more UN motions than yum mojitos – and too many people didn’t care at all.
Editors certainly didn’t. When I rst started writing for newspapers, my personal passion landed on deaf ears. Too niche, they said. Too boring, too worthy. And it was worthy. Eco-travel meant staying in a yurt and making your own yoghurt, all while wearing an awful lot of hemp. It did not mean a stay in a downright sexy hotel. It did not mean fun. I was told again and again that no one wants to be lectured to on holiday. And that’s true. We go on holiday to relax, to leave behind our everyday worries like work and school and impending climatic doom.
A nd then I stayed at the 1 Hotel and you know what it didn’t do? It didn’t lecture. It didn’t ‘teach’. ere was no guilt or deep thinking required. Sustainability was just there, woven into the fabric of the hotel. It was e ortless. at was my lightbulb moment: we don’t need to ram this stu down travellers’ throats. We can incorporate it gently, cleverly – and no need to scrimp on the luxury. So I did. By then I was the travel editor at Tatler magazine, and I’d drop in nuggets about conservation and community impact, while also mentioning celebrity guests and thousand-count sheets.
Now, thank god, we can be bolder. As travellers wake up to the impact we have on holiday – according to Booking.com ’s latest sustainability report, 76 percent of us want to travel more sustainably – we can shout louder about how travel can be a force for good.
It’s everything I could have hoped for back in the dark, serious days of the noughties: travel doing good, and a magazine – like this one – that champions sustainability in all its joy. I’ll be joining the conversation on these pages, and I promise I won’t lecture. So pull up a sunlounger, relax, have an ethical cocktail. It’s just as delicious, and it’s guilt-free. n
Maastricht is an ancient city that wears its history lightly. It owes its origins to the Romans but was also the country’s rst industrial centre. Nowadays, the city, which sits astride the mighty River Maas, o ers the visitor an alluring mix of old and new. It occupies a salient in the south-east of the country and considers itself a place apart: the city’s inhabitants speak a dialect of Dutch and are proud of their separate identity.
Internationally, Maastricht is known for e European Fine Art Foundation (TEFAF) art fair that is held in the city each March. Founded in 1987, it is now a world-class event that attracts 250 international dealers. It’s a mecca for anyone wanting to see or buy the nest art, attracting a host of museum curators and collectors every year. Florus van der Ven, who deals in Chinese antiquities and is the nephew of one of TEFAF’s founders, describes it as, ‘A fair conceived by dealers, for dealers.’ Michael H. Beck, owner of German modern art dealer Beck & Eggeling, gave an eye-catching example of the quality of artefact on o er at TEFAF when he passed around a stunning small Picasso of a humming bird from 1939, worth around €1 million.
For the more casual visitor, Maastricht is a charming, gently paced city accessible via Eurostar from London, ideal for a weekend break.
e historic centre, with its cobbled streets, graceful squares and pretty houses, is a delight to explore on foot. e city’s principal art gallery, the Bonnefanten, located in a striking modern domed building on the banks of the Maas, houses a splendid collection of less well-known but nonetheless interesting Dutch Old Masters, medieval sacred sculpture, some magni cent Dutch silver and varied displays of contemporary art.
e Basilica of St Servatius boasts an elegant cloister and a treasury with a glittering collection of ecclesiastical plates. Also, drop into the spectacularly located bookshop in a desancti ed Dominican church in the city centre. e House for Contemporary Culture stages four exhibitions a year in a beautiful 17th-century town house, typical of Maastricht’s Golden Age.
ere are many excellent hotels in the city centre but for a more peaceful, sylvan setting there is the Château St. Gerlach surrounded by a delightful park on the outskirts of the city. Maastricht is a place of pilgrimage for foodies: Château Neercanne and Au Coin des Enfants, both excellent, are Michelin-starred establishments. Among many other rst-class eateries is the city’s best Lebanese restaurant, Safar.
Richard was a guest of Maastricht Marketing (maastricht-marketing. nl) and TEFAF (tefaf.com) staying at Château St. Gerlach (oostwegelcollection.nl). His return trains had a carbon footprint of approx. 6kg CO2e n
SEE The Sphinx Passage. This tiled tableaux 120m long, connecting the Eiffel building with the Pathé cinema, illustrates the history of Maastricht’s ceramics industry, the foundation of its industrial prosperity and once its biggest employer.
The Mes Amis Wijn restaurant doubles as a wine shop specialising in Dutch wine, which is unknown in Britain but well worth trying. mesamis.nl
LISTEN
The celebrated violinist André Rieu was born in Maastricht and holds concerts with his orchestra every summer in the city’s main square, the Vrijthof, which play to huge audiences. andrerieu.com
DO
The country surrounding Maastricht, the Limburg, is, untypically for Holland, a region of gently rolling, wooded hills, which makes great walking country. visitzuidlimburg.com
Explore the vast limestone Jezuïetenberg caves on the outskirts of the city, which house an eccentric collection of religious art. jezuietenberg.eu
So often it’s surfers who discover littleknown pockets of paradise rst. In the case of NIHI resort in south-west Sumba – an Indonesian island twice the size of Bali but with only about a sixth of its population – it was Claude and Petra Graves in the 1980s who were searching for the perfect wave. What they found was a left-hand point break, now named Occy’s Left (after Australian former surf world champion Mark Occhilupo). ey set up a hostel behind the white-sand beach, which, in 2012, was bought and developed by American businessman Chris Burch and South Africanborn hotelier James McBride into 27 gorgeous villas, now known as NIHI Sumba
Over a decade on, it’s Sumba’s big-draw, A-lister destination (Jennifer Lawrence, Heidi Klum and the Beckhams have all checked-in). Here, salt-licked guests tuck into nasi goreng at feet-in-the-sand Nio Beach Club for lunch, horses cool o in the ocean and the new concept at the Nihioka spa, reached by trekking through rice paddies and traditional villages, is based on wild wellness (including equine retreats and treatments such as the Sumba 7 Detox, developed with pharmacognosist and botanist Dr Simon Jackson).
After a few blissful days here, it’s easy to understand why some guests don’t get out and explore, bar an eye-opening visit to e Sumba Foundation. is has made an immeasurable
di erence to the lives of local villagers, through malaria clinics that have reduced the disease across the island by 75 percent (and in West Sumba by 95 percent), after-school education programmes teaching computing and English, and clean water projects. Yet not to see more of this under-the-radar island is to miss out.
Although more than ve million people visited Bali last year (where a few nights relaxing at Ra es Bali in Jimbaran Bay is a great way to break up the journey), relatively few of them added on the 90-minute ight east to Sumba, which has, until now, escaped much of the tourism spotlight. One of the biggest draws are the beaches. From NIHI Sumba, I head west to Mbawana, where after a scramble over rocks I’m rewarded with a spectacular swathe of sand all to myself. en there’s Mandorak beach, a series of small swimming coves next to Weekuri Lagoon, where children splash about in the
Emma Love explores the incredible Indonesian isle everyone’s talking about
inviting, clear water that whooshes in from the ocean through holes in the rocky cli s.
To understand a little about what makes this island so distinct, I visit traditional Waikaroko village, where bamboo-frame houses have thatched peaked roofs for storing and smoking meat above the central kitchen. As I sip strong, sweet, black co ee, made by a welcoming family, my guide, Jakob, translates tales about last weekend’s chicken race and tells me how income is made through shing, farming and cashew nuts.
e entrance to the village is marked by a circle of graves – vertical blocks of granite hewn from quarries that are a key part of the island’s megalithic culture and indigenous, animist marapu religion (which often goes hand-in-hand with Christianity). Based on ancestral spirits, who are believed to live in symbolic objects such trees and mountains, marapu involves all kinds of sacri cial rites and shamanic ceremonies.
e former include slaughtering animals such as bu alo or pigs to provide ancestors with food and wealth in the afterlife; the latter is typically carried out by the village rato (spiritual leader), who can decipher the fate of a person from the liver of a chicken.
Perhaps the best-known and one of the most important rituals is the pasola, which takes place in West Sumba during February and March to signify the beginning of the rice-planting cycle. Historically, men from two villages charged at each other on horseback carrying spears, with the aim of dismounting their opponents. Blood spilled was said to make the ground fertile and ensure optimum conditions for the rice harvest (today it’s more of a mock battle). Exploring Sumba and learning about practices such as this is key to the programme of activities arranged by Cap Karoso, a design-led hotel that opened last year on an otherwise deserted beach in Kodi, a region in the southwest of the island.
Gorgeous rooms are housed in brutalist-style, low-rise, concrete and limestone buildings that
slope down to the ocean; in contrast, the spa and gym are in peaked thatch houses. e hub of the hotel is the beach club, a chic all-day restaurant and bar, with curved, rattan day beds arranged around the pool and wooden loungers dotted about under palm trees. Artists and chefs in residence (the latter at Julang, the hotel’s communal ne-dining space), as well as visiting DJs, are invited in to encourage creativity and interesting conversations but equally integral to the ethos is Cap Karoso’s connections to the community – especially evidenced through its three-hectare farm which, in the future, will o er courses in organic growing to the region’s farmers, and the artwork and textiles on display throughout the hotel, much of which is made by local artisans. ese include wooden statues by artists from Buku Bani village and, behind the reception desk, huge, hand-woven panels in shimmering shades of terracotta by renowned textiles craftsman Pak Kornelis Ndapakamang who practises the centuries-old art of ikat (the panels were produced in Bali, then he and a team of villagers used natural dyes and did all the weaving by hand). When I meet him at an afternoon workshop, he explains that the complex process has about 50 steps (his customers include Indonesian royalty) and that while abstract patterns are worn in the west, in the east, pictorial representations of animals have di erent meanings: a crocodile for a king or leader, dragon to depict power, lobster for incarnation. It’s another example of how naturerelated beliefs and ancient customs are embedded into the identity of what feels, at times, like an almost otherworldly place.
Scott Dunn o ers four nights at Ra es Bali, four nights at Nihi Sumba and four nights at Cap Karoso from £4,198 pp, incl. return UK ights, domestic ights and transfers. scottdunn.com
Emma’s return ights had a carbon footprint of about 5,070kg of CO2e. ecollectivecarbon.com n
FROM TOP: One of Cap Koroso’s beautiful Sixties-inspired villas; local children playing in the sea; the tradition of pasola, a mounted spear-fighting competition to celebrate the rice-planting season
Quite often in my travelling life, I have pinch-me moments, when beauty overwhelms. And, often travelling solo, those moments are tinged with regret that my family are not there to share them with me. So how wonderful it was last summer to journey with my family – one husband, three children, one daughter-in-law, one boyfriend and two grandchildren, and share the sheer gorgeousness of Villa Fanya together.
Contemporary in design, the earthy-toned, stone, ve-bedroomed house lay low and sleek on the cli ’s edge. A path wound down to the sea, past the in nity pool – there was even a little jetty cut into the rocks where you could sunbathe if you wanted – and the boys in the party took to shing down there. One lunch we had a catch of rainbow wrasse and sea bream grilled on the barbeque, accompanied by freshly made garlicky tzatziki, courtesy of the villa’s housekeeper, Evangelia.
e inking Traveller describe its properties, which dot Italy and Greece, as ‘Places with Soul’. Villa Fanya does indeed have soul, but its beating heart was Evangelia. She arrived with a smile and left us with one on her departure. In between she tackled the washing up from dinner, scrambled eggs for the breakfast, prepared dishes for lunch, made the beds and cleaned. She taught my husband how to make the local dip of yellow split peas, a dish we have brought home with us, and gave me an actual holiday, something I had not had in years. e other thing that did that was the intuitive shopping service of e inking Traveller, a seriously brilliant help, and its introduction to the Ousyra Winery. At a tasting there, owner Edward talked us through the excellent wines and its rosé became our go-to for long, lazy lunches by the pool and dinners under the stars.
We wandered into Syros’s magni cent capital Hermoupolis, where 19th-century merchant palaces in pinks and whites tumble down the hill towards the sea. We learnt about the islands culinary culture from Elisa at Villa Maria whose excellent cooking class included the ubiquitous parsley dip and we eat in the charming garden of the equally charming Aristide Hotel where the aubergine risotto is not to be missed.
And I learnt from our week at Villa Fanya, that villa holidays can, unlike previous experiences, be a holiday. You must just pick the right place. Mary Lussiana
BOOK IT: From £9,554 to £24,747 per week, depending on season. thinkingtraveller.com
Fincadelica has welcomed a new villa to the family in the form of Fincadelica Xarraca, and as expected, it’s stylish, it’s ultra-luxurious, and it has plenty of White Isle allure. With its enviable location that overlooks the shores of Cala Xarraca Bay, set among fragrant pines on the northwest side of Ibiza, this eight-bedroom 3,000 sq/m coastal estate is one of the largest beach-side properties on the island; and not only that, it comes complete with direct beach access, just follow the coastal path and its secret cove. Available for exclusive hire, the property is home to laid-back luxury and fully embraces the indoor-outdoor living ethos, playing to the Mediterranean’s climate and year-round sunshine. A private and secluded spot, Fincadelica Xarraca makes for the perfect glamorous escape – it’s no wonder then, that it’s been loved by the jet set over the years and was even shot by infamous American high society photographer Slim Aarons in the ‘70s, adding to the villas fun, glittering and culturally signi cant heritage. Felicity Carter
BOOK IT: From £60,000 per week in the low season and £102,000 per week in the high season, fully sta ed. ncadelicaibiza.com
Embrace idyllic Greek island life with this luxurious, brand new villa on the Aegean isle of Milos, which is renowned for its spectacular beaches, picturesque villages and excellent food. e showstopping villa – one of only a few ve-star stays on this untouched island – features seven ensuite bedrooms, an in nity pool, plus glorious outside spaces to relax in, including a sunken repit with a circular seating area. Just a stone’s throw away is the crystal clear sea, accessible by a path down to the water from the villa. Here, you’ll nd a cluster of Milos’s colourful painted ‘syrmata’ shermen’s huts, which are unique to the island. A skippered speedboat is available on request, meaning you can make the most of exploring this delightful Greek paradise.
BOOK IT: £POA, vestargreece.com
Enjoy your very own mini Saltburn-style escape in the heart of the stunning hamlet of Temple Guiting in the Cotswolds. Take over the whole estate with its Jinny Blom-designed gardens (sleeping 32 across a range of stunningly appointed accommodation); or, for smaller groups, plump for the divine small medieval manor house – described by Nicholas Pevsner as one of the nest examples of its kind in the country. It sleeps ten, and is the only house in the county to have two built-in dovecotes (now cleverly used as a cinema room and a hot tub room). ere are endless nooks and crannies to explore and the estate is steeped in history; but that doesn’t mean it rests on its ancient laurels. Besides a Wim Hof-style dip in the lake, there are endless activities, from a pool and tennis court, to paddleboarding and rowing; from boules and table tennis to a delightful children’s woodland playground – every amenity has been thought of. And, of course, the rolling golden hills are just outside your back door should they beckon.
BOOK IT: e Manor, from £2,100 per night; the whole estate from £5,450 per night. templeguitingmanor.co.uk
Nestled in its own little cove, Villa Balbina is a blissfully secluded beachfront stay enjoying a private stretch of sandy climes and lapping waves. It’s typically styled for the region, with Moorish-inspired terracotta tones and vaulted ceilings. e sun-splashed roof tiles are a picturesque sight peeking out from the lush surrounding greenery, too. Step inside and the interiors are stylish and chic – polished and contemporary, replete with relaxing breakout spaces and plush sofas. Up to ten guests can enjoy a stay here, swimming the in nity pool, luxuriating in a bubbling jacuzzi or commanding a paddle board from the neighbouring beach. An added bonus for active visitors is a very well-equipped indoor gym boasting free-standing weights and smart equipment. Of course, it goes without saying that there’s a chef service and a team available to hire throughout your stay to look after your every need.
BOOK IT: Villa from £15,682 per week depending on season. cvvillas.com
Joyous by name, joyous by nature, Villa Allegra is tucked away in the hills on the rugged northeast coast of Zakynthos. Despite its rural setting, Allegra is just ten minutes’ drive from the fabled Peligoni Club (where children nd their sea feet on boats, boards and sails) and o ers peaceful seclusion and a magni cent view across the bay of Aghios Nikoloas. But this is no rustic retreat; modern and perfectly appointed, Allegra has everything you need to make a family holiday stress-free. e magni cent in nity pool is large enough for both lengths and lounging. e villa sleeps eight in three spacious bedrooms and can easily accommodate two families. e open-plan living area spills out onto a pergola-covered al fresco dining space, perfect for a sunrise breakfast, if you and yours are earlybirds. Su ce it to say, Allegra is a tting addition to the impressive Peligoni portfolio. Alex McIntosh
BOOK IT: From £2,900 a week. indigo-rock.com
Binicalaf’s honeyed-stones o er perfect respite for travellers seeking pampered luxury on a summer – or anytime –holiday under the sun. e farmhouse, sensitively restored to accommodate up to 16 guests over eight bedrooms, is a short meander from the beach. But you’ll almost be hard pressed to leave this spoiling escape, not least because the villa sits on its own 300 acres of orchard and private land. No shock either, then, that it can feed you straight from the estate’s organic vegetable garden – chef service is one amenity you can add to your stay for homely farmto-fork Menorcan dining. For the perfect day here, start o with a spritely game of badminton or volleyball on the manicured lawns, before heading for a dip in the gated swimming pool. In the evening, retire to the villa for a spot of herbal tea, or lounge on the candle-lit terrace for dinner al fresco. e cherry on top of this already immaculate o er at Villa Binicalaf? A professional masseuse can be arranged to knock straight at your door should your stay not be relaxing enough already…
BOOK IT: From £26,000 a week. redsavannah.com n
Winner Winner
1
Toast the coriander and cumin seeds in a dry frying pan until fragrant, then pour into a pestle and mortar and coarsely grind. Add the chipotle paste and a glug of vegetable oil and mix. Heat the oil in a large saucepan or casserole dish over a medium heat.
2
Add the onions with a pinch of salt and gently fry for 20 minutes, adding more oil if you need to until the onions are really soft and slightly caramelised. Put some time into cooking the onions as this is such an essential part of the dish. e more love you give the onions, the better it will taste. Stir in the garlic and fry for a further 2–3 minutes.
3
Add the chicken and chipotle mixture and continue to fry for a minute before adding the water. Allow to bubble and thicken up for 5 minutes, then turn o the heat. Peel the onion and then use a vegetable peeler to peel the esh from the root end, creating very thin layers of onion (yes, I saw this on Instagram like the rest of us and love it – no need for a scary mandoline!).
4
Serves 4:
– 1⁄2 tsp coriander seeds
– 1⁄2 tsp cumin seeds
– 1 tbsp chipotle paste
– 3 tbsp vegetable oil
– 2 onions, thinly sliced – 2 garlic cloves, grated – 350g leftover roast chicken
– 100 ml water – sea salt
To Serve: – 1 onion – 1⁄4 cabbage, thinly shredded – 4 limes (juice 2) – 8 medium tortillas – a few tbsps of pickled jalapeños – or 2 fresh, sliced
P lace the onions in a bowl with the cabbage, add the lime juice and a pinch of salt, then scrunch everything together with your hands. Warm the tortillas in a hot, dry pan or directly over a gas ame for a few seconds on each side, then stack on a plate. Serve the chicken and cabbage salad with the tortillas and jalapeños, allowing everyone to help themselves.
What’s your food philosophy? You don’t need expensive ingredients to make something delicious. Simple, seasonal ingredients are the main things that make it possible for me to write recipes that are basic but big on avour.
What was the rst dish you learnt to cook? Shortbread. My parents owned a restaurant called Coles for 25 years and I started to make it with my mum – who made all the desserts there – when I was about ten. What’s your favourite in-season ingredient? Leeks. ey are my forever favourite – and they’re so in nite in ways to cook them. Recently I’ve been lightly poaching them, before shredding them and tossing them with a vinaigrette. Sweet soft leeks with a sharp dressing. A perfect side. Your go-to throw-it-together dinner? Scraps pasta. Or my green sauce with pasta or beans [both featured in Make More With Less]. What’s in your fridge right now? Too many jars. Chicken stock, roast chicken. And a lot of herbs. It’s always such a mish mash from testing and photo shoots – that’s the reason I’m so passionate about leftovers. What restaurant should everyone should try before they die?
Contramar in Mexico city (or the French House upstairs in Soho if you can’t get a ticket to Mexico).
Which cookbook do you refer to the most? I live and breathe cookbooks as a food stylist and recipe developer… but ironically I rarely cook from them. But I’d say Ixta Belfrage’s Mezcla was the most delicious book I’ve worked on. She’s amazing at avour.
What’s one amazing way of using up leftovers you’d recommend to our readers? Blitz up old bread and fry in butter with sesame seeds and sugar! Sprinkle over ice-cream and thank me later.
Make More With Less is out 4 April (Hardie Grant, £22) n
Waste not, want not, says Tessa Dunthorne
Food historian Eleanor Barnett’s new book Leftovers tracks the history of pickles and preserves from the Tudors to the modern table. Timely – according to the Business of Waste (who’d know), the UK currently throws away 9.5m tonnes of food waste per year. Perhaps this will inspire some home ferments and reduce your bin’s load? (Apollo, £27.99)
Pigs ears on toast and cuts of cod cheek – sound like a pampered pooch’s dinner? Not so – this is Heston Blumenthal’s answer to the food waste problem. His new mid-week lunch menu – at eponymous restaurant Dinner by etc at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park –repurposes these common waste-cuts of meat to make delicious o -beat bites. ey’re all inspired by historic
recipes, and there’s a serious storytelling element to the dining experience. Not convinced, or worse, still feeling queasy? As one dinner companion slash newspaper editor said to me, ‘If you’ve eaten a fry-up at a greasy spoon, you’ve probably eaten pigs ears already…’ dinnerbyheston.com
Take a look at our recipe page, opposite, to see a tasty solution for leftovers by Kitty Coles – the food stylist’s Instagram is a font of inspiration for minimising waste (@KittyColes) Still craving more? Explore myriad app-based options that reduce leftovers – from Olio (a community sharing platform) to TooGoodToGo (where businesses list food that’d otherwise go o at major discount). Or simply… get ahead and plan your weekly grocery shop better.
Bitesized British Easter eggs
FEAST New World Food Box is a monthly subscription like a cooler, more international Hello Fresh (worldfoodbox.co.uk) SIP Restock your liquor cabinet – Berry Bros. & Rudd is opening its new Spirits Shop at No 1 James Street this April (bbr.com) SING Bam Karaoke Box is coming to London from Paris in April, with a luxury food, drink and live music offering. It will be Europe’s largest karaoke venue (bam-karaokebox.com).
PRODIGY Salted caramel vegan eggs, carton of six, £9.49. prodigysnacks.com CHOCOLATIER ANEESH POPAT Speckled hazelnut praline quail eggs, £15.95. the-chocolatier.co.uk DAYLESFORD ORGANIC Card egg filled with praline eggs, £25. daylesford.com
Crafted at Scotland’s Oldest Working Distillery since 1763 by hand & heart in exclusive small batches, The Glenturret Single Malt is defined by its outstanding quality and exquisite taste.
Located in the ‘Hosh’, Crieff, surrounded by beautiful Perthshire countryside, The Glenturret offers daily distillery tours, whisky flights at the Lalique Bar, a retail store including the only Lalique Boutique in Scotland, and The Glenturret Lalique Restaurant, the distillery’s Two Michelin Star unique dining experience.
Nice, Alpes Maritimes, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur
Seven bedroom, seven bathrooms, approx. 600 sq/m, €7.95m
Sell it to us in a sentence... A sensitively renovated historic property that couples Provençal charm with access to the playground that is the French Riviera.
How would you describe its design? Originally a stone mill, the property was the subject of a thorough renovation to create open entertaining spaces that are complemented by enviable outdoor areas.
What’s unique about it? The attention to detail in its renovation is remarkable, with each of the seven bedrooms being impressively themed with its own charm and character.
What is its history? It is rumoured that Grace Kelly, the Princess of Monaco, visited the property on several occasions.
Best room in the house? The living room is sensational: it is complete with beamed ceilings, large windows through – from which you can enjoy pretty views – plus a vast wrought iron wheel which separates the room from the kitchen.
Perks of the location? Nestled in the hills of the Riviera, one enjoys the serendipity of the foothills of the Alps with the ease of access to the ‘action’ of the Côte d’Azur. You can get to Nice International Airport, Monaco, and the beaches of the Riviera with ease.
The current owner says… ‘The most perfect locations for houses were discovered and built on a very long time ago. When we bought this place 18 years ago, we had the benefit of all the effort and imagination that countless generations had already poured into the place, making it very special. So, we knew we had something amazing even before we started to modernise and restore it.’
knightfrank.com; +44 (0)7810 789373
Martha Davies picks original designs
Whether you’re dining in the sprawling kitchen, lounging on the sheltered terrace or taking a dip in the swimming pool, this striking home provides spectacular sea views. It’s a coastal masterpiece. knightfrank.co.uk
Oil Nut Bay, British Virgin Islands, $27.5m
e jewel in the crown of this cli side home is its magni cent green roof – but the breathtaking residence is also complete with an in nity pool and a waterfall. oilnutbay.com
Los Monteros, Marbella, €11.75m
is remarkable villa doesn’t just look the part; it’s also bursting with jaw-dropping features including marble oors, a pool and a Jacuzzi. hamptons-international.com
Designed by the award-winning Smith and Newton Architects, this former Victorian warehouse boasts a triple-height reception area, a bespoke kitchen and amenities including a gym, bar, games room and spa. knightfrank.co.uk; savills.co.uk; hamptons-international.com
Bowdon, Manchester, OIEO £3m
is unique subterranean property is kitted out with a car lift, bar and DJ booth, plus three bedroom suites and gorgeous landscaped gardens. It’s one of a kind. jackson-stops.co.uk
Aldeburgh: 7 miles, Woodbridge: 8 miles, Ipswich: 14 miles (London Liverpool Street Station 60 minutes)
Grade I listed mansion with 7 main reception rooms | Conservatory | 12 Main bedrooms | 5 Dressing rooms | 19 Attic rooms | Kitchens
Domestic o ces and cellars | Formal gardens | Parkland and frontage to the River Alde | In-hand arable land | River meadows and woodland
Let arable farm with farmhouse and buildings | Lodge Cottage and 6 additional cottages
About 1,763 acres (713 ha) in total | For sale as a whole or in its constituent parts
Further cottages available by separate negotiation
Tim Fagan
Eastern Estates & Farm Agency | 01473 220 449 tim.fagan@struttandparker.com
Liza Howden
National Estates & Farm Agency | 020 7591 2214 liza.howden@struttandparker.com
Mark McAndrew
National Estates & Farm Agency | 020 7318 5171 mark.mcandrew@struttandparker.com
When wealthy Americans talk about buying a house in the British countryside, they really mean buying in the Cotswolds. To them, London means a townhouse o Westbourne Grove and rural life means a honey-hued Cotswolds barn conversion – with milk and eggs from Daylesford Organic, tweed from Jade Holland Cooper and outdoor furniture from Burford Garden Centre. ey truly believe that the grass is greener in the Cotswolds, con rms Ben Bentley of the Country House Department, who sold several houses to American buyers in the Cotswolds last summer. ‘ e Cotswolds oozes history and Britishness – it’s the epitome of life in the Shires and has thus become a brand they want to buy into,’ he explains.
Bentley understands why Americans wouldn’t want to buy anywhere else. He has lived in the Cotswolds for 15 years and says he still gets blown away by how perfect it is with its movie-set manor houses, sheepcovered hillsides and proximity to Bath. is is where King Charles III retreats from London and where Princes William and Harry partied as teenagers. It’s archetypal Jilly Cooper country with hunt balls and polo clubs and farm shops, yet dotted with glam members’ clubs (see p120 for more on where the cool crowd hang out in the Cotswolds).
And while the richest Americans aren’t interested in daily commuting, it’s only an hour or so back to Paddington from Kemble or Kingham when work calls. ‘Similar to the relationship between New York and the Hamptons, the Cotswolds is an easy hop on the train or along the M40 from their London residence, and there they nd stunning countryside and picturesque villages, along with members’ clubs, great pubs and restaurants, and everything to do at the weekend,’ says Harry Gladwin partner at e Buying Solution. A third of his clients are from the States.
e American conquest of the Cotswolds began in about 2012 when Amanda Brooks, a former fashion director at Barneys New York, took a
year-long sabbatical on her husband’s Oxfordshire farm and decided to stay forever. She opened a clothing and antiques shop, Cutter Brooks, in Stow-on-the-Wold in 2018, which is considered a rural tastemaker by the fashion set. Hot on her tail, the chef Andrew D’Ambrosi, from Brooklyn, and his wife, Jesse, an interior designer from Boston, opened D’Ambrosi Fine Foods in a neighbouring street, a gourmet food shop and delicatessen where fellow Americans can stock up on local hams, cheeses and takeaway kale caesar salads and empanadas, as well as Hershey’s chocolate and Cheetos. Rumour has it that American luxury lifestyle brand, RH, which opened its British agship at a 17th century stately home overlooking Cherwell Valley in the Cotswolds last year, is opening a concept Cotswolds guesthouse. ‘ e area is such a mecca for Americans that Chipping Norton may as well be Chipping Noho,’ Gladwin says, while Bentley says he regularly hears American voices on the streets of Broadway, one of the most beautiful villages in the area. e Cotswolds golden triangle, according to Gemma Maclaren of Middleton Advisors, is between Kingham, Broadwell and the Oddingtons, where property prices raced up by about 30 percent last year, while villages such as Great Tew and Sandford St Martin, which are close to Soho Farmhouse, are super-prime performers. With Britain now looking positively cheap for dollar-based buyers and the American political landscape divisive, property nders in the Cotswolds worry there will be many more Americans than houses for sale this spring. Before lockdown, buyers from the States tended to want second homes, Gladwin says – a lock-up-and-leave bolthole for weekends and holidays – but since the pandemic they’ve started moving permanently to the area with their families. ‘ e Oxford schools such as the Dragon and St Edwards are a real draw, as is Cheltenham Ladies’ College and country prep schools such as Beaudesert Park,’ Gladwin says.
Joanie Salomon is an artist, originally from New York, who moved from Kensington to the Cotswolds last year with her husband, a nancier, and their two children. She says the Cotswolds reminds her of the Berkshires in New England more than the Hamptons – it’s creative, inspiring and welcoming – and much more so than London, she insists. rough her children’s schools and the local village, she’s befriended both American and British families and can now see herself staying permanently in Britain rather than returning to the States. ‘ e issue is nding somewhere to live; we’re in a rental house and are having to cast our net wider in terms of our property search. Everyone we know is using a buying agent and there just aren’t enough properties to go around,’ she says.
Buyers such as the Salomons tend to start their search in the north Cotswolds, around Kingham, according to Lindsay Cuthill, co-founder of Blue Book Agency, but nd that if they look to the south there is more stock available and the prices are slightly lower. ‘ e south used to be seen as the “Birkenstock of e Cotswolds” – quite cool for some but certainly not for everyone – but we’re seeing a huge uplift in people moving rurally around Cirencester,’ he says. Coveted southern villages include Ampney Crucis, Coates and Ready Token, he says, which have fast commuting links into London from Kemble or Swindon.
e advent of chichi farm shops such as the Jolly Nice and the news that e Pig will be opening at Barnsley House suggests the area is gearing up for its glossy new inhabitants. ‘One of our most notable homes last year sold to American buyers who really understood the magic of the area and we rmly feel this trend is set to continue,’ Cuthill says.
Unsurprisingly, British feathers have been ru ed. e Americans are pricing them out of the market – an unblighted old rectory with a swimming pool, tennis court
and secondary accommodation now costs more than £6m in the trendiest part of the Cotswolds near Kingham, Gladwin says, and around £3.5m in the south – chicken feed for American buyers who have budgets of up to £30m but out of the question for a British family hoping to trade in their house in Clapham. Interestingly, though, Americans aren’t as obsessed about rectories as we are: given a choice, they’d prefer to buy a cluster of old barns and convert them into an all-singing modern home with separate guest annexes. ‘ e traditional rundown rectory is out and a big barn conversion with padel court and natural swimming pool is in,’ Gladwin says. Ponies are out, too, jokes Salomon, who secretly hoped her two daughters would get into riding. ‘ ey’re trying to persuade us to get swans instead,’ she says. ‘I suppose I should be pleased that there’s no mucking out.’ n
PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES; CHELTENHAM LADIES © HESTER MARRIOTT; © GETTY / DAVID KNIBBS; © GETTY / JENIFOTO
FROM TOP: Sheep graze in front of Chipping Campden church; private schools such as Cheltenham Ladies’ College are a big draw for wealthy Americans
Broadway, £3.5m
A perfect Cotswolds family house beside a Norman church, substantially renovated with elegant reception rooms and seven bedrooms. The gardens are by renowned landscape designer Dan Pearson and there is also a wildlife lake. thecountryhousedepartment.com
Ready Token, £5m
Ready Token House dates back to the 17th century and has undergone extensive renovation by renowned architects Yiangou. There are immaculate reception rooms, five bedrooms, an indoor swimming pool and gym plus manicured gardens and wildflower meadows. knightfrank.com
Badminton, £12.5m
Michael Hayman imagines a more creative future for the UK’s education system
t was the former US President Ronald Reagan who nailed the zeitgeist of his time when he said that, ‘ e most feared words in the English language are, “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”’
Now though, we need the Government to move centre stage – at least as far as education is concerned. You only need to look at the startling pace of technological change and growth of arti cial intelligence, which provides the tantalising prospect of so much for so many. But to reap the rewards, we need to think through how we prepare for what lies ahead. Let’s be in no doubt. We have a strong education system; it’s just one that is t for the last century, not this one.
e traditional benchmarks of the ‘3 Rs’ – reading, writing, and arithmetic – are not the skillsets that a digital future cries out for. Instead, we need to look at the ‘3 Cs’: curiosity,
creativity and critical thinking.
Whereas STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) stimulates a curiosity in how we understand the workings of things, it will be our creative application that will make all the di erence in how we nish up using them.
According to the World Economic Forum: ‘By one popular estimate, 65 percent of children entering primary school today will ultimately end up working in completely new job types that don’t yet exist.’
But neither does the education system that will produce the talent to ll those jobs. I have been working with the investment bank Goldman Sachs and its 10,000 Small Businesses initiative on a campaign called Generation Growth.
In its Small Business Manifesto, it points out that only 12 percent of small businesses believe the education system is equipping people for the future of work.
Of this, the programme lead, Charlotte Keenan, says: ‘If we develop a focus on enterprise education in schools, there is a huge opportunity to act for the long term. Small businesses need a pipeline of talent who are equipped for the jobs of the future.’
We have been here before. e Victorians were a society that faced massive community and social changes due to the shift from an agrarian to an industrial society.
While we might think of names like Faraday and Brunel as being emblematic of that change, take a look in your own neighbourhoods to see the real legacy: schools. Nineteenthcentury society built an unparalleled number of schools and universities to prepare society for the change ahead and how to prosper from it.
For our society today, we need a new legacy in education. And in this election year, we need our political establishment to not get out of the way but to do what it takes to make it happen. n
VISIT Refik Anadol’s exhibition at The Serpentine exploring the aesthetics of data and machine intelligence (serpentinegalleries.org). READ How I won a Nobel Prize by Julius Taranto, a novel about an island that harbours cancelled artists and academics (Picador, £16.99). WATCH The Creator, from the director of Star Wars: Rogue One, a thought-provoking look at the relationship between man and machine (disneyplus.com).
