wealden-times-wt207-may-2019-extensions-outdoor-living-supplement-inside

EXTENSIONS & OUTDOOR LIVING SUPPLEMENT inside

Inspirational Interiors • Fabulous Fashion • Delicious Dishes

PRICELESS

MAY 2019

Designed to stand the test of time

The difference is in the detail

Please call for a brochure or visit our showrooms

Unit 9, Chart Farm, Seal Chart

Sevenoaks, Kent TN15 0ES

Tel: 01732 762682

81 Calverley Road

Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN1 2UY

Tel: 01892 520730

www.rencraft.co.uk

01580 291221 jminteriorsuk.uk

Please call to arrange an appointment at our Biddenden showroom

MINTERIORS

JFine hand crafted kitchens and bespoke furniture

DANISH DESIGN SINCE 1952 | BOCONCEPT.COM

BOCONCEPT CANTERBURY . 4-5 ORANGE STREET . CANTERBURY . CT1 2JA

01227 455585 CANTERBURY@BOCONCEPT.CO.UK

O U

FROM DENMARK.TO YOUR DOOR

SPRING FURNITURE

COLLECTION AT

BOCONCEPT CANTERBURY

NOW

It’s Spring and time to refresh your home. Explore our Spring

furniture collection today and get expert advice on all your

interior challenges with our FREE interior design service.

Why not join our Free Interiors Club. BoConcept Canterbury

members enjoy complimentary Interior Design talks and

workshops, plus invitations to preview exclusive sale offers,

new products and much more.

Contact canterbury@boconcept.co.uk for more details.

Finance options available in store.

Home gyms are on the rise, with more and more people choosing to forego

costly gym memberships in favour of their very own workout space. Whether

that be a converted garage or a spare room, investing in some quality home

fitness equipment takes the hassle out of enjoying a healthier lifestyle. No

waiting for equipment, no travel times and no opening hours to work around.

It’s no wonder it’s becoming such a popular option.

As the UK’s No.1 fitness equipment retailer, Fitness Superstore’s 11 showrooms

house an unrivalled product range covering all types of fitness equipment to suit

all budgets. Everything from treadmills, cross trainers and exercise bikes, to the

full strength-training spectrum including multi-gyms, power cages and weights.

With exclusivity on several products and brands, you’ll find equipment you can’t

buy anywhere else in the UK.

Offering a premium service from start to finish, Fitness Superstore pride

themselves on providing an unbeatable shopping experience. Every customer

is greeted in-store by the expert and fully trained staff members, who strive to

ascertain your goals and requirements before helping you to select the right

equipment that supports you and your training. Want to give a product a test-run

before you part with your well-earned money? No problem - all the products on

display are available to try before you buy, so you know in confidence that you are

making the best choice for you. And if you’re not sure how to best maximise the

space you’re working with, their free gym planner can design it for you!

With stores situated in London, Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, Norwich,

Surrey, Chelmsford, Gloucester, Northampton, and right here in Kent, Fitness

Superstore is the most accessible fitness retailer in the UK. Stop by their

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• Exclusive in-store deals

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4 In-Store Demonstration 4 Buy Now - Pay Later 4 Expert Advice 4 Free Delivery 4 Never Beaten on Price

Call 01892 883747 or email tunbridge@fitness-superstore.co.uk

*T’s & C’s apply, see website for more details. Code expires June 2nd 2019. Prices may vary, see website for current prices.

LUXURY NEW HOMES

IN THE HEART OF KENT

RESERVING NOW. All have exemplary specifications and huge gardens. Discover the Jarvis Homes Difference.

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50 %

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sales@jarvishomes.com

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4 & 5 bed homes £699,000 - £769,000

Marketing Suite open

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Email: sales@jarvishomes.com Call: 01233 421050 Visit: www.jarvisnewhomes.co.uk

JarvisNewHomesWT207.indd 1 17/04/2019 14:52

5 High Street, Cranbrook, Kent TN17 3EB

01580 715144

Email: kld@kingsfords.net www.kingsfords-solicitors.com

We offer an excellent, swift and friendly service.

Conveyancing - Wills & Estates - Commercial Law -

Matrimonial Law - Prenuptial Agreements - Litigation -

Employment Law - Family Law - French Property

Conveyancing Services from £550.00+VAT

Wills from £215.00+VAT / Mirror Wills from £295.00+VAT

Lasting Power Of Attorney (LPA's) from £250.00+VAT

(Initial fixed-fee appointments also available at our Cranbrook offices)

Litigation Solicitor from £200.00+VAT

Matrimonial Solicitor from £150.00+VAT

We will always try and match any quotation

Kingsfords Solicitors Limited registered office address 2 Elwick Road, Ashford, Kent TN23 1PD

Regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority 621466

wealdentimes.co.uk

KingsfordSolicitorsWT186.indd 1 24/07/2017 16:55

Contents

May 2019

HOUSE OF THE MONTH

Maggie Alderson tracks down the

best properties on the market

108

SWEET SORBET

Bright and light spring

fashion styled by Kate Watts

132

122

BORDER BASICS

Jo Arnell talks us through how

to creatue a beautiful border

NOTEBOOK

News and events to

inspire this May

115

PURE & SIMPLE

Josephine Fairley’s eco-friendly

alternatives to make-up wipes

137

REDUCE REUSE RECYCLE

We talk to schools about their efforts

to teach environmental values

101

103

PATTERN REPEAT

Take a tour of the luxe and lovely

Hamilton Lodge, Margate

GET THE LOOK

A shopping list inspired

by Hamilton Lodge

COSY COOL

Amy Maynard’s hygge-tastic twobedroom

love shack

GET THE LOOK

A guide to stealing some style

inspiration from Amy Maynard

CURATIVE CONTENT

We source art pieces that make

beautiful interior features

119

120

122

127

129

SKIN DEEP

Eminé Rushton’s final entry

in her year of wellness

focuses on natural make-up

NATURAL WISDOM

Health and wellbeing advice

HOT OFF THE

VEG PATCH

Simple recipies to showcase

locally-sourced ingredients

FOOD FOR FRIENDS

A recipe from Hush Heath

Hospitality’s Executive Chef

EUPHORBIA EUPHORIA

Sue Whigham celebrates a muchadmired

garden favourite

Published by Priceless Media Ltd. Kettle Chambers, 21 Stone Street,

Cranbrook, Kent TN17 3HF | Call 01580 714705 | Email info@wealdentimes.co.uk

the advertisers & contributors are not necessarily those of Priceless Media Ltd.

143

144

149

150

BRAIN WAVES

Hilary Wilce says we need to

work with mobile phones

WHAT’S ON

Events to keep you busy this May

COMPETITION

Win a seven-night boating holiday

FABLES FROM THE FARM

Jane Howard’s update

from Coopers Farm

EXTENSIONS

& OUTDOOR

LIVING

SUPPLEMENT

26 pages of interior

and exterior ideas

After page 106

Extensions &

Outdoor Living

A Wealden Times Supplement

Su plement_Logos.in d 41 18/04/

Sponsored by

TIMBERTECH

SOUTHERN LTD

WINCHELSEA Guide Price £875,000

An eco-friendly 2011 built detached house

comprising 3 Double Bedrooms, 2 Bathrooms

with an additional Studio annexe above the large

Double Garage providing versatile accommodation

in excess of 3,294 sq ft. This stunning property

benefits from a quiet country lane location on the

edge of Winchelsea with far reaching views, and

boasts a double height Entrance hall, Living room,

Hand crafted Kitchen / Dining Room, Snug / Study,

Utility room, ground floor WC, plenty of off street

parking and an attached small paddock. The whole

property comprises around 0.7 acres. EPC: C

CAMBER Guide Price £1,150,000

A fully restored detached Victorian home

comprising 5 Double Bedrooms, 3 Bathrooms

with an additional 3 Bedrooms, 2 Bathrooms

self-contained attached annexe. This character

property also benefits from a stunning Kitchen

/ Dining room with bi-fold doors to the garden,

Larder / Store room, family Snug / Play room,

Living room with wood burner as well as a private

west facing garden with large timber shed. This

charming property enjoys an enviable position at

the top of a private road while being 200 m from

the dunes of Camber Sands. Main house: EPC: D

Annexe: EPC: E

PEASMARSH Guide Price £465,000

A former listed character detached 4 Bedrooms, 2

Bathrooms period cottage with scope for updating,

set in a quiet position in the heart of Peasmarsh

village. This charming property provides versatile

accommodation that comprises a large triple

aspect Living room with wood burner, Sitting room

/ Snug, Dining room, Kitchen / Breakfast room and

south facing Conservatory. The property benefits

from a detached garage and workshop with an

enviable south facing rear garden backing onto

open fields with rural views. EPC: E

UDIMORE Guide Price £449,950

A fine detached 2 Bedroom, 2 Bathroom

cottage set within mature gardens on the edge

of Udimore village. This delightful property

enjoys a large open plan Living room / Dining

room, Study / Bedroom 3, south facing

Conservatory, Kitchen/Breakfast room,

Ground floor Cloakroom/WC, Utility room

and an attached Garage. The south facing

garden enjoys far reaching southerly views

overlooking orchards and the surrounding

countryside as well as benefitting from off

street parking for several vehicles. EPC: E

Iden Guide Price £465,000

A modern well-presented, 3 Double

Bedrooms, 2 Bathrooms, detached family

house set in a quiet location within the heart

of the village of Iden. Built in 2011 this part

brick, part composite weatherboard clad

property provides a south facing Living

room with feature fireplace, large Kitchen /

Dining room, Study / Play room, ground floor

Cloakroom /WC and a private south facing

garden with parking for several cars. EPC: D

PEASMARSH Guide Price £435,000

An exceptionally well-presented, 3 Bedroom,

1 Bathroom, detached family house with

contemporary and traditional features

including a bespoke handmade Kitchen /

Dining Room with AGA, large double aspect

Living Room with wood burner, a ground

floor Cloakroom /WC, Study, all set back

from the road in a central village location

with parking for 4 cars and a private rear

garden. EPC: E

Thinking of Moving - Now is the Time!

Call the Anderson Hacking Team to discuss your search requirements

or to arrange a Free Marketing Appraisal to get you moving.

www.andersonhacking.com 55 Cinque Ports Street, Rye TN31 7AN Rye 01797 224852 | London (Park Lane) 020 76294141

Kent & Sussex

kentsussex@humberts.com

01580 230281

humberts.com

MOVING YOU SINCE 1842

60% Sold STC

A fantastic collection of 1 and 2

bedroom apartments in Sevenoaks....

exceptionally high spec, easy walking

distance to town and the station,

allocated parking spaces, some even

with outside terraces ... what more

could you ask for!!

Only 3 Plots remaining call us

now for more information and to

Tenterden SOLD £1,500,000 Knockholt FOR SALE £1,750,000 Halstead FOR SALE £500,000

An opportunity to acquire a detached family home in need of

updating, with a separate one bedroom annexe, sitting in its

own parkland of circa 52 acres, with wonderful countryside

views. EPC rating E

A spacious 6 bedroom family home finished to an extremely high

standard with impressive accommodation over 4 floors. The house

sits in 1.5 acres of landscaped gardens with panoramic woodland

views and a 3 car detached garage EPC rating C

A beautiful attached Grade II Listed cottage believed to date

back to the 18th Century with three bedrooms, courtyard

garden, Great British Kitchens’ kitchen and recently

renovated bathroom. EPC exempt

Denton FOR SALE £775,000 Horsmonden SOLD £417,500 Otford FOR SALE £375,000

A 4 bedroom country home set in a glorious location with

far reaching views, adjoining the village of Denton & close

to Broome Park Golf Club. HSR services from Canterbury &

Folkestone are also easily accessible. EPC rating F.

A brand new 1 bedroom family home over 1,300sq.ft. with

contemporary open-plan living finished to an exceptionally high

specification on an exclusive gated developement. EPC rating D

NO FORWARD CHAIN. A well-presented 2 bedroom

period house, located in a quiet position in the heart of

Otford village, with excellent access to the village shops,

pubs, recreation ground, station & schools. EPC rating C

William Bankes,

Regional Manager,

Kent and Sussex,

07810715892

Stuart Hutchinson,

Assistant Regional

Manager,

Chichester,

07395790035

Martin Jordan,

Assistant Regional

Manager,

Canterbury,

07796338345

Emma Tighe,

Property Consultant,

Tenterden,

07395790033

Matthew Jolin,

Property Consultant

Chichester,

07976276428

Glynn Amos,

Property Consultant,

Sevenoaks,

07734555545

Lizzie Jordan,

Property Consultant,

Canterbury,

07891654996

Leila Himm,

Base Camp Team,

01732741212

Tracey Jackson,

Base Camp Team,

01732741212

SALES / LETTINGS / MANAGEMENT

VISIT US AT HUNTERS.COM

HERE TO GET you THERE

TENTERDEN £675,000

A deceptively spacious detached home that has been extended by the current

owners to create a fantastic living space with bi-folding doors and perfectly

situated within easy access to Homewood School and the high street. EPC D

GREATSTONE £560,000

Character home with four bedrooms, three en-suites and panoramic sea views.

Currently being run as a successful bed and breakfast, the White Horses Cottage

was previously part of a Sussex Farmhouse with period features. EPC E

HIGH HALDEN £825,000

A stunning seven bedroom unlisted country house with 4718 sq f.t of

accommodation, a wealth of period features, four reception rooms, three en

suites, well tended private gardens and sweeping gravel drive. EPC E

HIGH HALDEN PRICES FROM £350,000

Three bedroom homes set in lovely countryside. You can RESERVE this plot with

ONLY 5% DEPOSIT using Help to Buy scheme. Spacious kitchen/breakfast room.

Luxury bathroom and en suite. Driveway or allocated parking.

50% RESERVED

HEADCORN PRICED £795,000 - £980,000

NEW 5 BEDROOM SHOW HOME OPEN WEEKENDS BETWEEN 10am-4pm

Nestled within the beautiful countryside village of Headcorn, Weavers Park offers an exceptional range of 4 & 5 bedroom luxury homes.

The charming village offers an abundance of local amenities and primary school. Weavers Park is just a

short drive from the M20 and Headcorn station with regular trains into London.

HERE TO GET you THERE

MEET YOUR LOCAL Tenterden Team!

Over 150 independently owned branches across the UK. Jake, Andrew & Laura

TENTERDEN

HYTHE

01580 763 278

ASHFORD

01233 613 613

email: weaverspark@hunters.com and 03301 200 750

01303 261 557

FOLKESTONE

01303 210 335

Over 200 independently owned branches across the UK.

‘Our Focus Determines Your Reality’

HARPERS AND HURLINGHAM

STAPLEHURST OIEO £1,795,000

ATTRACTIVE VICTORIAN COUNTRY

HOUSE Six reception rooms · Conservatory · Kitchen/

family and breakfast room · Utility and boot room ·

Six bedrooms (two ensuite) · Approximately 4 acres ·

Garaging · EPC: D

Cranbrook School Catchment Area

LINTON £1,295,000

STUNNING GRADE II LISTED COUNTRY

HOME Entrance hall · Three receptions · Kitchen/

breakfast room · Utility room · Boot Room · Six

bedrooms (one ensuite) · Attractive well-kept gardens ·

Summerhouse · Workshop · Garaging · EPC: n/a

Far reaching countryside views

WADHURST OIEO £1,250,000

DELIGHTFUL TWIN ROUNDEL OAST

Three reception rooms · Entrance hall Kitchen/

breakfast room · Utility room · Four bedrooms (one

ensuite) · Family bathroom · Grounds approximately 2.5

acres · Garage with studio · EPC: n/a

Stunning rural location

BENENDEN £ 1,200,000

SUBSTANTIAL DETACHED FAMILY HOME

WITH VIEWS Two reception rooms · Conservatory

· Kitchen/breakfast room with larder · Utility room ·

Cloakroom · Five bedrooms (one ensuite) · Delightful

enclosed garden · Garaging · EPC: F

Cranbrook School Catchment Area

Sales & Lettings Team

Harpers&Hurlingham

The Cornerhouse, Stone Street, Cranbrook

01580 715400

www.harpersandhurlingham.com

LONDON OFFICE: KENSINGTON 020 7938 2311

Jane Emilie Chez Cathy Sara Debbie Clare Debbie S Caroline Dianne Caroline J

MAXIMISE THE VALUE

OF YOUR LAND

Have you got a large

garden or plot of land?

We are experts at working

with owners to maximise

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Industry leading experts

We take care of the planning permission!

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What our clients say…

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department helped achieve a fantastic

result for us. We would have no

hesitation in recommending them to

anyone who wants to achieve planning".

Amanda and Robert Petch

June 2016

"The cost involved to try and

get planning on our land

were just not feasible for us.

Working with Country House

meant we didn’t have to risk

our money as they took care

of everything"

Mr C Partridge (Loose, Kent)

September 2016

For a free appraisal call 0843 557 4080

www.maximisemyland.co.uk

sales@countryhousehomes.co.uk

“Guy and team at CHH did a fantastic

job securing planning permission on

our rear garden plot. Although a fairly

problematic application (which took

over 18 months), they kept us informed

throughout the entire process.

I would certainly use them again”

David J (Oxted, Surrey)

January 2017

We build the places

you’re proud to call home

Godwin Park

Phase 3

Worthing, BN13

Prices

starting from

£92,750 *

2 bedroom house based on a

35% share of the full market value

£265,000

Prices correct at time of press.

Eligibility criteria may apply

New two and three bedroom

homes in a stunning coastal

setting available for Shared

Ownership.

Godwin Park is situated in the beautiful seaside town Worthing.

With a choice of two or three bedroom homes through shared

ownership, it is the ideal place to make a home.

• Wealth of amenities in Worthing including cafes, restaurants,

over 400 shops, a theatre, a cinema and a vibrant pier

• Local amenities right on the doorstep for everyday needs

• A number of high quality schools nearby

• Bright and airy homes with contemporary interiors and

dedicated parking spaces.

All enquiries

020 7378 5638

shared.ownership@myclarionhousing.com

myclarionhousing.com/sharedownership

WEALD

PROPERTY

01580 242700

2 Windmill Oast, Windmill Farm, Rolvenden, Kent TN17 4PF

WOODCHURCH

£995,000

*£500 paid

towards

conveyancing by

Weald Property*

Handsome and

beautifully

appointed, four

bedroom

detached family

home set in a

pretty, rural

location with

separate one/two

bedroom barn

PLUCKLEY

£850,000

*£500 paid

towards

conveyancing by

Weald Property*

Stylish, recently

built five/six

bedroom,

detached family

home located on

the outskirts of this

sought-after

village

ROLVENDEN

LAYNE

OIEO

£850,000

Enchanting

detached five

bedroom Grade II

Listed former

farmhouse

situated in

enviable position

with pretty views,

charming garden

and one bedroom

annexe, making an

ideal holiday let

PLUCKLEY

OIEO

£825,000

Impressive five

bedroom

detached family

home, situated in a

semi-rural

residential area on

the outskirts of the

sought-after

village of Pluckley

with lovely garden

and superb

transport links

SANDHURST

£700,000

A beautifully

converted

two bedroom

detached granary

with a separate

adjacent

one bedroom

annexe, set in an

idyllic rural setting

on the outskirts of

this popular

village.

Cranbrook School

Catchment Area.

BOUGHTON

MONCHELSEA

OIEO

£650,000

An inviting,

beautifully

appointed four

bedroom attached

barn conversion,

sitting in a quiet

and idyllic village

location with

pretty gardens and

delightful views

LYDD,

nr. Ashford

OIEO

£575,000

Exceptional five

bedroom Grade II

Listed Georgian

family home with

magnificent

reception rooms, a

charming kitchen /

breakfast room

leading to a pretty,

walled garden

affording lovely

village views

ROLVENDEN

£325,000

An attractive

two/three

bedroom, period

weather boarded

semi-detached

cottage located in

the heart of this

charming village

with courtyard

garden and onstreet

parking

wealdproperty.net

Looking for the perfect family home?

Average price paid for a 5 bedroom detached house in Tunbridge Wells - £1.3m

The Paddock (20 minutes from Tunbridge Wells) a 5 bedroom detached home priced at £1.15m

The Paddock, Market Place,

Goudhurst, Kent TN17 1HA

A private gated 5 bedroom detached

home with a stunning open plan kitchen/

breakfast/family room with bi-fold

doors leading onto the idyllic garden.

Show Home Open

Thursday - Monday 10 am - 4 pm

Book your appointment today

Space to grow

• Good sized rear garden plus private meadow land to explore

• Impressive master suite, plus 4 further bedrooms

• Separate study/home office

Peace of mind

• Energy efficient and low maintenance

• 10 year NHBC warranty

• Gated driveway and gated development

Catchment area

• Cranbrook School – 6 miles

• Benenden School – 8.7 miles

• The Skinner’s School – 10 miles

Lifestyle choice

• Surrounded by countryside

• Close to local shops and amenities

• Easy reach of Tunbridge Wells & the coast

Other new developments in Westerham, Borough Green, Orpington, Boughton Monchelsea & Greenhithe

fernham-homes.co.uk

01580 211073 market.place@fernham-homes.co.uk

Celebrating 15 years of

sporting partnerships

Partners

for life

We look after your wealth so you

can nurture your passions.

Call us to learn how we can help

build the future you want to see:

020 7600 1660

www.jmfinn.com

JM Finn are proud to

be supporting grass

roots cricket in Kent.

info@jmfinn.com

www.jmfinn.com

The value of investments and the income from

them can go down as well as up and investors

may not get back the amount originally invested.

JM Finn and JM Finn & Co are trading names of J.M. Finn & Co. Ltd which is registered in England with number 05772581. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

OPEN

DAY

Join us at the new Emerson Park

Retirement Village and Care Home

in Hextable, Kent.

OPEN DAY Saturday 18th May (10am - 4pm)

Come along to the Open Day at our new luxury

retirement village in Hextable. We believe Emerson

Park is unlike anything else around - luxury

retirement apartments with a range of high class

facilities along with an exclusive care home.

Retirement Apartments

1 & 2-bed options with a superior specification in beautiful

surroundings and part of a thriving community.

Emerson Grange Care Home

A unique care home offering Residential, Dementia,

Nursing and Respite Care. Our Care Suites are ideal for

couples or for those who want greater independence.

Call now for information about our

incentives packages on 01322 515417

SHOW SUITE OPEN Monday to Friday 10am – 4pm

Emerson Park, Rowhill Road, Hextable, Kent BR8 7FP

Web: www.cinnamoncc.com/emersonpark

Residential Sales

#TheGardenOfEngland

Estate Agents

Woodchurch

Guide £1,295,000

Grade II listed Georgian farmhouse, 2 bed barn

annexe, tennis court, paddocks, outbuildings

fishing lake. In all just under 9 acres. EPC NA

North Downs

Guide £1,350,000

Grade II listed 4 bed farmhouse, swimming

pool, detached 2 bed cottage, 3 bay garage /

workshop with room above, tractor shed and

farmland. Up to 40 acres available. EPC NA

Langley

From £475,000

Selection of 2, 3 and 4 bedroom apartments

in this impressive Grade II listed manor house,

twelve acres of communal gardens. EPC NA

Woodchurch

Guide £750,000

Converted Kentish oast house, outbuildings, cart

barn/machinery store, workshop, studio, with

gardens and pond. EPC Rating C

Woodchurch

Guide £875,000

Pretty Grade II listed cottage, character features,

delightful gardens, large barn, paddock.

In all about 5 acres. EPC NA

Wittersham

Guide £815,000

Detached 5 bed family home, private drive, just

under 4 acres. Useful outbuildings, an area of

woodland, gardens and paddocks. EPC Rating F

Hobbs Parker Estate Agents www.hobbsparker.co.uk

Ashford 01233 506260 Tenterden 01580 766766

01580 766766

Sandway, Kent

Elegant country house set in enchanting gardens & grounds, detached 2 bedroom Georgian cottage and various outbuildings, 3 reception rooms,

4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, spring fed lake, native woodland and field, about 13.24 acres, EPC=E and F

Guide £1.65 million | Freehold

Duncan Petrie

Savills Cranbrook

01580 720161

dpetrie@savills.com

savills.co.uk | Follow us on

Leanne Gammon

Savills Cranbrook

01580 720161

lgammon@savills.com

what can we do for you?

Oast owners

SavillsWT207.indd 1 24/04/2019 09:48

We are the UK’s leading

restorer and repairer of

traditional, distinctive oast

cowls & kiln roofs.

New cowl construction.

Painting & cleaning. Repair &

maintenance. Also specialising

in Kent peg tile roof repairs

and kiln tile repairs.

Trusted over four family

generations by royalty,

businesses &

homeowners alike.

est

Book a no-obligation visit

01622 725 898 / 07973 332 790

www.dudeandarnette.co.uk

wealdentimes.co.uk

Dude&ArnetteWT207.indd 1 24/04/2019 14:30

CHURCH VIEW | TENTERDEN

STUNNING

NEW HOMES

Award-winning 3, 4 and 5 bed family homes

surrounded by beautiful green open spaces and

excellent local amenities just 400 metres from

Tenterden’s boutique High Street. Church View

offers an enviable lifestyle that features the very

best of town and country living.

PRICES START FROM £440,000

THE WEALD

FOUR / FIVE BEDROOM SEMI-DETACHED

THE WEALD SHOW HOME NOW OPEN

OPEN DAILY 10AM - 5PM

Great Incentives Available | Help to Buy Available

Visit dandara.com

or call 01580 854076 for full details

Church View Sales & Marketing Suite, Recreation Ground Road, Tenterden, TN30 6RA

discover

Specification may vary subject to house type and build stage. Full details available on request. Price and details correct at time of going to print. Computer Generated Images shown are indicative only.

Residential | Nursing | Dementia | Short Stay | Permanent Care

Residential Nursing Dementia Short Stay Permanent Care

Residential | Nursing | Dementia | Short Stay | Permanent Care

CARE

for idyllic living?

LUXURY

CARE

HOME

RATED

‘GOOD’

‘GOOD’ RATED BY

‘GOOD’ CQC

CQC BY

CQC

Parris Lawn is a new luxury care home

in Ringmer overlooking the beautiful

open countryside of the South Downs,

offering the highest level of residential,

nursing and dementia care.

The home has a luxurious and individual style, all

The home has luxurious and individual style, all

The elegantly home furnished. has a luxurious There and are dining individual and style, restaurant

elegantly furnished. There are dining and restaurant all

elegantly areas plus furnished. a cinema There room, are Wi-Fi dining and hairdressing and restaurant salon

areas plus cinema room, Wi-Fi and hairdressing salon

areas for residents plus a cinema and visitors room, to Wi-Fi enjoy.

for residents and visitors to enjoy. and hairdressing salon

for residents and visitors to enjoy.

Relax in our landscaped grounds or enjoy a coffee and

Relax in our landscaped grounds or enjoy coffee and

Relax cake in

cake in in our

our beautiful

beautiful landscaped bistro.

bistro. grounds or enjoy a coffee and

cake in our beautiful bistro.

Ask about our inclusive care packages.

Ask

Freephone

about our inclusive care packages.

Freephone

0808 223 5401

www.caringhomes.org/parris-lawn

Parris Lawn, 39 Harvard Road, Ringmer, Lewes,

Parris East Sussex,

East Sussex, Lawn, 39 BN8

BN8 Harvard 5HH

5HH Road, Ringmer, Lewes,

East Sussex, BN8 5HH

House

Month

of the

£4,000,000

What’s cooking?

Maggie Alderson finds homes with lovely kitchen living spaces

Barelands Farm

The dream: This is the full High

Weald AONB dream in a glorious

Grade II Listed beamy farmhouse and

barn fun centre, with a games room,

cinema, sauna, steam shower and

kitchenette. There is a very appealing

long low row of outbuildings

adjacent to the house, which houses a

sustainable biomass system that heats

the house and barn and the water

throughout, including the outdoor

pool. It sits on 162 acres, 50 of them

woodland, in glorious countryside,

close to the village of Bells Yew Green,

where (confusingly) Frant railway

station is located with its excellent

service to London.

Where: Just a mile from the village,

with pretty Frant under two miles and

Tunbridge Wells handy in under five.

Setting: Pastoral countryside and its

own bluebell woodlands.

Beds: 8 Baths: 4

Special features: A lovely big Aga

kitchen which extends out to a fullyglazed

oak-framed breakfast room.

Pleasing details: There is an

established small shoot on the property

and carp and trout fishing in the lakes

at the southern boundary.

Outside: Pretty gardens, a kitchen

garden, the pool behind the barn with

a wonderful wisteria growing up it. An

outdoor entertaining terrace.

Time to town: Under an hour on the

Charing Cross/Cannon Street line.

Agent: BTF bftpartnership.co.uk

wealdentimes.co.uk

£1,000,000

Rock Channel Quay

The dream: One of five newly-built

luxury townhouses in a peaceful spot just

out of the centre of the beautiful historic

town of Rye. The houses are cedar clad

in a contemporary style that’s in keeping

with the maritime heritage of the town.

The whole first floor is a social kitchen

and living area with a balcony looking

over the river and the space has been

cleverly used with a chic modern kitchen

and incorporated storage.

Where: Beautiful Rye.

Setting: Waterside living on the banks of

the River Rother.

Beds: 3 Baths: 2

Special features: Floor to ceiling sliding

glass doors in the living area and also

in the master bedroom.

Pleasing details: Parking for two cars,

including an integrated car port.

Outside: The river and the town.

Time to town: About 90 minutes, via

Ashford International on the high

speed train.

Agent: Phillips & Stubbs 01797 227338

phillipsandstubbs.co.uk

£995,000

Hope Mill House

The dream: A Grade II Listed early

16th century former water mill on the

River Teise, with the original wheel still

in situ. The house has been lovingly

restored, retaining original features,

including a glory of beams, but has

great scope for sensitive updating.

Where: The much sought-after village

of Goudhurst.

Setting: On the outskirts of the

village, close to the public entrance to

Finchcocks House.

Beds: 5 Baths: 2

Special features: A large triple-aspect

kitchen/day room.

Pleasing details: There’s an annexe that

with a little imagination could easily be

put to all kinds of fun purposes.

Outside: Half-an-acre of grounds, with

lawn, established shrubs, mature trees

and beautiful borders.

Time to town: An hour from Marden,

ten minutes away.

Agent: Radford Estates

radfordsestates.co.uk

29 wealdentimes.co.uk

Cosmetic & Plastic Surgery

Cosmetic Plastic Surgery

WOMEN’S HEALTH MATTERS

WOMEN’S WOMEN’S HEALTH MATTERS MATTERS

Introducing a New Women’s Health Clinic

Introducing a a New Women’s Health Clinic Clinic

Bella Vou is pleased to announce their Women’s Health Clinic,

Bella nestled Vou in is the pleased heart to of announce Royal Tunbridge their Women’s Wells and Health led by Dr Clinic, Gail Ball,

nestled a GP with Bella

in the over Vou

heart 20 is years’ of

pleased

Royal experience Tunbridge

to announce and Wells expertise. and

their

led

Women’s

by Dr Gail Ball,

a GP with Health over 20 years’ Clinic, experience nestled in and the expertise. heart of Royal

Dr Gail Tunbridge Ball BBS, MRCGP, Wells DRCOG and led specialises by Dr Gail in women’s Ball, a health GP

treatments

Gail Ball with such

BBS, over as:

MRCGP, 20 years’ DRCOG experience specialises and in women’s expertise. health

treatments such as:

· vulval and vaginal symptoms

· sexual Dr health Gail screening Ball BBS, MRCGP, DRCOG specialises

vulval

prolapse

and vaginal women’s symptoms health treatments such as:

sexual

urinary

health

incontinence

screening

· · prolapse cervical smear screening

· · urinary menstrual incontinence issues

• Vulval and vaginal symptoms

· · cervical the menopause smear screening • Prolapse

· · menstrual contraception issues • Urinary incontinence

· the menopause • Sexual health screening

· At contraception Bella Vou we understand • Cervical the smear complexities screening of women’s health and

are dedicated to providing individually tailored testing, treatment and

• Menstrual issues

At advice Bella for Vou women we understand of all ages, the in a complexities discreet, friendly of women’s and supportive health and

are environment. • The menopause

dedicated to providing individually tailored testing, treatment and

advice for women of all ages, • Contraception

in a discreet, friendly and supportive

environment.

For more information on our Women’s Health programmes

and Well-Woman At Bella Vou Screening we understand the complexities of

For

call:

01892

information

257357 or email:

on our

hello@bellavou.co.uk

women’s health and are Women’s dedicated Health to programmes providing

www.bellavou.co.uk

and Well-Woman individually Screening tailored testing, treatment and

call: 01892 advice 257357 for or women email: hello@bellavou.co.uk

of all ages, in a discreet,

www.bellavou.co.uk

friendly and supported environment.

For more information on our Women’s Health

programmes and Well-Women Screening call:

01892 257357 or email: hello@bellavou.co.uk

www.bellavou.co.uk

CO2RE Intima treatment has changed my

life and given me more confidence. Going

exercising is no longer a worry and my

partner and I are enjoying the benefits too.

- Naomi, 36

Scan this code to

hear Naomi’s story

Nearly 1 in 5 women suffer from bladder

problems. You don’t need to be one of them

Call us on 01892 257357 for a free

consultation www.bellavou.co.uk

Before you consider any procedure you should consult with

a physician to check your medical suitability. The above

information is only brief overview and typical of most

patients’ experiences. Errors and omissions excepted.

wealdentimes.co.uk

BellaVouLimitedWT207A.indd 1 23/04/2019 BellaVouLimitedWT207B.indd 12:18

1 23/04/2019 12:23

www.jonesbritain.co.uk

info@jonesbritain.co.uk 01435 866435

Upper High Street, Heathfield, East Sussex, TN21 8NB

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE

Fitness Superstore’s Daniel Crawford answers your burning questions about

designing your own personal home gym...

Why choose to exercise at home rather than

The cost of a gym membership adds up over time

and we often don’t get the full benefi t of what

we’re paying for. When you train at home, you can

choose key pieces to suit your budget, needs and

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With no queues for equipment, no travel times and

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What are the advantages of shopping

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We pride ourselves on offering an unbeatable

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How can I find the right fitness

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Come in and browse our selection by yourself,

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Can you help with the design and

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Yes, if you’re not sure how best to maximise

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Can you try the machines and

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What post-purchase support do you offer?

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And if you ever experience any issues with

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why not give us a call without obligation and in confidence.

WE ARE ALWAYS ON THE LOOKOUT FOR LAND AND PROPERTY WITH DEVELOPMENT POTENTIAL

Many of our clients retain our services and, in the majority of

cases, pay our fees saving property owners significant costs.

Commercial buildings for residential conversion, former public houses, redundant

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Contact Stephen Donnelly on

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website: sjd-projects.com

email: steve@sjd-projects.com

For regular updates, visit us at

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ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE

Kitchen Creations

We Speak to Mr & Mrs Prentis From Tunbridge Wells about their New Kitchen from Schmidt

What prompted you to redesign your kitchen?

We wanted to renovate our downstairs entirely,

transforming a small galley kitchen into a large open

plan kitchen-diner space, whilst creating a cosy front

room space for the family to enjoy together.

How did you first hear about Schmidt?

We had been in town looking at holidays and saw

the lovely Schmidt showroom opposite. We decided

to have a look because we loved the display at the

front of the store and met James (designer).

What did you think of the showroom?

Amazing, for a large showroom it was bright,

friendly and welcoming. It was very well laid out

with a lot of different ideas on show for you to

choose from. It had all types of style, and different

types of units and options for bins, drawers etc.

So it was easy to pick bits that we liked from each

display and put them into our design.

Did you find you kept to your original idea of a

kitchen or was it a journey of change?

Journey of change for sure, the actual layout of the

kitchen was changing all the time, at one point

we had a bathroom going in to the same space!

However, we found that, apart from choosing

between a couple of shades, the colours stayed the

same.

How did you choose your colours?

We were prompted by the display when we walked

in, we always like the wood style and this was the

first display you saw as you walked in. We knew

we didn’t want a modern look with glossy doors,

but we’ve managed to create a modern kitchen that

feels homely and warm through the wood.

Throughout the design process was it easy to

visualise the finished product?

It was very easy, actually easier than we had

thought, from the computer renders and descriptions

from our designer. It helped with our visualisation of

space and seeing the walkways and how we would

walk around the island.

How has the way you use your kitchen changed?

It has gone from a small galley kitchen to an entire

family space. We can prepare food whilst talking

to people, watching TV together, or helping prepare

food. Everything is accessible and easy to use,

which means everyone is now more willing to get

involved in the cooking as a family. We also have

much more room for things so I now have space for

a food processor and cooking books which I didn’t

before.

How did you choose the appliances, with the vast

range on offer?

We were influenced by a great open day that

Schmidt held after we had done the initial design

stage. They had a Siemens demonstration, which

allowed us to see how easy it was to use and the

food that came out afterwards.

How did you find the installation of the kitchen?

The fitter was excellent to have in the house for a

long duration, great at getting on with us and other

workmen that were working with us. If we had any

queries they were answered straight away or found

out quickly. If any hiccups occurred, they were quick

to be resolved without fuss.

What do you like best about your new kitchen?

I love the under-sink cupboards that go around the

sink, which fits everything relevant to the sink with

the bins directly below which are compact. The

big pull out drawer with all the washing stuff in one

cupboard, pull-out larder drawers, spice rack, tall

unit for iron board which we never had space for.

Just so much to choose from but everything is all

hidden away.

How was your experience with Schmidt? Would

you recommend Schmidt?

100% recommend, great experience from the

start with our designer, which meant we did not

end up looking anywhere else for our kitchen. The

process to get a design completed was clear from

the start and easy to follow. Financially we were

able achieve the budget we had in mind, but

our designer gave us options to upgrade or save

money where necessary so it was all our choice.

Most importantly our designer was patient with the

changes we made, and took time to understand

them and show us our ideas.

20-24 Grosvenor Rd, Tunbridge Wells TN1 2AP 01892 547132

Tunbridge-wells.home-design.schmidt

14-18 London Rd, Sevenoaks TN13 1AJ 01732 755555

Sevenoaks.home-design.schmidt

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Celebrity Divorces

News of a celebrity divorce can become viral within seconds, but how much truth is there behind

those eye-catching headlines? Let’s look at a few examples:

“The Quickie Divorce”

In 2018, it was reported that Jamie and

Louise Redknapp’s 19-year marriage

was ended in 25 seconds. This led many

to question why their own divorce was

taking months, if not years. Whilst it

is true that 25 seconds is the time it

took a Judge to read out the couple’s

names and pronounce Decree Nisi,

this simply confirms the couple’s right

to divorce and they remain married

until Decree Absolute, which is at

least six weeks and a day later.

However, for many couples, it is

the other issues associated with

divorce such as finances and the

arrangements for children which

significantly lengthen the time frame.

Even celebrity couples can and do

endure months of lengthy negotiations

and, for some, acrimonious court

proceedings, but this unsensational

reality does not sell papers.

“Conscious Uncoupling”

Although the best example of this was

some time ago when Chris Martin

and Gwyneth Paltrow separated,

the concept has not lost its appeal,

as for those navigating the hugely

emotional and often damaging world

of divorce, the idea of separating

in a peaceful and loving way is

understandably very appealing.

I would urge these couples to

consider Collaborative Law, which,

whilst not always the path to a loving

divorce, is a constructive and solicitor

supported approach to deal with

divorce and the associated issues.

“Bifurcated Judgement”

One of the more buzzworthy statements

to come out of the Angelina Jolie and

Brad Pitt divorce, this allows them to

achieve legally recognised single status

whilst they continue to negotiate the

finances and arrangements for the

children. This option is not available

within the UK, but if, for whatever

reason, a couple felt that the time

was not yet right to divorce, it is

possible to legally separate and settle

arrangements, although not all financial

orders are available outside a divorce.

So, the message to any readers is don’t

be taken in by sensationalist headlines,

look behind the façade and take advice

from a sensible divorce lawyer to get

factual information on your options

so that you can make an informed

decision about what is right for you.

If you would like further advice we

offer a free 30-minute meeting.

Please contact our team secretary

Khaila Reid on T: 01892 502 335 or

E: KReid@bussmurton.co.uk

and quote ‘Wealden Times’

Please get in touch with our Family team who will be happy to help.

Melanie den Brinker Margaret Evans Lora Grogan Amanda Jardine-Viner

Julie Taylor

Kristy Underwood

www.bussmurton.co.uk T: 01892 510 222

TUNBRIDGE WELLS | CRANBROOK | EAST GRINSTEAD | DARTFORD

Buss Murton Law LLP is a Limited Liability Partnership No. OC345994 and is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

Come and meet

our experts.

Come and meet our experts at our free Cosmetic

and Orthopaedic Hospital Events.

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BREAST IMPLANTS

Thinking about breast augmentation surgery?

Would you like further information on the latest implant technology including Ergonomy and microchip design

and hybrid breast augmentation incorporating fat transfer?

Want to know the latest minimal scar techniques?

Want to know more about having implants replaced?

Mr Paul Banwell, Consultant Plastic Surgeon will be covering these topics during a presentation followed by

individual mini consultations where you can talk to him in privacy about your breast surgery questions.

Wednesday 15th May from 7pm

HIP SURGERY ADVICE

Are you considering hip surgery?

Come and meet our expert to discuss.

Mr Senthil Velayudham, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon is having an open evening consisting of

individual mini consultations where you can talk to him in privacy about your hip surgery questions.

Thursday 23rd May from 6pm

Places are complimentary but limited, to book your place call 01892 552932 , email

tu_custenq@nuffieldhealth.com or visit nuffieldhealth.com/book

Nuffield Health Tunbridge Wells Hospital

Kingswood Road, Tunbridge Wells, TN2 4UL

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Notebook

What to do and see near you this month

Save the children

This year marks Save the Children’s

centenary and 15 years of Peppa Pig, so

naturally the charity’s Muddy Puddle

Walk is back and aiming to raise funds

to make sure that children in the world’s

toughest places get food and medicine

if they’re hungry or sick, are protected

from danger and get the chance to learn.

The walk is a great chance to teach

children about the value of charity in a

way that also allows them to get outside

and just be messy joyful kids. Plus it’s a

fantastic excuse for adults and kids alike

to come together for a good cause and

give in to that childish temptation to

jump around in some muddy puddles.

Everyone who takes part in a Muddy

Puddle Walk will get a free Peppa sticker

and a certificate to say a big ‘Well

Done!’ from Save the Children, Peppa

and all her friends. Plus, if your Muddy

Puddle Walkers raise more than £150

you could receive one of hundreds

of fantastic Peppa Pig rewards.

It all kicks off (quite literally)

on Monday 13 May

and runs to Sunday 19

May for a week of fun

fundraising, but if you’re

busy that week you can

suits you and there

are even activities

you can join in with

indoors if you can’t go

outside, so everyone

can get involved!

savethechildren.org.uk

Retail Therapy

Get ready for summer at the

Boutique & Artisan Shopping Fair

at East Sussex National Hotel,

Uckfield, on Friday 10 May.

There’s something for everyone

with a unique collection of 60

boutique owners and small

businesses selling gorgeous

clothing, accessories, food

and drink, homeware, gifts

and beauty products. See

the advert on page 144 for

details, discounted entry and

a chance to win £50 to spend.

countrylifestylefairs.co.uk

Dream venue

Battel Hall (one of our featured

properties in last month’s issue) has

officially been awarded the title of

‘Best New Venue’ at this year’s UK

Wedding Awards. The beautifully

restored 14th century country house is

well worth a look for anyone planning

a wedding, and is also available for

holidays. battelhall.leeds-castle.com

41 wealdentimes.co.uk

News

Ahoy matey!

Calling all young buccaneers!

Get ready for a Pirate filled

May half term at The Historic

Dockyard Chatham. The

Pirates are back! From

Saturday 25 May to Sunday

2 June, join in with some

swashbuckling fun with

storytelling, craft activities and

more. Plus, an exhibition from

the V&A museum of childhood

will bring even more Pirate

fun in A Pirate’s Life For Me.

You’re bound to learn a new

Pirate trick or two to join the

ranks! thedockyard.co.uk

Financial spring clean

Burfields House Wealth Management is holding another seminar on Wednesday

15 May, at the Spa Hotel, Tunbridge Wells. Promising the knowledge to

develop a successful financial strategy, the event is also the ideal opportunity

to meet advisers in person and find out what the latest financial management

developments mean to you and your family. Email Susan.Cole@sjpp.co.uk

or call 01580 211211, to register attendance. burfieldshousewm.co.uk

Affordable

luxuries

A new development of 14

three to five bedroom luxury

family homes in Headcorn,

Kent is now ready to move

in to. Chantry Meadows

are really something special

with no hidden costs and

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Looking forward: June

Pop over to Curious House in Stonegate, East Sussex

next month to get the creative juices flowing with

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creative teacher. On Thursday 13 June take some

time for creative journalling with Yvonne Fernando,

try painting in the garden with Jane McCall on

Thursday 20 June or learn floral design from Nicky

Gaffney on Friday 21 June. curioushouse.net

wealdentimes.co.uk

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Editor’s

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UP TO 30% OFF ACROSS THE STORE

After savouring the luxury of an Easter lunch outside,

bathed in sunshine, I have everything crossed for a

summer filled with many more opportunities for dining

al fresco. It’s with this in mind that we have compiled our

Extensions & Outdoor Living Supplement, featuring a blend of

beautifully designed kitchen extensions, bi-fold doors to connect

dining areas with outside space and patio inspiration, with a

couple of simple-to-prepare recipes thrown in for good measure.

Venturing inside, Maggie Alderson visits a patternrich

property in Westgate-on-Sea and discovers

journalist Amy Maynard’s renovated outbuilding

that she’s styled to emulate spacious loft living.

Out in the garden, Sue Whigham picks her favourites from

the vast range of euphorbia available and Jo Arnell takes her

borders back to basics to create the ultimate floral displays.

Elsewhere, Fashion Editor Kate Watts visits the

beautiful Medicine Garden to style sunshine shades, Jo

Arnell cooks up fresh garden produce and, in the last of

her monthly wellbeing roundup, Eminé Rushton chats

makeup, microblading and natural healthcare.

Enjoy your Wealden Times!

Wealden Times Team

Editor ............................................................................................ Lucy Fleming

Editorial Assistant ........................................................................Rebecca Cuffe

Digital Editor ...................................................................................Emily Pavey

Fashion Editor ................................................................................... Kate Watts

Design .........................................................................................Powerful Pierre

Design Director ..........................................................................Anthony Boxall

Design Team .................................................................................... Freya Bruce

Ryan Huggins

Tanya Goldsmith

Executive Chairman ...................................................................... Julie Simpson

Managing Director .............................................................. Vivien Cotterill-Lee

Sales Manager ................................................................................... Jen Shearer

Media Sales.................................................................................Sarah Norwood

Cinnamon Lacey

Distribution ....................................................................................... Kate Watts

Wealden Times Events Team

Sales Account Manager ...................................................................... Joy Adams

Jude Brown

Show Director ................................................................................. Flo Simpson

Events Assistant .....................................................................................Ed Steele

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LenleysWT207.indd 1 02/04/2019 11:08

19 May 2019, 11am-3pm

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51 wealdentimes.co.uk

SouthernAdhesivesWT207.indd 1 23/04/2019 12:35

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wealdentimes.co.uk

Pattern Repeat

Just along the coast from Margate, with views

out over Westgate-on-Sea’s sandy seafront,

Hamilton Lodge was chosen by its current

owners as the perfect foil to the bustle of

London, making it the ideal weekend retreat

Words: Maggie Alderson Photographs: David Merewether Styling: Holly Levett

53 wealdentimes.co.uk

Preserving your place in history

For a brochure or home consultation call 01797 366895

www.anthony-hicks.co.uk

Previous page: In the sitting room, one wall is papered in Cole & Son ‘Narina’ Above: The dining table is from Sweet Pea and

Willow and dining chairs from Twenty10. The mid-century sideboard is from Crystal Palace Antiques

Everything you’ve ever read about Margate’s

charming mix of tacky seaside attractions – the

quaintly faded Georgian old town and striking

new Turner Contemporary Gallery, all energised by the

influx of hipster East London emigrés – can be taken

in the moment your car wheels hit the seafront.

What is less well known is that just three miles east,

along the top of the protruding thumb of land that is

the Isle of Thanet, is an altogether different townscape,

in the charming neighbourhood of Westgate-on-Sea.

Officially a separate town, it adjoins Margate without

a break and feels more like a genteel neighbourhood in

the same burg. But in stark contrast to Margate’s bold

and bright 1920s funfair Dreamland, which you really

can’t miss on the main drag, Westgate’s cultural icon is

the beautiful Carlton Cinema. Built in 1910, it’s still

showing films – £3.50 all week, £4.50 for Lounge seats.

With the quaint Frederick’s café serving tea in

flowery china cups at the front of the building, you

expect to look out of the window into the small buzzy

high street and see a Suffragette strolling past.

Just three minutes’ walk from here, towards the sweeping

sands of St Mildred’s beach, brings you to the rugged stone

frontage of Hamilton Lodge, a substantial Victorian house,

in the Scots baronial style, built around 1875. And while

it’s impressive enough from the outside, once you step

through the front door, your eyes pop open in surprise.

Not just at a glimpse through the lilac-painted

55 wealdentimes.co.uk

“I lived next to artist Marijke Hoekstra when I was a student. I loved her work,

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ThomasHaywood

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Sarah Haywood : 01892 765013

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57 wealdentimes.co.uk

ThomasHaywoodSolicitorsWT175.indd 1 11/08/2016 14:56

Above: A leather chesterfield armchair and a club chair contrast pleasingly with a bold and bright modern abstract painting by

Marijke Hoekstra on the wall above them

vestibule of the wonderful flamingo wallpaper and striking

mother-of-pearl waterfall chandelier in the guest loo, but

at the extraordinary proportions of the main hall. The

ceilings are a good 14 feet high, so there is ample room to

accommodate the two ornate gilded chandeliers, which in

keeping with the playful grandeur of the house are joyously

mismatched – one twining ivy, the other wheat sheaves.

The same light-handed approach to decorating a house

that could be overbearing if furnished too much in keeping

with its period, is seen in the combination of the kind of

traditional furniture you would expect to see in such a

residence – a chesterfield armchair and a club chair, both

in nicely worn chestnut leather – with a bold and bright

modern abstract painting on the wall above them.

It is one of many displayed throughout Hamilton Lodge

by the Dutch painter Marijke Hoekstra – which gives a clue

about the owners of the house. One of them – the one giving

me the tour – is Dutch. The other one, her husband, is

American, but beyond that they would prefer to be known

just as the Owners. I think I’ll take a leaf from one of

Dr Seuss’s books and call them Owner One and Owner Two.

The Owners bought the house after a search for a

second home for very specific reasons and requiring very

specific features. “The Dutch are used to space,” Owner

One tells me, as we sit at the large dining table, off the

kitchen. “London can be claustrophobic, so with two kids

and two dogs we wanted space, clean air and water.

“We looked at other seaside towns within easy reach

of London, but they had pebble beaches. Ramsgate, just

down the coast has a lovely beach, but it drops away

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“We wanted space, high ceilings – and working fireplaces were a must. It had

to be close to the beach and have a sea view from at least one bedroom.”

61 wealdentimes.co.uk

Above: The sitting room’s fitted bookcases are painted a striking teal blue, with a sleek cocktail chair and

ottoman from Made.com in the same colour velvet. A painting by Marijke Hoekstra hangs over the fireplace

steeply to deep water which isn’t that safe for

kids. Margate itself gets very busy in summer

and we have enough of crowds in London.

“Then one of our kids came on a school trip to St

Mildred’s Bay – the beach which is just a couple of

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With the location location location decided

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a sea view from at least one bedroom.”

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UrbanGrowPodWT207.indd 1 23/04/2019 10:30

Left: Flamingo wallpaper and a striking

mother-of-pearl waterfall chandelier are a

memorable addition to the guest loo

came along, ticking all those boxes – and already having

a large modern kitchen extension built at the back.

So the house is pure Victorian from the front and

decidedly 21st century from the rear, with a wall of

glass onto the garden and a space large enough for

a huge dining table, plus a sofa and king-size TV,

furnished with a mix of modern and mid-century

vintage pieces, set off against a wall of bold wallpaper.

But while that was the ideal set up for modern family

life, Owner One explained how it needed some tweaks to

optimise the visual impact. “We widened the gap between

the kitchen and the family/dining area so now you can

see right out to the garden from the front of the house.”

They also put in a smart new grey and orange

kitchen, with a cool area of exposed brick and

with, what Owner One explained to me is Dutch

pragmatism, two large fridges and two dishwashers.

“As well as using the house as our family weekender and

holiday home, we also let it out – and it can sleep 15, plus

dogs and babies. When you’ve got 15 people you need a lot of

food storage and you don’t want plates all over the kitchen.”

Stepping from the extension back into the original

65 wealdentimes.co.uk

Above: A guest bedroom features a padded and buttoned pink velvet headboard

against a wall of deco wallpaper, which gives it a bit of a Biba air

house, the first room you come to – the sitting room –

continues the sophisticated feel, with feature bookcases

painted a striking teal (or possibly Air Force blue…)

with a sleek cocktail chair and ottoman from Made.

com in the same colour velvet. Another painting

by Marijke Hoekstra hangs over the fireplace.

“I lived next to her when I was a student,” says Owner

One. “I loved her work, but I couldn’t afford to buy

one, so when I inherited some money from my parents

I thought it would be a lovely way to spend it.”

We walk back through the bright yellow hall – “This

is a chill out zone” – and into the library where there

are two particularly striking high-backed wooden

armchairs, next to the Kelly-green tiled fireplace, which

came from the home of Owner One’s late parents.

On the wall – next to a bookcase full of children’s books

– is a display of Arthur Rackham’s iconic illustrations

from Owner Two’s childhood, the rows of simple frames

all lined up perfectly. “We had a professional picture

framer hang all the pictures in the whole house for

£500. We never could have put all these up straight.”

Upstairs, another family heirloom is the statement piece

in the really extraordinary Master Bedroom. The room

is truly huge – the perfect proportions for the splendid

17th century armoire that came from her parents’ house.

So right does it look in the room: “When my brother

visited and he saw it in here, he said ‘It’s home now…’”

And is that where the beautiful four-poster frame bed

wealdentimes.co.uk

L O N D O N

Oxshott . 1 High Street . KT22 0JN . 01372 841730

Tunbridge Wells . 79 Calverley Road . TN1 2UY . 01892 548111

0333 011 3333 |

This page: The huge master bedroom

is home to a splendid 17th century

armoire. The four-poster frame bed

was tracked down on eBay

that goes so perfectly with it came

from? No. That was from eBay…

The next bedroom on the same

floor – also the size of the average

London one-bedder – has a more

20th century glamour feel, painted

the most gorgeous pink with a

padded and buttoned pink velvet

headboard against a wall of rather

deco wallpaper, which gives it a bit

of a Biba air. Adding to the slightly

theatrical feel of this room, on top

of each of the built-in cupboards

(original to the house), is a white

globe lamp from IKEA. It’s a great

lighting effect. Adding a warm

touch is a lovely roll-top desk,

that is another family heirloom.

Next to this bedroom is

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This page: At the top and the front of the house

is a large, light and airy bedroom, with bold stripe

wallpaper on the sloping eaves. The dressing

table was found in a London junk shop

a striking black and white tiled bathroom and then

along the corridor is another bedroom, with the mix

of sources which is becoming a theme of the house.

The wooden bed was inherited, as was the chest of

drawers, and the bedside lamps are from Tesco.

Going up again, we pass a beautiful American blue

and white antique patchwork quilt which belonged

to Owner Two’s mother, hanging on the wall – where

you can admire every tiny precise stitch as you pass.

On the top floor, there is the kids’ room with

a jaunty blue and white marine theme, with two

singles, a trundle and a sofa bed, providing enough

accommodation to sleep five – no doubt, very

excited – children. It’s very easy to imagine the

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Above left: A beautiful petrol-blue bathroom has opposing counter-top basins Above right: The sixth bedroom is referred to as the

‘French Room’, with a 1960s Louis Fooey chest of drawers and pretty, patterned wallpaper

high jinks that go on in that room at bedtime…

Next to that, at the top and the front of the house, is

another large, light and airy bedroom, with wonderfully

bold stripe wallpaper on the sloping eaves opposite the

bed. This is the – formally required – bedroom from

which you can see the sea and the one Owner One

and Owner Two use when they are in residence.

The very adorable pale blue and white 1960s

dressing table was a £35 London junk shop find – the

town is famous for it. The very stylish recycled wood

wardrobe and bedside tables are by Loaf.com and the

blue and white lamps on the tables by Pooky.

Back down one half-landing is the sixth bedroom

– the rambling plan makes it feels like there are far

more – which they call the French Room. More sweetly

girly it has pretty wallpaper, a 1960s Louis Fooey

chest of drawers and an iron bed (Gumtree again).

At the end of the corridor is the final bathroom – which

is possibly my favourite room in the whole house. Painted

a gorgeous petrol blue it has two groovy sit-atop basins on

marble stands opposite each other – which is so much more

appealing than spitting out toothpaste side by side, which

73 wealdentimes.co.uk

SALE

The Tenterden Store is relocating to bigger premises so

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Hand knotted C18th Tabriz

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Hand woven Bessarabian

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Hand Knotted Saree Silk

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Hand knotted Khotan Design

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Hand knotted Mahal Sickle

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Hand knotted Jute Berber

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Many Hand Knotted Gaznis

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Visit us in Tenterden to discover a huge range of hand-made rugs and kelims in all styles,

traditional and modern and all sizes including over-size.

Above: In this bedroom, a cool scheme of perfect whites and rich blues alludes to the house’s coastal location

I’ve always thought must be rather a passion killer…

Adding to the luxurious, boutique hotel-feel the

floor is slate tiled, with heating underneath and

there is a huge walk-in shower, in what is almost

a separate room. The finishing touch is toiletries

with Hamilton Lodge printed on them, ready for

rental guests coming that weekend. A reminder

that while it really is the most perfect family retreat

– ticking all those space, beach proximity and

original features boxes and full of very personal

things – those very details are what also make

it the perfect large-group holiday getaway.

Address Book:

Hamilton Lodge can be booked through

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Pooky pooky.com

Sweetpea & Willow sweetpeaandwillow.com

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CONCEPTS Contemporary Dining Furniture

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Shower screens/cubicles

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Mirrors inc. antique

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Get the

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painting £450 Abstract House abstracthouse.com 3 Oval nickel chandelier £1,094 Sweetpea

& Willow sweetpeaandwillow.com 4 Tessella wallpaper £91/roll Farrow & Ball farrow-ball.com

5 Small gilded palmate mirror £1,760 Joseph McCarthy josephmccarthy.co.uk 6 Zabe white

and blue lamp £78 Dar Lighting Group darlighting.co.uk 7 Blue velvet armchair £399 Atkin

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6th, 7th & 8th June 2019

HOLE PARK Rolvenden TN17 4JB

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Ticket Hotline: 01580 236071

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HOME

& GARDEN

Homes & Gardens are close to our hearts here at

Wealden Times and where better to find inspiring

interiors, glorious plants and outdoor accessories

than in the ‘Garden of England’ amongst the

formal borders of the Hole Park Estate?

& FOOD

Watch the world go by with a cup of coffee

or a glass of something bubbly, or choose

lunch from the fantastic range of streetfood

vendors. Foodies will also love the

independent producers in the food avenue.

DRINK

Sponsored by

BURFIELDS HOUSE

WEALTH MANAGEMENT LTD

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OUR SPONSOR

We are delighted to be welcoming our new

headline sponsor for 2019, Burfields House

Wealth Management. Visit their stand and meet

the menagerie of amazing animals created out of

flip flops salvaged from Kenyan beaches. Also, be

sure to enter their competition to win a 4-night

stay at Tongole Wilderness Lodge in Malawi

with breath-taking views over the Bua River.

As well as some old favourites we’ve got a great selection of brand

new exhibitors selling everything from food to fabulous fashion!

See wealdentimes.co.uk/events for the full exhibitor list.

NEW

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Wealden Times Midsummer Fair 6th, 7th & 8th June 2019

Home&

Garden Hub

The Home and Garden Hub, sponsored by NFU Mutual, hosts

inspiring talks on creating beautiful homes and gardens.

For more

information on

the speakers and

their talks visit

wealdentimes.

co.uk/events

NFU Team

NFU Mutual will be

on hand to discuss your

insurance and financial

planning needs.

Sue Killington

Learn how simple it is to

revamp and upscale your

furniture with Annie Sloan

chalk paints.

Molly Mahon

Hear how Molly started

and grew her fabulous

fabric and wallpaper

business.

Timetable

Thursday 6th June

10.30 Sue Killington

Dovetails Vintage

12.00 Molly Mahon

Molly Mahon Ltd

Edward Barham

Discover the history of

Hole Park from Edward,

the fourth generation of his

family to live there.

National Trust

Learn how to grow

vegetables the no-dig

way with gardeners from

Sissinghurst Castle.

Layered Lounge

Create the perfect table

setting for effortless

and stylish summer

entertaining.

2.00 Edward Barham

Owner of Hole Park

Friday 7th June

10.30 Guy & Jenny

Sissinghurst Castle Garden

12.00 Lou & Suzy

Layered Lounge

Erik Uebel

Beekeeping – what’s the

buzz? Join apiarist Erik for an

introduction to keeping bees.

Caroline Kyriazis

Interiors instagrammer and

blogger Caroline shares

tips for building an online

following.

WIN! A PAIR OF DIAMOND

STUDS WORTH £795

To be in with a chance to win this fantastic prize,

head down to the Home & Garden Hub sponsored

by NFU Mutual and speak to one of the team!

Jo Arnell

Find out how to create a

beautiful and productive

vegetable garden.

2.00 Sue Killington

Dovetails Vintage

Saturday 8th June

10.30 Erik Uebel

Ela’s Beehive

12.00 Caroline Kyriazis

home.twelve

2.00 Jo Arnell

Hornbrook Manor

TICKETS ON SALE ONLINE wealdentimes.co.uk/events

Cosy Cool

Journalist Amy Maynard’s effortlessly chic converted outbuilding

is the result of her ‘warehousey, not twee’ vision for a holiday

rental that is a home away from home

Words: Maggie Alderson Photographs: David Merewether Styling: Holly Levett

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Previous pages & above: Amy limewashed the original bricks in the living area to make them look consistently aged. A black steel

multiple-paned window looks through to the bedroom – which Amy wanted specifically to create that loft feeling

The Danes call it hygge – meaning the feeling of

contentment that comes with being warm and

snug and comfortable, in a nice space, with people

you like, and yummy snacks and drinks to hand.

The closest word in English is cosy, but that has

a slightly frumpy association – as in a beloved old

cardi, which is lovely to snuggle up in, moth holes

and all, but you wouldn’t wear out in public.

We all like being cosy (I’m wearing a down gilet as I type,

in pursuit of it on a rather damp spring day), but it’s a bit

of a guilty pleasure – and it certainly has nothing to do with

being cool. Not in temperature terms, but as in effortlessly

groovy. Cool like Steve McQueen, or the young Jane Birkin.

So what struck me immediately on entering Amy Maynard’s

brilliant space, a two-bedroom love shack in the garden of

her house in the village of Appledore, on the northern fringe

of Romney Marsh, is that it is both of those things in one.

A really cosy gaffe where you could settle down in woolly

85 wealdentimes.co.uk

Above: Light floods in from Crittal-style windows which lead out onto a decked terrace

socks, with someone special and a glass of Malbec, your

tummy full of mac and cheese, the wood stove humming

and give Netflix a good going over – but feel really cool

while you did it. It even has a cool name: The Outbuilding.

One of the tick boxes on their house search list, when Amy

and her husband Charlie and two young children decided

to make the move out of London four years ago, along with

being close to Amy’s parents and on the right side of the

county line for Kent’s grammar schools, was: “Somewhere

with room to create something that would make an income.”

The house they bought, once the village store on

Appledore’s main (practically, only) street ticked them all

with, as Amy explains, “a garage and workshop just begging

to be converted.” Which was a seriously good result,

considering it was only the second property they looked at.

With years of experience as a journalist specialising

in lifestyle subjects, including interiors, Amy had a very

good idea of the kind of look she wanted for the project.

However, feeling there was much to gain from some

professional help, she engaged architect Rob Pollard of

RX Architects in nearby Rye to help her get the most out

of the space. “We had a long chat and I told him the feel

I wanted – warehousey, not twee.” Amy then contacted

builder Ryan Blake of Blakes Building Solutions, “he shared

my vision and was absolutely amazing,” she remembers.

And there it is – exactly what makes The Outbuilding

so groovy from the moment you walk into the surprisingly

large space of the living area. The ceiling is vaulted

right up to the rafters, there’s a wall of Crittal-style

black steel-framed windows opening onto the decked

terrace and bare old bricks on the two flanking walls.

It’s got the full ‘easy like Sunday morning’ (if you

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01732 350911 | showroom@townsbathrooms.co.uk | townsmerchant.co.uk

Unit 5, Sanderson Way, Tonbridge TN9 1QG | Mon to Fri: 9am - 5pm Sat: 9am - 4pm

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2019

This page: Connecting the indoors with the outdoors, the terrace provides

a secluded spot to enjoy breakfast or an early evening glass of wine

remember that seminal 1980s ad… if you

don’t, you can Google it) loft-living vibe.

Those bricks are original (although

Amy did limewash them to make them

look consistently aged) – and at one point

they were the only walls left standing.

Everything else was rebuilt from scratch.

The outside is weatherboarded in keeping with

the local vernacular, painted in Farrow & Ball’s

lead grey, Downpipe, with white window frames

in the New England style. “There’s a lot of white

and silvered wood weatherboarding in the locale,

I wanted to do something a bit different.”

Once you step through the matt black front

door, with its matt black knocker, all the other

walls of the living area – the kitchen, dining

area and sitting room in one – apart from the

bricks are white, contrasting with the Shakerstyle

kitchen, which is painted in the blue-black

of F&B Railings, with simple brass knobs.

The kitchen tap is also brass, the worktop

marble-effect quartz – and this combination

of black, white, brass and notes of

89 wealdentimes.co.uk

“I spent the six months the building took to convert sourcing things, which I loved

doing. I found them on eBay, Gumtree, charity shops, at Ardingly Antique Fair…”

wealdentimes.co.uk

Reece - Jones

The Interior

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91 wealdentimes.co.uk

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This page: The second bedroom, with two built-in bunk beds,

is painted a deep green. Guests often leave messages in an old

printer’s tray, into which Amy has put some letter cubes

warmer colours is a theme throughout the building.

The warm touches in here come from the bare brick, which

is picked up in the terracotta pink stripes in the fabulous

linen curtains by Canterbury-based company Ada & Ina.

Which, I note, are hung from very chic concealed tracks –

perhaps the kind of thing it takes one interiors feature writer

to install and another to notice. It was a YES from me.

Also warming up the industrial chic coolness in

here, are all the charming vintage pieces which Amy

has assembled to furnish it. The décor style may be

bang up to the minute, but none of the furniture

or accessories in it are new. Not a single thing.

“We spent the money on the building, the bathroom

and the steel-framed doors – which are from The

Green Window Company – so everything else had

to be done on a budget and a large proportion of

the furniture and accessories are secondhand.

“I spent the six months the building took to convert

sourcing all the things to go in it, which I loved doing.

I found them on eBay, Gumtree, charity shops and at

Ardingly Antiques and Collectors Fair… The kitchen

table was from St Michael’s Hospice furniture shop

in Tenterden. The sofa was £250 on eBay...”

More of Amy’s ingenious bargain style-solutions can

be seen on the walls. “I went to Rye Old Books, which

is a lovely second-hand bookshop, and found old books

with beautiful coloured plates inside. I sliced them

out and had them framed. I did feel bad cutting the

books up, but at least the pictures get seen now.”

A group of paintings on the top shelf of the wall

of shelves on the internal wall – on which the books

are gloriously arranged by colour – were also frugally

sourced, mainly from eBay, and are very effective

as a group on a theme of domestic still lifes.

A cupboard on the same wall opens to reveal a concealed

telly and to the left of it is another black steel multiplepaned

window, through to the bedroom – which Amy

wanted specifically to create that loft feeling. It works

93 wealdentimes.co.uk

Above: The bathroom is small but perfectly formed, with a shower screen that echoes the black metal Crittal-feel windows and doors

throughout The Outbuilding

brilliantly and also makes the bedroom very light.

But to get in there, you must first step back into the

relative darkness of the hall, painted the gorgeous rich dark

Studio Green (also F&B) – and it is these changes in pace

that make this really quite compact space work so well.

This is especially true as after about two footsteps the

hall segues into also being the second bedroom. It has two

built-in bunk beds, painted the same green, so appealing you

can practically hear the squeals of excited children leaping

onto them. I’m having the top bunk, by the way. “The

bunks were the architect’s idea, with the ceiling lantern for

light. I wanted it to be like a train or a boat, so I bought

the two fish-eye mirrors, to give the effect of portholes.”

Also on the wall in this space is an old printer’s tray,

once used to store metal type, into which Amy has

put some letter cubes, which prove to be irresistible to

guests, be they loved-up couples seeking solitude, or

families with young children wanting walks and beaches

(it’s 20 minutes to the coast). “People leave us lovely

messages in it. One said: ‘I never want to leave’.”

I felt like that about the next room along on its

own – a bathroom of size in opposite proportion to

its splendour. It’s small but absolutely perfect.

In the same combination of matt black, white, brass

and spots of feature colour, the shower screen is Crittalystyle

from WC1 Bathrooms. The giant shower head is

brass, the drain, towel hook and soap holder are matt

black. “I don’t like matchy matchy,” says Amy.

But she clearly does like a theme and it works fantastically

throughout The Outbuilding, bringing the whole scheme

together. The marble seen in the kitchen is visited here in

the fabulous oblong basin, which sits on a black metal stand,

with a splendid brass tap and a round brass mirror above. “I

bought the sink on Amazon and had the stand custom made.”

Above it is a splashback of glorious jade green tiles by

Best & May. “They’re very expensive, so we just had a

wealdentimes.co.uk

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1 04/04/2019 14:51

Your local plumbing

& heating supplies

from washers to waste pipes

Open to the public & trade customers

with free delivery

01732 350911 | info@townsmerchant.co.uk | townsmerchant.co.uk

Unit 4, Sanderson Way, Tonbridge TN9 1QG

Mon to Fri: 7.30am - 5pm Sat: 8am - 12pm

95 wealdentimes.co.uk

TownsBathroomsWT207b.indd 1 09/04/2019 12:28

Above: Amy found the bath locally and had it re-enamelled before painting it in Little Greene’s Light Peachblossom

few.” The tiles are arranged in a herringbone pattern – as

are the shiny white ones in the shower, with smart dark

grey grout – which echoes the herringbone of the oversized

wood parquet throughout the rest of the building. The

bathroom floor is laid with small hexagonal tiles.

On the wall are more framed plates from old books,

these ones drawings of shells. But while the bathroom

is incredibly chic and would not be out of place in a

designer Manhattan apartment, just to the left of the

sink is a floral curtain, hiding the washing machine

and dryer and adding that balancing touch of cosy.

The main bedroom when you do get into it has another

atmosphere again, adding a different texture to the whole.

Painted a lovely pale green, it has a splendid pink and

white striped headboard from The Headboard Workshop,

in fabric by Vanessa Arbuthnot, and combined with

a rather delicate antique chair and cabinet, this

room is much more girly and feminine, with a lovely

Edwardian feel. In such a small space, it’s masterly

to have fitted in all these changes of tempo.

The hero moment in here is the claw-foot bath

painted the most beautiful pink – Little Greene’s Light

Peachblossom. “I got the bath on Gumtree. It was

rotting in a garden in Icklesham. I had it re-enamelled

by the Bath Doctor in Faversham and then painted

the sides and added the brass taps and soap rack.”

That soap rack – both jolly handy and lovely to look

at – represents another theme of the whole project. Chic

combined with practicality. On the wall next to the bed

there is a storage shelf and a built-in rail of hangers and

over by the window there’s a flat space next to the mirror

(a lovely thing itself, made from a French chateau door)

where you could organise your make-up and then put it on

in good light. Details so often forgotten in holiday rentals.

“My mum and dad travel a lot and my mum said, ‘You

must have somewhere with good lighting for make up’…”

Something Amy’s visitors must thank her for – as they would

for the bedside lights at perfect reading height, with off

wealdentimes.co.uk

A.T. Palmer Ltd

Restoration Specialists Est.1949

CELEBRATING 70 YEARS IN BUSINESS

| Employed Skilled Workforce

| Renovations & Extensions

| Conversions & Alterations

| Design & Build

T: 01233 770077

Smarden Business Estate, TN27 8QL

atpalmer.co.uk

Tenterden Roofing Co.

Established roofing in Kent and Sussex

• Kent Peg Tiling • Clay & Concrete Plain Tiling • Interlocking Concrete Tiling

• Slating • Cedar Shingles • Roofing Windows • Guttering • Leadwork

• Fascia, Soffits & Bargeboards • Storm Damage & Insurance Work

BUY NOW PAY LATER *

Visit our Maidstone showroom

3C Deacon Trading Estate, Aylesford, ME20 7SP

01622 718 987 | www.sliderobes.co.uk

*T&C’s Apply. Ask in store for details.

email: tenterdenroofingcompany@gmail.com

call: 01580 241000 / 01233 860301 • mobile: 07921 509 564

www.tenterdenroofing.co.uk

PassionMediaWT207.indd 1 09/04/2019 TenterdenRoofingWT202.indd 16:30

1 22/01/2019 15:08

Welcome to to Heronden Veterinary Practice, Practice,

the the only only independent Veterinary Practice Practice in in Tenterden, owned owned

and and run run by a by local a local family family with with help help from from an amazing an amazing team. team.

No No matter your

shape or or size...

.... .... We’ll We’ll love love you you at at Heronden Vets! Vets!

ABOUT US US

We We are are a NEW a NEW AND AND INDEPENDENT

Veterinary Practice providing an an

empathetic service service to the to the local local

community

WHERE WE WE ARE ARE

Pickhill Pickhill Business Centre,

Smallhythe Road, Road, Tenterden TN30 TN30 7LZ 7LZ

01580 763303

info@herondenvets.co.uk

www.herondenvets.co.uk

wealdentimes.co.uk

HerondenVeterinaryWT195.indd 1 24/04/2018 11:32

Above: In the main bedroom, a pink and white striped headboard from The Headboard Workshop is upholstered in fabric by Vanessa Arbuthnot

switches in just the right place for a sleepy hand to find.

No wonder one couple stayed six weeks. But then Amy

has undertaken one of the all-important tests that so many

people forget to do in rentals and even in their own guest

bedrooms. She spent a night in The Outbuilding herself

before making it available. “I spent a night out here on my

own to check if it was all OK and it was lovely,” she says.

Now, I have to say that is something I would

very much like to put to the test myself.

Address Book:

To find out more about The Outbuilding, including

availability, visit theoutbuildingappledore.com

Ada & Ina linenfabrics.co.uk

Bath Doctor bath-doctor.co.uk

Blakes Building Solutions 07809 460297

The Green Window Company thegreenwindowcompany.co.uk

The Headboard Workshop theheadboardworkshop.co.uk

RX Architects rxarchitects.com

Rye Old Books 01797 225410

WC1 Bathrooms wc1bathrooms.com

Like to see more?

Discover countless beautiful homes

wealdentimes.co.uk/interiors

wealdentimes.co.uk

BURFIELDS HOUSE

WEALTH MANAGEMENT LTD

Principal Partner Practice of St. James’s Place Wealth Management

Burfields House Wealth Management is an holistic practice covering all aspects of what you

need to consider to plan your financial future and security. Very much part of the community,

we are a local business with a global reach and the backing of a FTSE 100 company.

Offering face-to-face ongoing advice with the same adviser to give clients continuity with

someone they know and trust, while building and maintaining long-term financial relationships,

is something that our clients value very highly. Our dedicated team of specialist advisers

within the practice are on hand to help in all areas of financial planning such as:

• ISAs

• Trusts*

• Investment planning

• Tax planning

• Later life planning

• Pension & Retirement planning

• Inheritance Tax & Estate planning

• School & University Fees planning

The value of an ISA with St. James’s Place will be directly linked to the performance of the

funds selected and may fall as well as rise. You may get back less than you invested.

The favourable tax treatment of ISAs may be subject to changes in legislation in the future.

For further details or to arrange a no-obligation consultation with an adviser,

please call 01580 211 211 or email louise.cole@sjpp.co.uk

*Trusts are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

‘The Partner Practice is an Appointed Representative of and represents only St. James’s Place Wealth Management plc (which is

authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority) for the purpose of advising solely on the Group’s wealth management

products and services, more details of which are set out on the Group’s website www.sjp.co.uk/products. The title Partner Practice is the

marketing term used to describe St. James’s Place representatives.’

Visit our stand BHWM at the Wealden Times Midsummer Fair

www.burfieldshousewm.co.uk

Get the

LOOK

1 Bevelled white metro tile £0.67each The London Tile Co londontile.co.uk 2 Stiffkey blue estate

emulsion paint £46.50/2.5l Farrow & Ball farrow-ball.com 3 Pink wall light £740 Besselink &

Jones besselink.com 4 Round vintage mirror £69.95 Melody Maison melodymaison.co.uk 5 Blue and

ivory stripe rug £59 Darlings of Chelsea darlingsofchelsea.co.uk 6 Black Crittall walk-in shower

panel £555 Frontline Bathrooms frontlinebathrooms.co.uk 7 Blush cushion £55 Sweetpea & Willow

sweetpeaandwillow.com 8 Home & Glory Gluggle jug £38 Not on the High Street notonthehighstreet.com

9 Tubby Torre pink bath tub £2,484 The Albion Bath Company albionbathco.com 10 Teal pepper

mill £32 Le Creuset lecreuset.co.uk 11 Steel and glass coffee table £700 Artisanti artisanti.com

WOMEN WORK

PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE ARCHIVES

MARY STORMONT AND SUSAN BENN

Beautiful bespoke shop in a gorgeous setting. Full of quirky

items including gifts & cards, furniture, ladies’ clothing,

jewellery, handbags, scarves & much more.

A warm welcome is guaranteed 7 days a

week. Complimentary coffee & wrapping.

Visit soon - you won’t be disappointed.

07503 287632

The Granary, Potten Farm, Main Road, Sellindge, Nr Ashford, TN25 6EQ

THE RYE ART GALLERY 27 APRIL - 12 MAY 2019

Gallery Open Mon - Sat 10:30 - 5 Sun 11 - 4 Free Admission

The Rye Art Gallery is a Registered Charity 310318

alfee images

PHOTOGRAPHY

Hobbs&HeartsWT207.indd 1 23/04/2019 RyeArtGalleryWT207.indd 12:38

1 09/04/2019 14:12

Come and view a stunning, diverse selection of canvasses and

framed prints all of which are available to purchase

Photographic gallery now open at World’s End Clothing,

39–40 Mount St, Battle, East Sussex TN33 0EG

For more information or to discuss your requirements visit

www.alfeeimages.co.uk call 07979 218724 or email alfee

images on customerservice@alfeeimages.co.uk

wealdentimes.co.uk

102

HunterAndHylandWT207.indd 1 04/04/2019 GrahamClarkeWT207.indd 15:23

1 12/04/2019 14:55

Art

Curative content

Visit Karen

Birchwood’s Open

Studio, part of

South East Open Studios

on 7-23 June

karenbirchwood.com

Update your collection with our showcase of colourful

nature-inspired artworks in a variety of media

Top: ‘Where the Light Dances

4’ £825 Karen Birchwood

karenbirchwood.com Above:

‘Mountain Pass (Silk Road Series)’

by Christopher Johnson £4,950

McAllister Thomas Fine Art

mcallisterthomasfineart.co.uk

Far right: ‘Beauty in Bloom’ by

Barry Wilson £1,950

theweygallery.com Right: Turquoise

glaze stoneware vase by Gary

Edwards £55.

See Gary

Edwards at Karen

Birchwood’s Open

Studio on 7-23 June

karenbirchwood.com

103 wealdentimes.co.uk

WWAd05-116 Wealdon Times 90x130mm.qxp_Layout 1 17/04/2019 13:21 Page 1

WOOLLEY &WALLIS

F I N E A R T AU C T I O N E E R S

SA L I S B U R Y SA L E R O O M S

BE CALM ABOUT YOUR COLLECTION

Speak to the UK’s Leading Regional Auction House

for Advice on Sale & Insurance Valuations

Sold for £51,450*

Cathy McClymont Paintings

Art gallery in

Maidstone, Kent

07763 524069

cathy.ge@hotmail.co.uk

Contact

Tel: +44 (0)1722 424500 Email: valuations@woolleyandwallis.co.uk

w w w. w o o l l e y a n d w a l l i s . c o . u k

*Sold price includes buyer’s premium

CathyMcClymontPaintingsWT207.indd 1 24/04/2019 WoolleyandWallisWT207.indd 15:02

1 18/04/2019 10:45

Wendy Rainthorpe

Kate Schuricht

Open Studio

5 Artists

7th - 23rd June

10.30 - 17.00

Every Thursday to Sunday

Goodshill Cottage Cranbrook Road

Tenterden TN30 6UN

07746640654

www.karenbirchwood.com

CLA55IC

TUNBRIDGE WELLS

CLASSIC MOTOR SHOW

SUNDAY 23 JUNE 2019

Mabledon Farm London Road Southborough

Tunbridge Wells TN4 0UH 10am - 4pm

Karen Birchwood

www.seos-art.org

Gary Edwards

Gill Bridgestock

100s of Classic vehicles, Retro Stalls,

The Classic Music Show with BEN MILLS &

Band X Factor, Abalicious & Jodie South.

Children’s entertainers, Pip the clown, Punch

& Judy, rides, quality refreshments & more...

Book online: Adults £6.00 Children £4.00 Family 18.00

www.classicmusicandmotors.co.uk T: 07841 598076

Visit the website to book in a classic vehicle or a Trade Stall

wealdentimes.co.uk

104

KarenBirchwoodWT207.indd 1 08/04/2019 ClassicMotor&MusicWT207.indd 15:02

1 15/04/2019 15:41

Art

Top left: ‘Bayfield

swallows’ £150

Niki Bowers

bournesidegallery.com

Left: ‘Flowers, birds

and fish’ (signed within

an ornate border) sold

for £1,200 Gorringes

Auction House

gorringes.co.uk

See Cathy

McClymont at

Wealden Times

Midsummer

Fair this June

Top right: ‘Lanscape in the sand’

£390 (framed) Above: ‘Misty

morning’ framed in antique

frame £300 both by Cathy

McClymont Left: ‘Inquisitive

Meerkat’ by Pip McGarry POA

Trew Art Gallery trewart.com

Lower Left: ‘Flora1’ Framed

Prints from £15 Canvas Prints

from £80 alfeeimages.co.uk

Below: ‘Petra- Tomb of Unayshu

& Street of Facades’ Alexander

Creswell (features in upcoming

‘Journeys in the Holy Land:

Alexander Creswell’ exhibition,

prices from £2,500) Watts

Gallery wattsgallery.org.uk

Above: ‘Hazy Summer’ by

Genevieve Brown £280 Shed

Art shedart.co.uk Right: ‘Let

there be weeds and wilderness

yet’ Hand plasma cut RAF

refuelling tanker £5,000

Wendy Rainthorpe

See Wendy

Rainthorpe at Karen

Birchwood’s Open

Studio on 7-23 June

karenbirchwood.com

The Oak Glasshouse Company

We design & build oak sunrooms, oak kitchen

extensions, oak orangeries and garden offices.

Please phone or email to request a brochure,

07522 544158, email info@theoakglasshouse.co.uk

www.theoakglasshouse.co.uk

Extensions &

Outdoor Living

A Wealden Times Supplement

Sponsored by

TIMBERTECH

SOUTHERN LTD

Orlestone Oak

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www.orlestoneoak.co.uk 01233 732179

SHOWROOm Open mOnday tO FRiday 9am-5pm, SatuRday 9am-12pm

OrlestoneOakWT167.indd 1 02/12/2015 11:42

MEMBER

wood without compromise

Certifi ed Company 36291

J. P. JOINERY (KENT) LTD

Traditional Bespoke Quality Joinery

For all your Joinery projects

01580 754091

www.jpjoinerykent.co.uk

WT Extensions & Outdoor Living Supplement

JPJoineryWT207.indd 1 08/04/2019 16:41

Sponsored by

TIMBERTECH

SOUTHERN LTD

Contents

5 SOCIAL KITCHENS

Ideas to transform a kitchen into a social living space

13 OPEN & SHUT

Bi-fold door inspiration

15 DIARY OF AN EXTENSION

The process of a kitchen extension

19 PROTECT & PERFECT

Lucy Fleming talks to Vedat Demiralp of Coban Rugs

about rugs and runners

21 PAVE THE WAY

Rebecca Cuffe gets expert tips to start you on your way

to the perfect patio

GraceyardWT194.indd 1 09/03/2018 14:23

24 SIMPLE PLEASURES

Recipes to take you outside for spring

26 GREEN DAYS

Rebecca Cuffe’s pick of interiors accessories to fill

indoor spaces with gorgeous greenery

monarchoak

Oak Frame Buildings

Over 50 years’ experience making oak frame buildings

Cover Image: Timbertech Southern Ltd.

• Garages

• Garden Rooms

• Complexes

• Gazebos

• Bespoke Buildings

01323 765410 Quality in its finest form

www.monarchoak.co.uk

3 wealdentimes.co.uk

MonarchOakWT147.indd 1 26/07/2018 12:30

Sponsored by

TIMBERTECH

SOUTHERN LTD

Social Kitchens

A world away from its roots as a practical, no-frills room to prepare food,

today’s kitchen area tends to set the tone for the style of the rest of the

house. Here, we’ve chosen five projects that truly place the kitchen at the

heart of the home – the perfect spaces to spend informal time together as

a family and special spots to entertain friends, both inside and out

The pared-back Shaker style

kitchen by Neptune Weybridge

“Neptune kitchens are built to last using solid timber

and traditional joinery techniques. This kitchen is

from our Suffolk range, a simple pared back Shaker

style that sits comfortably in any setting, traditional

or contemporary. It was a perfect fit for this Victorian

house whose new design is true to its roots but renovated

for contemporary living. This was previously a small,

dark and dated kitchen at the back of the house. As

part of the renovations the owners opened up the room

by adding an extension and letting in a magnificent

amount of light through the new Crittall doors.

The brief was to create a modern space with touches

of traditional styling using bold colours. There needed

to be plenty of room for socialising both around the

island and the dining table. The open space lends itself

perfectly to having an island in the middle around which

people always seem to congregate, whilst separating

them from the cooking and prep area. There is also

plenty of room for guests around the dining table.

The light that streams in through the glass

doors allowed the cabinets painted in Neptune

Charcoal, which is a beautiful deep dark grey, to

contrast with the Snow white of the island.

The range cooker along the wall with its tiling and

canopy provides a focal point for the room. All the

essentials such as the fridge, bin and sink are within easy

reach, making cooking and entertaining a simple task.

The utility room at the back can be seen through

the Crittall door and the same colour was used for

cabinets in here in order to link the two rooms.”

neptuneweybridge.com

5 wealdentimes.co.uk

Was Your Property Built Before 1900?

Do you have a lost well? An experienced water

diviner / dowser may be able to locate it

Pipes and leaks are also

possible to be found.

call John Baker

on 01322 525975

johnh2obaker.co.uk

Kent Peg Tiling &

Listed Building Specialists

conservation and renovation

specialists § high quality work

by experienced craftsman

JohnBakerH2oWaterDivinerWT206.indd 1 19/03/2019 10:25

The seasoned oak orangery

by Richmond Oak

Conservatories Ltd

01797 270268 or visit www.kentpegs.com

“The main objective of this seasoned

oak orangery project was to create a new

contemporary, bright and spacious open plan

living environment that extended from the

kitchen area. Having lived previously in South

Africa, the family wanted to make use of the

garden for social occasions, by opening up the

new space with multiple bi-fold doors and

truly have a sense of ‘bringing the outside in’.

The design brief also included the provision

of a wine room adjacent to the kitchen,

which is separated by an aluminium sliding

door with grey tinted glass, a contrast to the

seasoned oak frames of the main structure.”

oakconservatories.co.uk

WT Extensions & Outdoor Living Supplement

KarlTerryWT170.indd 1 11/03/2016 10:54

More Space, More Light, More Wow!

Our exclusive seasoned oak glazed extensions will transform your home

with a stunning new living space. A place to spend quality time with

family, entertain guests or enjoy your garden all year round.

Listed property & planning specialists

30+ years of design experience

Bespoke craftsmanship

Full 10-year guarantee

Call 01323 442255 or

download our brochure at

www.oakconservatories.co.uk

SelbyDesignWT195.indd 1 16/04/2018 17:22

Specialists in Traditional Timber, Aluminium & Composite Windows & Doors

CALL 01959 565343

www.thewindowsanctuary.com

WT Extensions & Outdoor Living Supplement

WindowSanctuaryWT207.indd 1 03/04/2019 12:32

Sponsored by

TIMBERTECH

SOUTHERN LTD

Pretty In Purple by Rencraft

“This soft, delicate country kitchen has been designed

to fit within a large modern extension.Our clients were

excited to be embarking on a long awaited building

project which would effectively triple the size of their

kitchen and provide some much needed extra space for the

family. However, they were also keen that their finished

design would still retain a warm and homely feel.

Traditional touches such as the mantel shelf and exposed

plate rack help to provide a sense of character, while

modern conveniences include a Miele induction hob,

oven stack and integrated microwave and dishwasher.”

rencraft.co.uk

9 wealdentimes.co.uk

www.homeleighgroup.co.uk

Get ahead....

TRADING

FOR OVER

HOMELEIGH TIMBER & BUILDING SUPPLIES

YEARS

ESTABLISHED 1966

plan your garden & products

for Spring

ORGANIC COMPOST

(Bulk Bags)

HOMELEIGH OFFER

£34. 00 + VAT

NATURAL PAVING

from

£16. 99 +VAT (per sq.m)

RAILWAY SLEEPERS

HOMELEIGH OFFER

£15. 99 EACH + VAT (+5 RATE)

£17. 99 EACH + VAT (SINGLE)

SCREENED TOP SOIL

(Bulk Bags)

HOMELEIGH OFFER

£45. 83 + VAT

BARK (Bulk Bags)

HOMELEIGH OFFER

£49. 99 +VAT

HEAVY DUTY TOP QUALITY

FENCE PANEL 6’x6’

WHEN YOU BUY 5 OR MORE

£17. 99 EACH + VAT

STAMFORD SLAB

450x450x32mm

WHEN YOU BUY

10 OR MORE

£2. 69 EACH + VAT

Maidstone:

01622 01622791111

Hall

Road

| Maidstone

| ME20

7QZ

Woodford Woodford Depot: Depot:

01580 01580892733

892733

Maidstone

Road

| Staplehurst

| TN12

0RH

Staplehurst:

01580 01580892037

892037

Station

Road

Staplehurst

| TN12

0PY

Ashford: Ashford:

01233 01233850075

Ashford

Road

| High

Halden

| TN26

3BP

The outdoor kitchen

by Life Outdoors

“Our client’s large established garden created

a beautiful landscape but without a dedicated

area for socialising. They wanted to create an

entertaining area that would appeal to all ages and

bring family together in one unique social space.

The available space, the surrounding house and

striking gardens made this an ideal fit for Renson

Louvered Canopies. The sophisticated technology

of a Renson would create the ambience the client

required for this entertaining area via inclusions of

bluetooth sound bars, heat bars and uplights.

Existing brickwork was built upon to create the

outdoor kitchen first, leaving cavities for the Fire

Magic outdoor kitchen to be fitted at a later date.

Each Renson Camargue was then fitted into place

with wall plate fixings to the house on two sides.

Different post heights were require to create a level roof

and careful channelling of existing paving to create

the sliding glass walls effect. Minor landscaping was

completed such as creation of a step down into the

back garden, before granite work surfaces were fitted

and the Fire Magic equipment moved into place.

We designed a fully-equipped outdoor kitchen in

a U shape with bar seating along one side. Including

an Aurora 790 cooking system with Magic View

Window and Rotisserie allowed our client to cater

for large numbers whilst the Alfa Pizza Oven

added a focal point for guest interaction. Glass

sliding walls were used to create a bright internal

environment and rain sensors included within the

louvers, which can be controlled by remote.”

lifeoutdoors.org.uk

No more draughty, rotten,

inefficient sash windows

Using revolutionary 10mm thick

double glazed units we can retro

fit sash windows, retaining the

original appearance but with

the benefits of double glazing.

Improve insulation

Save money on heating bills

Call 01892 532273 for a

FREE site survey & quote sashwindowheritage.co.uk

Traditional Craftsmanship

for Modern Applications

SashWindowHeritageWT187.indd 1 15/08/2017 15:18

Garages & Outbuildings

Glazed Extensions

& Garden Rooms

Quality Buildings at

Competitive Prices

chartwelloakbuildings.co.uk

Call for a quote 01959 447477

Filston Farm, Filston Lane, Sevenoaks, Kent TN14 5JU

11 wealdentimes.co.uk

ChartwellOakBuildingsWT195.indd 1 11/04/2018 17:17

RobinsonWaters

Lintel

ARCHITECTS

new build?

renovation?

extension?

Kitchen

Cloakroom.

UP.

Entrance Hall

Entrance

Lobby

ARCHITECTURE

steel beam.

Innovative and practical

Personal and professional

Sustainable and affordable

Contemporary and traditional

Sitting Room

Study

Lintel

Finished Level Ground Floor 100.250

3263

architects@robinsonwaters.co.uk

Tel: 01580 754806

www.robinsonwaters.co.uk

Visit us at the Wealden Times

Midsummer Fair - Stand O56

studios:

sevenoaks

hawkhurst

The Traditional Verandah Company

Lintel

2373

Internal area of the Ground Floor 121.4 sq. metres.

hastings

OohHowLovelyWT207.indd 1 08/04/2019 RobinsonWatersWT155.indd 14:57

1 09/12/2014 14:40

Enjoy your outside space all year round

Family owned & run |Free site survey | 10 year warranty | Complete bespoke service from survey to installation

Porches | Carports | Gazebos | Wedding Venues | Covered Dining and much more

Architectural plans supplied with all projects

Telephone 01233 636025 www.ttvc.co.uk sales@ttvc.co.uk

WT Extensions & Outdoor Living Supplement

TraditionalVerandahCoWT207.indd 1 23/04/2019 12:40

Sponsored by

TIMBERTECH

SOUTHERN LTD

Open & shut

Bi-fold doors do wonders to open up a property with iconic modern style

5 6

1 Woodwind Sieger® aluminium bi-fold doors on a Maidenhead new build £1,000/pane Sieger Aluminium siegersystems.co.uk

2 Aluminium bi-fold doors on a Newquay pool annexe £800/m 2 IQ Glass iqglassuk.com 3 Aluminium bi-fold in a contemporary extension

of a London terrace £800/m 2 IQ Glass iqglassuk.com 4 XP View bi-folding door Express bi-folding doors expressbifolds.co.uk 5 Part Q

certificated bi-fold joinery hand-made in Kent by Orlestone Oak guide price £1250 per leaf orlestoneoak.co.uk 6 XP View bi-folding door

Express bi-folding doors expressbifolds.co.uk 7 XP View bi-folding door £1,150/panel installed Express bi-folding doors expressbifolds.co.uk

13 wealdentimes.co.uk

Sponsored by

TIMBERTECH

SOUTHERN LTD

Diary of a

kitchen

extension The build

atalie from NK Living: “We were

We get the low-down from a construction

and bespoke kitchen perspective on a

collaborative project to transform a family

home to better suit its occupants’ needs

approached by our client to create a new

kitchen and living space. Once we had discussed

the budget, we came up with a design and

layout to incorporate a new kitchen, dining

area, utility and snug. There was an internal

wall that needed to be knocked down and the

ceilings in the existing kitchen/TV area were

far too low, so we designed a space lifting the

roof, vaulting and insetting two large roof

lanterns to elevate the height. Visual aspect

and natural light were important factors, along

with design elements, such as a pocket door

to the utility room to cut down on losing

crucial space, and internally glazed bi-folds

between the dining area and snug for light,

allowing either an open plan or closed in snug.

We project managed the whole thing and

all trades who work for our company. I am

an interior designer by trade and design and

project manage all our jobs and Kelly, my

business partner, is the builder and in charge

of the day-to-day running of the site. I arrange

all fixtures and fittings, allowing meticulous

attention to detail when it comes to the lighting

and all important finishes.” nkliving.co.uk

15 wealdentimes.co.uk

The Kitchen

The team at Collins Bespoke: “We call this beautifully

bespoke space our ‘Dalmally’ kitchen – matching the original

Edwardian name plaque that sits above the front door. It’s one

of our favourite kitchen extensions! With regards to a brief, our

customer came to us with two things in mind: to make the most

of the room – utilising worktop and storage space – and, to create

a practical family living-area with room for dancing! For many

of our customers, ‘bespokeness’ is key – and, we are just that:

proudly, thoroughly bespoke, with no two designs the same.

To get the ball rolling, our customer got in touch and then came to

visit us in our showroom. A few design meetings later, with plans being

updated and amended to perfection – followed by a site survey – the

kitchen was finalised and sent through to our workshop for creation.

From first contact, to agreed design and installation, we worked within

a 12-14 week time-frame – which is typical of most of our kitchens.

Traditional to the hand-made industry, the Dalmally kitchen is

made from oak, with real wood veneer composite materials – and was

constructed by hand in our very own workshop by our skilled in-house

trained staff. Our workshop is just behind our showroom and we

encourage our customers to visit us to see their kitchen being made!

The kitchen features seamlessly integrated Siemens appliances,

a large family-sized Fisher & Paykel fridge-freezer, a Westin

extractor and the current kitchen must-have – the allimportant

wine cooler, ready for the summer months!

Our most favourite feature in this kitchen is hidden behind

the larder doors: hand-carved into the drawers are the names

of our customers’ children, which ultimately remind any

visitors of the kitchen’s purpose – to entertain family life.

Painted in two beautiful contrasting colours – Mylands ‘Bond

Street’ and the much lighter ‘Cotton V’ by Paper & Paints – our

Dalmally kitchen is not only spectacularly timeless but it’s a

practical, well-used, family-living space, created for moments of

happiness, laughter and, of course, dancing.” collinsbespoke.com

COLLINS BESPOKE

Beautiful Kitchens and Crafted Cabinetry

www.collinsbespoke.com

T. 01233 822595 E. info@collinsbespoke.com

A. Unit 40 Old Surrenden Manor, Bethersden, Kent TN26 3DL

Spring Fair - Monday 6 th May, 11am - 4pm

Our Spring Fair features a superb range of quality plants and

herbs, garden-related gifts, artwork, textiles, jewellery and

a whole host of wonderful crafted delights as well as some

delicious local food and drink. £3.00pp and free for children

under 16.

Spoon Carving Workshop - Tuesday 14 th May

Enjoy a unique and satisfying experience learning how to carve

your own wooden spoon. You will be taught the safe and proven

ways to carve and whittle. £40.00pp including lunch.

Herb Walk - Wednesday 15 th May, 1pm - 3pm

This relaxing walk will introduce you to different herbs used

today and historically. A great chance to see, smell and taste the

plants in a beautiful garden setting and reconnect with nature

that’s right on your doorstep. £10.00pp.

Hydrosols & Rosewater Distillation Workshop - 12 th June

You will be able to experience every stage in the process, from

picking buds, through to distillation using a small traditional

copper still and bottling. £30.00pp including light refreshments.

belmont-house.org • 01795 890202 • events@belmont-house.org

Belmont House & Gardens, Throwley, Faversham, Kent ME13 0HH

ONYOURBED

specialise in Bespoke Dog Beds.

Have you got the perfect place for your dog bed but can’t fi nd

a bed to fi t - no problem - we can help you with a beautifully

made bespoke option, email us info@onyourbed.co.uk

or call 07003 497615 to discuss your requirements.

www.onyourbed.co.uk

HarrisBelmontWT207.indd 1 18/04/2019 OnYourBedWT207.indd 17:06

1 18/04/2019 10:33

WT Extensions & Outdoor Living Supplement

CurveGardenRoomsWT207.indd 1 23/04/2019 11:27

WT Supplement

Protect & Perfect

Hunting for natural floor

coverings? Vedat Demiralp

from Coban Rugs explains

to Wealden Times just

what makes his handwoven

rugs and runners stand

out from the crowd...

Can you tell us a little about Coban

Rugs and your range of rugs and

runners? The basic concept is about

combining traditional weaving skills

with contemporary designs using goats’

wool, which was once widely used in

Turkey but is less well known here.

Goats’ wool has the benefit of being

low maintenance and hard-wearing. It

also feels really good under bare feet.

The natural colours are soft and muted

so you have this beautiful aesthetic

in a durable product. The woven

runners are used for hallways and stairs.

Larger rugs can be produced to any

size by joining lengths together with a

variety of stitching techniques, either

seamless or with a seam as a feature.

Where are the rugs made and

how? They’re produced in Turkey,

hand woven on traditional

looms using hand-spun yarn.

What inspires the designs? The key is

simplicity and working with a natural

material. The undyed wool is in shades

of black, white, brown and white.

Sometimes there are subtle shifts in

shade which add to the aesthetic. The

rugs are woven on flat weave looms, so

most of the designs are a combination

of stripes, panels and borders in

contrasting shades and colours. The

effect is striking yet harmonious.

Plain rugs have an aesthetic of their

own which derives from the texture

and colour of a natural product. Also

I use plain rugs as the background

for my stitched artwork on rugs,

implementing any shapes, though

my favourite is geometric patterns.

Can rugs and runners be made to

order? Yes. Runners are generally

available from stock or supplied with

a short lead time. Rugs are more

often made to the required size and

may also include bespoke designs.

Are you working on any special

projects at the moment? Yes, several.

I am working with interior designers

to provide rugs and runners for some

really unusual and beautiful residences.

What’s been your proudest

achievement so far for Coban

Rugs? The genuine enthusiasm

that there is for the rugs wherever

they are shown and the fact that

they are now in some of the most

beautiful and exclusive private homes

as well as in the more challenging

environment of busy family homes.

Where can people see Coban Rugs?

I will be at Selvedge Fairs in Bath in

March and London in December,

The Wealden Times Fairs in June and

November, Spirit of Summer Festival

in London at the end of June and the

interior designers trade show Decorex

in London in October and various

other shows in East and West Sussex.

Vedat has a studio in St Leonards

which can be visited by appointment.

Call 07769 800321 or email info@

cobanrugs.com for more information.

See Coban Rugs at this June’s

Wealden Times Midsummer Fair.

19 wealdentimes.co.uk

CobwebGardenWorksWT207.indd 1 11/04/2019 17:04

Garden Perfection

City Escapes provide domestic & commercial garden solutions

■

Regular Maintenance

Design & Construction

Small one off works

Turf care management

Problem area Solutions

■

Seasonal Bedding plant displays

Approved pesticide/

herbicides operators

Habitat Management

RHS qualified gardeners

Tel: 01435 868211 | M: 07831 302107 | E: gardensmanager@gmail.com

www.cityescapes.co.uk

WT Extensions & Outdoor Living Supplement

PetalsForPlantsWT207.indd 1 12/04/2019 CityEscapesWT204.indd 09:48

1 24/01/2019 10:40

Sponsored by

TIMBERTECH

SOUTHERN LTD

Pave

the

way

Solanas Outdoor Lounge by Gandia Blasco, sofa £10,656 and coffee table £2,316 Chaplins Furniture chaplins.co.uk

A good patio can do wonders

to open up your home and

bridge the indoors and

outdoors. But where to begin?

Shaun Williams explains

Whether you’re looking to

add entertaining space,

give your garden a more

interesting design or simply cut down

on the maintainance that comes with

a big lawn space, a patio can be an

excellent way to enhance your home.

To get you on your way to a fabulous

outdoor space of your own, we talk to

stonework expert Shaun Williams to get

some invaluable guidance on where to

start when considering building a patio.

Who?

Depending on the size of your plot you

may wish to employ a designer to help

you get the most out of your space.

If you have a small garden

your options may be relatively

straightforward but if you have a larger

plot, thinking about how the patio fits

within the whole design is essential to

create one cohesive space.

When choosing a contractor ask to

see examples of previous projects and

they should always be happy to provide

sample panels of suggested materials.

Lay samples out in the area which is

to become the patio to get a feel for

how they change in different light and

weather conditions.

How?

The land needs to be checked for

services before creating a good subbase

to lay your chosen material. It is

essential to make sure the patio falls

away from the house to ensure it drains

and carries excess water away from

where your property is.

Lay samples out in the

area which is to become

the patio to get a feel

for how they change in

different light

Where?

The land itself may well dictate where

a patio should be situated — is there

a flatter area which lends itself to

this use or is there an existing feature

or view you would like to be able to

see from the patio. Think about how

you wish to use the space, the size of

furniture it needs to accommodate,

would you like to incorporate a

cooking area or a fire pit? If you

decide on creating a patio away from

the house, make sure it becomes a

really desirable destination and be sure

to plan and create an easy route to get

there.

What?

When choosing materials draw

inspiration from those already used in

your home so the whole scheme flows.

We encourage the use of local stone

as this always fits well within the

landscape. Larger pavers will go down

more quickly and could be broken

up with smaller details, planting

pockets can be left within the plan and

exciting features can be added by using

contrasting materials to give some

extra design highlights.

Choosing materials with longevity,

such as natural stone, means laying

your patio is a job you do once and

will give you an amazing space to

enjoy for many, many years to come.

Find out more about Shaun’s work at

earth-and-stone.co.uk

21 wealdentimes.co.uk

MillbrookWT207.indd 1 08/04/2019 14:48

GARDEN DESIGN

OUTDOOR KITCHENS

LOUVERED PERGOLAS

LANDSCAPING

www.life-outdoors.co.uk

Experts in the Design and Construction

of Premium Outdoor Living Spaces

Visit our showroom near West Malling, Kent

or talk to our team on 01732 884030

WT Extensions & Outdoor Living Supplement

LapaCompanyWT206.indd 1 15/03/2019 15:21

email: production@indexmagazine.co.uk

Below is a proof of your ad to be published Positions in the in the

tel: 01892 517320

ema

PLEASE NOTE The content of the advertisment it will be taken that this

WEST is KENT the responsibiluty MAY edition of the Index Magazine. positions tel: PLEASE NOTE are ag 0T

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ural Salvage Specialists

d, Pluckley Road,

n, Kent TN26 3DD

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Bethersden, Kent TN26 3DD

www.symondssalvage.co.uk

lvage@aol.com

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symondssalvage@aol.com

Pots

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advertiser – the publisher cannot accept responsibility for any inaccuracies.

Positions in the magazine cannot be guaranteed except where special

positions are agreed in writing and on payment of a Special Position Fee.

Delve through centuries old oak beams, tiles, bricks, slates, stone, fireplaces, antique furniture,

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Bethersden, Symonds Salvage Kent TN26 Ltd.

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www.symondssalvage.co.uk

01233 Colts Yard, 820724 Pluckley Road, Architectural Salvage Specialist

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Bethersden, Kent TN26 3DD

01233 01233 820724 Symonds Bethersden, 820724 Salvage Kent Ltd. TN26 3DD

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We get some top tips on decorating your finished patio from Colts Yard, Pluckley Colts Road, Yard, Pluckley Architectural Road,

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Colts Yard, Pluckley Road,

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SymondsSalvageWT147.indd 1 17/04/2014 10:24

TIMBERTECH

SOUTHERN LTD

THE DECKING

SPECIALISTS

All types of

decking supplied

and fitted.

Approved

installer of

Millboard woodfree

decking –

low maintence

and long life

product

Archit

1 Garden lamps £770 Go Modern Furniture gomodern.co.uk 2 Electric

patio heater floor lamp £2,995 Cuckooland cuckooland.com 3 Fire

pit £54.99 Von Haus vonhaus.com 4 Showerproof fern cushion £25

Ragged Rose raggedrose.com 5 Gin & Tonic blanket £124 Tolly McRae

tollymcrae.co.uk 6 Long white planter Ligne Roset £336 ligne-roset.com

7 Carina Lounge Set with Coffee table £995 Lenley’s lenleys.co.uk

Call Paul Frampton

07967 364 411 deckingpaul@hotmail.co.uk

www.timbertechsouthernltd.co.uk

www.deck-tech.co.uk

23 wealdentimes.co.uk

TimberSouthernLtdWT207.indd 1 24/04/2019 14:18

Sponsored by

TIMBERTECH

SOUTHERN LTD

Simple

pleasures

Make the most of the warmer weather and

head into the garden to eat with family and

friends. Here, in an extract from her new

book, A Perfect Day for a Picnic, Tori Finch

creates deliciously simple canapés, made to

be enjoyed outside.

Photographs: Georgia Glynn-Smith

Crostini Two Ways

The toasted crostini can be made a few days

before and kept in an airtight container. When

it comes to serving, pile a crostini high with the

beans or the salsa verde and feta, or, for a great

flavour combustion, combine the two toppings.

Serves 6

• 1 baguette, sliced on the bias into

½ cm / ¼ inch thick slices

• 60ml / ¼ cup olive oil

• 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

• 4 sprigs of fresh thyme

To make the crostini, preheat the oven to

1220°C (425°F) Gas 7. Brush both sides of

each baguette slice with plenty of olive oil.

Arrange the baguette slices on a baking

2 sheet, scatter the garlic slices and thyme

sprigs over the tops and bake in the preheated

oven for about 10 minutes, until the bread

is golden and the edges are crisp.

Allow to cool on a wire rack before serving

with one or both of the toppings below.

Salsa Verde with Feta

• 1 garlic clove

• 4 anchovy fillets

• 1 shallot, finely chopped

• freshly squeezed juice and grated zest of 1 lemon

• 2 tbsp capers, rinsed and drained, chopped if large

• 1 bunch of fresh parsley, roughly chopped

• 1 bunch of fresh oregano, roughly chopped

• ½ bunch of fresh mint, roughly chopped

• olive oil, to taste

• 200g / 7oz feta cheese

• sea salt and ground black pepper

In a mortar and with a pestle (or in a food processor, blending

1 only briefly so that the mixture is still chunky) crush the garlic,

then add the anchovy fillets and crush again to make a rough paste.

Add the shallot and lemon zest, give it a good

2 bash with the pestle and mix well. You should get

lovely wafts of the flavours combining together.

Stir in the capers, herbs and lemon juice, bruising the herbs a

3 little with the pestle but certainly not pounding to a purée.

Season to taste with salt and pepper and add enough olive oil to

4 get the consistency you want – I usually find 1-2 tbsp is enough.

Crumble in the feta and mix before

serving with the crostini slices.

WT Extensions & Outdoor Living Supplement

Flageolet Beans with Chilli & Lemon

• 1 x 410g / 14oz can flageolet beans

• 3 tbsp virgin olive oil

• freshly squeezed juice of 2 lemons

• 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

• 1 garlic clove, crushed

• sea salt and ground black pepper

1Tip the beans into a sieve/strainer and rinse thoroughly

under cold, running water. Allow to drain and

dry a little before transferring to a mixing bowl.

Add the olive oil, lemon juice, chilli and

2 garlic, season well with salt and pepper and

toss the beans in the dressing to coat.

To serve, spoon onto the crostini slices

and enjoy.

A Perfect Day for a

Picnic by Tori Finch is

published by Ryland

Peters & Small at £9.99.

www.gardenscapedirect.co.uk

Freephone 0800 854663

The Wharf, Rye Road, Newenden, TN18 5QG

GardenscapeWT206.indd 1 04/03/2019 12:54

Good cookin’

When it comes to garden friendly meals we Brits do love a good

barbecue and will gleefully rush to stock up on burgers, corn on

the cob and hotdogs at the first sign of sun. But this year why

not try something a little more special. The outdoor pizza oven

is having a real moment right now and is a guaranteed crowd

pleaser for all ages, but there are also more exotic options – a fire

pit is an exciting alternative to a grill and traditional Indian Kadai

fire bowls are very versatile. With some made using recycled

materials, they work as a barbecue, firepit and stunning design

feature all in one. Meet The Firebowl Shop (below left) and

Adena Fires (below right) at the Wealden Times Midsummer

Fair to explore some unique outdoor dining options.

AUTHENTICALLY UNIQUE

Bespoke Design & Build

Garden Rooms • Cladding • Decking

07884 435323 hello@boxclad.co.uk

www.boxclad.co.uk

wealdentimes.co.uk

NoMoreDullWT207.indd 1 24/04/2019 10:46

Green

days

A stylish planter, pot or terrarium will instantly

make an interior more airy and full of life

First row: Tear flowerpot £61 BoConcept boconcept.com, Pink ceramic pot and stand £40 Oliver Bonas oliverbonas.com, Glass

bottle terrarium starter kit £55 The Farthing thefarthing.co.uk, Seagrass hanging plant pot £8 Garden Trading gardentrading.co.uk

Second row: Green glass stand plant pot £32.95 Audenza audenza.com, Glass cube succulent terrarium kit £34.50 Not on the High

Street notonthehighstreet.com Third row: Orchid terrarium £39.99 Dobbies dobbies.com, Spanish tile plant pot £7.95 The Farthing

thefarthing.co.uk, Pink hanging glazed planter £25 M&S marksandspencer.com, Gold pendant ceiling light £95 Hurn & Hurn

hurnandhurn.com Fourth row: Faux floral terrarium £14 Sainsbury’s Home sainsburys.co.uk, Brass hanging terrarium £15 Made

made.com, Blue pot with brass stand £10.79 Red Candy redcandy.co.uk, Round cement planter on stand £50 Habitat habitat.co.uk

WT Extensions & Outdoor Living Supplement

Sweet

Sorbet

Kate Watts styles sunshine

shades at the beautiful

Medicine Garden in Cobham

Photographs: David Merewether

Styling: Kate Watts

Model: Kate Waldron, Fresh Agents

Hair: Louise Carter, Oh So Coco Salon

Make up: Kerry Lucey

Left: Lace dress £169, Experience the Difference; silk & feather Aquila hat

£365, Ellie Vallerini Hats; mother of pearl Aphrodite pendant £160, freshwater

pearl rose gold ring £105, Olivia & Pearl; sandals stylists own Above: Top

£108, skirt £120, Odyl; sinamay Mono hat with silk drape & bow £445, Ellie

Vallerini Hats; mother of pearl 18ct rose gold earrings £275, Olivia & Pearl

109 wealdentimes.co.uk

Dress £199, Odyl; sandals £129.95, leather bag £149.95, MADELEINE; star clips £3 per star, Number 44

White shirt £99.95, MADELEINE; trousers £149, Odyl; freshwater pearl 18ct vermeil rose gold necklace £195,

Olivia & Pearl; metallic leather sliders £79, pearl hair slides £2.50 per slide, Number 44

See

Olivia &

Pearl at Wealden

Times Midsummer Fair.

For 20% off jewellery

throughout May, enter code

May19 at the checkout

at oliviaandpearl.com

111 wealdentimes.co.uk

Organza star Nevada hat £395, Ellie Vallerini

Hats; freshwater pearl rose gold necklaces

24inch £195, 32inch £205, Olivia & Pearl;

fluted sleeve top £155, Melita of Chobham;

leather skirt £329.95, MADELEINE;

embroidered sandals £95, Odyl

Address Book:

A huge thank you to The Medicine Garden for

allowing us to shoot in this magical Victorian

walled garden. You can visit the garden to eat,

drink, relax, be pampered, browse or learn

a new skill. We also got a sneak peak into

the new exclusive botanical cocktail bar, The

Tipsy Botanist, secluded within The Medicine

Garden’s grounds. The bar launches on Friday

3rd May from 6pm. The Medicine Garden is

also available for hire, visit themedicinegarden.com

Ellie Vallerini Hats ellievallerinihats.com /

lovehats.com

Experience the Difference

experiencethedifference.co.uk

Fresh Agents freshagents.co.uk

Kerry Lucey makeupartistsurrey.co.uk,

kerry@klmakeup.co.uk, 07921 149973,

Instagram @kerrylumakeup

Louise Carter Oh So Coco Salon,

07817 425925, louise-carter.com,

Instagram @oh_so_coco_salon

MADELEINE madeleine.co.uk

Melita of Chobham

motherofthebridechobham.co.uk

Number 44 number44oxted.co.uk

Odyl odyldesign.com

Olivia & Pearl oliviaandpearl.com

The Tipsy Botanist 07415 511439,

tipsy@themedicinegarden.com,

Instagram @The_Tipsy_Botanist

wealdentimes.co.uk

112

Hawkhurst -Rye - Lewes

cordeliajames.com

JackieDedmanWT205.indd 1 12/02/2019 CordeliaJamesWT207.indd 14:43

1 08/04/2019 15:37

London has arrived

in the Weald...

Gillian Spooner, a senior Sassoon trained

stylist currently working at the Josh Wood

Atelier in London, is now based in your area.

Gillian’s superb level of expertise in cutting

and styling for ladies can be brought to you

by private appointment, with the benefit of a

free, no-obligation consultation beforehand.

For more information visit

www.gshair.co.uk or call to arrange a

free full consultation on 01622-862735

GS Spooner

Gillian

Swattenden Lane | Cranbrook | TN17 3PS

01580 713189

www.charityfarmcountrystore.co.uk

Casually

elegant

113 wealdentimes.co.uk

SteveCarmoWT140.indd 1 18/09/2013 CharityFarmWT207.indd 14:50

1 02/04/2019 16:54

Cool days are

breeze in this

cotton jacket

by Adini at

Concept

Hair

salon

44 High Street

Charing, Kent,

TN27 0HX

Open

Tues-Fri 10.30-5pm

Sats 10.30-3.30pm

50 High Street, Tenterden 01580 762 564

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114

OdylWT207.indd 1 24/04/2019 AbiGurneyWT207.indd 14:51

1 02/04/2019 11:01

Pure &

Simple

Josephine Fairley explains how

to ditch those environmentally

damaging face wipes and why

your skin will love you for it

Moselle face

cloths, £5 each,

designersguild.com

On the very rare occasions now when I get a wipe

out of my handbag – usually on a train from

Hastings to London Charing Cross on which the

water isn’t working on the loo (please take note anyone from

Southeastern who happens to be reading this), I feel like I have

to make a public announcement. “It’s biodegradeable, you

know,” I whisper to myself while swabbing off train grime with

a gorgeously fragrant L’Occitane Verbena Refreshing Towelette.

With a great record of eco-consciousness, L’Occitane were

among the first to introduce biodegradeable wipes. But the

point about a wipe, even in a germy hand emergency on a

train, is that it’s always going to be a single-use

product – even if it’s compostable. But the

fact is, most still aren’t – featuring polyester

or plastic that can take years, decades or even

centuries to break down in the environment.

Many of us are moving away from

‘throwaway’ products of all kinds. But

happily, there are now many alternatives

to wipes and non eco-friendly cleansing options – starting

with the good old muslin cloth. It was Eve Lom who

originally pioneered these for use with her first-of-its-kind

balm cleanser – a concept embraced some years later by

Liz Earle with good old Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish, £17

for 100ml (with two muslins). Since then, that creamy,

eucalyptus-scented cleanser has definitely been elevated to

the Beauty Hall of Fame and you can walk into countless

bathrooms nowadays and spot one or more of these

“the point about

a wipe is that it’s

always going to be a

single-use product”

distinctive squares of cloth drying on the towel rail.

If you’ve never tried a muslin cloth for removing your

make-up, you’re missing a trick – because not only are these

great for accessing every nook and cranny to remove make-up

(the fold of the chin, the area around the nose), but the very

slightly rough texture of the cloth also exfoliates skin perfectly.

Not too aggressive, not too wimpy – just enough to buff away

dead skin cells on a daily (or more likely nightly) basis, so that

skin is optimally glowing. These cloths can be washed and

reused time and time again – up to 1000 times, in some cases

– and therefore hugely cut down on waste. I like the original

Liz Earle Pure Muslin Cloths, £4.50 for two

(bought separately from the cleanser), and

also the Temple Spa Take It Off Muslin Soft

Cotton Cleansing Cloths, £8.75 for two.

Personally, I now use a muslin-style cloth

with pretty much any kind of cleanser –

certainly, creams and face washes, as well as

balms. But recently, I happened upon the

really beautiful Cocorosa Egyptian Neroli Cleansing Oil, £18 for

30ml cocorosa.co.uk, which is best removed using Cocorosa’s The

Double Cleanse Cloth, £5 – on one side a nicely skin-buffing

muslin, but on the other side, a gorgeously velvety texture

that’s as soothingly soft as a comfort blanket. I happen to love

facial cleansing oils – they’re brilliant for melting away makeup

and I find them especially useful after a day in ‘the smoke’

(which literally is ‘the smoke’, in terms of the pollutants

deposited on the complexion). Infused with orange blossom

115 wealdentimes.co.uk

Beauty

L’Occitane

Verbena

Refreshing

Towelette £9

uk.loccitane

.com

Konjac

Facial Puff

Sponge £8.99

konjacsponge

company.com

Liz Earle Pure

Muslin Cloths,

£4.50 for two

lizearle.com

Face Halo

Pro Makeup

Remover Pads,

£7 boots.com

Cocorosa

Egyptian Neroli

Cleansing Oil,

£18 for 30ml

cocorosa.co.uk

oil, this cleanser smells utterly divine and is a sheer pleasure

to massage into skin, brilliant for loosening make-up.

Designer’s Guild is another more surprising source of great

facial cleansing cloths – although technically, I think they

may be flannels! Their Moselle face cloths are perfect, with

their chunky waffle weave – super-soft, yet very effective for

removing make-up, and they’ve duly become favourites of

mine. If you’re looking for something that matches the colour

scheme of your bathroom (rather than the plain white or

cream of a muslin cloth), you definitely need to check these

out: they come in a range of shades from hot pink to sky blue.

I also need to tell you about a recent discovery, Face

Halo Pro Makeup Remover Pads, £7 each at boots.com. I

was completely cynical about these before I tried them.

They’re circular pads with a surface a bit like a soft flannel,

but they’re made of a material similar to ‘e-cloths’ and

when wetted and squeezed, then massaged into the skin,

gently yet magically remove every last molecule of makeup

– even eye make-up and mascara – without having to

use any cleansing product whatsoever. Don’t ask me how

they work – they just do. (And each pad, while pricier

than a muslin cloth, can be used up to 500 times).

Just one warning here: the key with all cloths (and Halo

pads) is to ensure for your skin’s sake that they’re washed

in a machine regularly – ideally daily, which means you

might need a stack of these. You can just about get away

with drying a facial cleansing cloth on the aforementioned

towel rail overnight – but don’t use a cloth for more than

two days in a row before putting it in a hot wash. Damp

cloths are breeding grounds for germs that you really

don’t want swishing over your precious complexion.

But do you know about konjac sponges…? These are

also fairly extraordinary. Made from a plant used in Asia for

over 1,500 years, a key part of modern by Korean beauty

rituals (‘K-beauty’ is now a huge influence on beauty in

the West), there are many different konjac sponge options,

which are soft to the touch, naturally antibacterial and

very, very effective for removing make-up – whether or

not you use an actual cleansing product with them.

Market leaders are The Konjac Sponge Co.

konjacspongecompany.com, who offer a wide range of these;

sensitive skins could try the Chamomile & Pink Clay

Konjac Sponge, £9.99 – or if you live and/or work in an

urban area, check out the Tourmaline Sponge, also £9.99,

which is infused with tourmaline gemstone powder to help

cleanse and purify. Meanwhile, tapping into the charcoal

trend (more of which next month), there’s a Konjac Facial

Puff Sponge with Bamboo Charcoal, £8.99, suitable for

all skin types. Commendably, The Korean Konjac Sponge

Company’s packaging itself is now biodegradable and

plastic-free, while the products themselves are made from

100% natural vegetable fibre. So when they’re at the very

end of their (long) life, just toss them in the compost.

One last eco note: if you use cotton wool – and for eye

make-up removal, I would never recommend anything else

(even a Halo, except in an emergency) – then be sure to

choose organic. (I use Simply Organic cotton pads; they also do

balls and rectangular pads.) Huge amounts of pesticides and

herbicides are used on cotton, and if it doesn’t say it’s organic,

your cotton wool is almost certainly genetically modified, too.

And there’s nothing ‘clean’ about that…

Jo Fairley is editor of beautybible.com, where you’ll

find the results of the 2019 Beauty Bible Awards,

highlighting winning products across more than 100

categories, tried and tested by panels of real women.

wealdentimes.co.uk

116

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wealdentimes.co.uk

118

HarleyStreetCounsellingTrainingWT207.indd 1 04/04/2019 Larkins-AlehouseWT206.indd 16:32

1 20/03/2019 19:17

Wellbeing

A Year of Wellness

In the last of her columns for Wealden Times, Eminé Rushton

comes full circle – moving from what’s within to considering

the confidence-boosting importance of what is also without

– and shares the contents of her all-natural make-up bag

May: Skin deep

This is the last in my year-long

series of holistic columns for

Wealden Times and it feels

fitting, as we move into the bright

possibility of spring and early summer,

to consider not only those things that

feed us up from within, but to also

reflect on those things we reach for to

boost our confidence from without too.

As a mother of daughters, it has been

important for me to be very comfortable

in my own naked skin – to model the

sort of body-positive behaviour that I

hope my children will naturally inhabit,

too. My mother was the same – ‘diet’

was a word I never heard, and I grew

up in a house where we all delighted in

good food and were taught to embrace

all that we were, irrespective of our

physical appearance. Yet my mother

was, and still is, someone who takes

great pride in her hair and make-up,

and though I’m far more laissez-faire

in my own routine, I do understand

the feel-good factor involved in a

little natural boost, here and there.

I made the switch to all natural

make-up around ten years ago; prior

to that, my make-up bag was an even

mix of ‘department store’ cosmetics

and health-store finds. The natural

make-up industry, however, has

experienced a real revolution in both

formulation and efficacy within the

15 years that I have been a health

and wellbeing editor – and there is

Ilia Multi-Sticks

no longer any compromise involved

in choosing all-natural alternatives

to commercial, synthetic staples. I

have spent years testing products and

there is a great deal of trial and error

involved, certainly. But the following

favourites are ones that have never let

me down and which have duly won

quite a few industry plaudits as a result.

First Base

I’ve never met a woman who wanted

to wear foundation that erased all hint

of her own natural skin. My favourite

bases really bring light and evenness to

the complexion, without that dreaded,

flat, mask-like finish. Nude by Nature

“As a mother of

daughters, it has been

important for me to

model the sort of bodypositive

behaviour that

I hope my children will

naturally inhabit”

Radiant Loose Powder Foundation,

£25, is fantastic – glowy, supremely

fine and hard to be heavy-handed

with. A great buffing, blending brush

is a must for application, and I like

the natural brushes by EcoTools.

Liquid foundation is trickier. I like

the soft, soothing quality of Ere Perez

Oat Milk Foundation, £29 – coverage

is very light and dewy. For a bit

more coverage, without heaviness, I

adore Absolution La Creme du Teint,

£34 – this is my daily staple, and

it’s beautifully hydrating too, but

I do wish they would

introduce more shades

(it’s currently only available

in light and medium). Find it at

Content Beauty and Naturismo.

Colour Ways

The older I get, the more I seem to

be simplifying my routine. What used

to take me 20 minutes now takes five,

and I seem to feel more confident in

my skin as I age – accepting and at

peace, rather than trying to continually

enhance or conceal. Multi-tasking

colour is my go-to – I tend to use the

same shade on lips and cheeks to save

time, and love the Ilia Multi-Sticks,

£32, and Jane Iredale’s Cream Blush,

£24 (which I also dab on lips), and

Jane Iredale’s brilliant Just Kissed Lip &

Cheek Stains, £23, which I’ve abandoned

almost all of my other lip colours for.

Eye High

Because I am forever gesticulating and

touching my face, I rarely wear any

eye make-up. My all-natural makeup

artist friend, however, swears by

the Inika Organic Long Lash Vegan

Mascara, £23, and Ilia’s eye defining

pencils. When my eyes need a lift (if the

children haven’t been sleeping well, for

instance), I reach for Lily Lolo PeepO,

£9 – a pale yellow shade that brings

light and evenness to the area.

Ere Perez

Oat Milk

Foundation

Lily Lolo PeepO

Eminé Rushton is Wellbeing Director-at-Large at Psychologies magazine, and

co-founder of the conscious living blog, The Balance Plan, balanceplan.co.uk

Wellbeing

Natural wisdom

Co-founder of Botanica Health in Rusthall, Tunbridge Wells, Naomi

Murray grew up immersed in natural health – her father is Scotland’s

most experienced herbalist, Brian Lamb. Her natural health shop with

treatment rooms is a haven for locals who seek holistic advice, natural

products and alternative therapies. botanicahealth.co.uk

What one piece of seasonal wisdom

helps you in May? I see spring as a time

for renewal and refreshment. The cleansing

herbs like cleavers (sticky willow), nettle and

dandelion are in full flourish nudging us in

to using these herbs to cleanse the system.

Juicing cleavers with apple and fennel,

making nettle tea and adding a few bitter

dandelion leaves to a salad are a great way

to add these detoxifying herbs to our daily

diet, cleansing the liver and gallbladder.

What one self-care ritual do you never

skimp on? I love going to bed early with

a relaxing tea and a good book. Sleep is so

important for mental health and wellbeing

as the body heals during the night. The

body works incredibly hard during the wee

small hours, and staying up late just doesn’t

allow it to do its job properly. Remarkably

brain cells shrink by 60 per cent when we

sleep allowing for efficient toxin removal.

There is an insomnia epidemic and I always

tell people to be as religious about their

sleep as they are about exercise, nutrition

and personal beauty regimes! Good sleep

has been proven to make people look much

more attractive too!

What’s cooking in your kitchen this

month? I am always buying cookery books!

I love food and am constantly inspired.

I will be making use of the wild garlic,

making fresh pesto and risotto. Medicinal

mushrooms have been on my radar for

a while now and I am using these more

and more in cooking. They are fascinating

and connect all the plants around them

with a kind of underground internet. I

will make lots of salads. I love watercress

(which is good for the lungs) with thinly

sliced fennel, cucumber, red onion and a

salad dressing of olive oil, cider vinegar, raw

honey and fennel seeds.

Share one book that taught you

something amazing about life – and

made you better at living it? Gosh. I have

a book addiction and am never without

a book. It always has to be factual, I very

rarely read fiction. There is too much to

learn! The most influential book I have

read is Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends

and Influence People. I have always been

interested in people, their stories and

experiences so it is innate to me but he

said the best way to make friends is to be

interested in others. It can be rare today to

meet people who are interested in you, but

it’s so important to listen.

What always brings a smile to your face?

Plants and my dog Bonnie. I absolutely love

plants and can become immersed in their

beauty. I know that they are amazing in

their own right, wonderful to look

Stay in touch with Eminé

If you’d like to follow Eminé and continue to learn more about holistic

wellbeing & conscious living, visit her new online journal or subscribe to her

podcast, This Conscious Life; for more information visit thisconsciouslife.com;

you can also follow her on social media at @thisconsciousbeing

Health and beauty tips

Discover a wealth of wellbeing advice

wealdentimes.co.uk/wellbeing

at with proven capabilities for healing.

Walking in the local woods, watching

Bonnie just loving life, and looking out

for herbs and plants along the way, is a

very simple way to relax and be happy.

The Japanese coined the phrase: ‘forest

bathing’, which simply means walking

in nature. Not running or counting

steps but becoming at one with your

surroundings and taking it all in.

What is the best treatment you’ve had

locally? I love an aromatherapy massage

and we have a lovely lady in the clinic

called Janet who treats me. She tailors

the treatment to suit with beautiful

oils depending on your current mood

and situation. It’s funny when you are

young you think how old-fashioned

aromatherapy is and of course it’s not

and, now I am in my late forties, I

appreciate how scents combined with

touch are so therapeutic to body and

soul. I always leave relaxed but renewed,

wishing I could just stay a bit longer.

Eminé says:

try Microblading

A dear friend of mine lost all of her head, brow

and lash hair whilst going through chemotherapy,

so I made it my mission to seek out the very best

permanent make-up experts to help her regain some

lost confidence. Samantha Trace is the best I’ve found

– incredibly experienced, an impeccable eye for detail

and a flawless finish, she is a real brow expert, and

works with women going through treatment for cancer,

and also diagnosed with other chronic conditions, such

as alopecia. I cannot recommend her highly enough.

samanthatracecosmetics.com

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Hot off the veg patch

Jo Arnell salutes the best of seasonal, locally-sourced produce with

effortlessly simple recipes that pack a fresh flavour punch

Words: Jo Arnell Photographs: David Merewether

Food

Out on the plot, this month marks the

end of what was once known as the

hungry gap – the period after the last of

the winter vegetables and before the new season’s

crops. The first of the home-grown harvests start

to arrive in the form of shoots, stems and leaves;

delicious tender asparagus spears and pink-hued

rhubarb (made less stringy by ‘forcing’ under a

cloche) and an assortment of fast growing leafiness

– spinach, rocket, land cress, young brassicas and

loose-leaved lettuces. Before mass food production

and the availability of year round unseasonal

food we would have been especially grateful to

see fresh new shoots. Today it makes ecological

(and possibly biological) sense to eat locally grown

food. Whether you grow your own or not, these

welcome first pickings are worth being hungry for.

Rocket and

walnut pesto

Serves 4 Prep time: 20 minutes.

Cooking time: 20-25 minutes.

This is a variation on traditional pesto, substituting

walnuts and rocket for basil and pine nuts and adding

in a little cream cheese for a smooth, creamy taste.

• 100g rocket

• 50g walnuts

(lightly toasted)

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 100g cream cheese

• 50g grated parmesan

cheese (plus 20g

more to serve)

• 1-2 crushed garlic

cloves (to taste)

• 200g pasta (shapes

such as penne,

rigatoni and spirelli

work well)

1Combine rocket

and walnuts and

either use a food

processor, pestle and

mortar, or finely

chop them until

roughly blended.

2Mix in the other

ingredients and

combine thoroughly.

Bring a large pan of

salted water to the

boil, add the pasta

and cook for 12-13

minutes (or according

to pack instructions).

then mix

3Drain, in pesto – add in

a little of the cooking

water if you prefer a

looser sauce, sprinkle

with parmesan and

serve immediately.

wealdentimes.co.uk

Food

Crab arancini

Serves 3-4 as a starter, or 2 as a light main. Prep time: 20

minutes. Cooking time: 35 minutes, plus 1-2 hours in the fridge

Crab comes into season in the spring and has a delicate

texture, but a flavour strong enough to mix well with

pasta, pastry and rice. These creamy, risotto-style

crab cakes make a great starter or light lunch.

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 120g Arborio risotto rice

• 50ml dry white wine

• 1 tbsp lemon juice

• 1 tbsp grated lemon zest

• 200ml water or light

vegetable stock

• 150g crab meat (white

or a mixture of white

and brown meat)

• 2 tsp finely chopped

tarragon

• Salt and pepper to taste

For the coating:

• 100g plain flour (approx)

• 1 beaten egg

• 100g ready made

fine breadcrumbs (or

Panko) (approx)

• 50ml vegetable

oil for frying

1Heat olive oil in a saucepan

or deep frying pan/

small wok and add the rice.

After a minute add wine,

lemon juice, zest and stock.

Bring to a simmer and cook

gently for 15-20 mins.

2Once the rice has absorbed

most of the liquid (you

may have to add a little

more water until the right

consistency is achieved) stir in

the crab meat, tarragon and

seasoning. Leave the mixture

to cool in the fridge for an

hour or two (or up to a day).

3Place flour, egg and

breadcrumbs into 3 separate

bowls. Now comes the sticky

bit. There’s not really a way

around this (you can try

dusting your hands with flour);

grit your teeth, push up your

sleeves and roll the rice mixture

into balls (I make them just

bigger than bite-size so that

they have to be eaten with a

fork), dip each ball into first

flour, then egg and finally roll

them around in breadcrumbs.

4Fry the balls carefully,

moving them around

in the oil until each one is

evenly golden brown. Serve

while warm with lemon

wedges and a watercress

garnish, or a green salad.

Asparagus tart

Serves 4-6 Prep time: 20 minutes. Cooking time: 20-25 minutes.

If you grow your own, it is very useful to keep a pack of

pastry in the fridge. So many home-grown harvests can

be made into tarts or quiches of various kinds. Asparagus

tart is one of the simplest and most delicious of all.

• 1 sheet ready rolled

puff pastry (or home

made - but if you’ve

grown and harvested

your own asparagus, you

are definitely excused

from making pastry)

• 2 medium onions,

finely sliced

• 20g butter

• 2 eggs, beaten

• 200g asparagus tips,

steamed (for 2-3

minutes only)

• 100g soft goats’ cheese,

cut into 1-2cm chunks

• 1 tbsp oregano

• 50g parmesan cheese

Fabulous food

More recipes to make your mouth water

wealdentimes.co.uk/recipes

1Pre-heat oven to 180ºc

(gas 4). Sauté the onions

in butter for 5 mins until

soft. Leave to cool.

2Roll/unfurl pastry onto

a baking sheet and fold

over the edges to make a lip

around the edges of the pastry.

3Top with onion and then

pour over beaten egg.

Arrange asparagus on top, then

top with goat’s cheese, oregano

and sprinkle with parmesan.

4Bake in the oven for

20-25 mins. Serve warm

or cold with a mixed salad.

For information on Jo’s gardening courses, held in her garden

just outside Woodchurch, Kent, see hornbrookmanor.co.uk

wealdentimes.co.uk

124

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at The Salutation, sandwich, Kent

28 June - 7 July

“As if by Magic”, the inaugural Pelagian Festival presents a new adaptation of The Magic Flute,

otherworldly arias and diverse delights. Afternoon picnics as the performance swirls around you,

evening Opera Cabaret with fine dining and candlelight.

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Presented in association with The Museum of Witchcraft and Magic, the Museum of British Folklore and The Royal Conservatoire of The Hague

125 wealdentimes.co.uk

TheSalutationWT207.indd 1 24/04/2019 14:39

GOODNESTONE PARK

Wingham, Canterbury CT3 1PJ

Robin Hanbury-Tenison

50 YEARS OF

SURVIVAL

INTERNATIONAL

Thursday 23 rd May 5pm

Admission £12 / Students & under 18s £10

Goodnestone Park is delighted to welcome founding chairman Robin

Hanbury-Tenison to tell the story of Survival International

FLAVOURS OF AFRICA

p o p u p s u p p e r

Thursday 23 rd May 7.30pm

££20 per head Licenced bar

Book at www.goodnestoneparkgardens.co.uk

KentishHareWT207.indd

KentishHareWT202.indd

1 09/11/2018

23/04/2019 GoodnestoneParkWT207.indd

15:22

12:31

1 18/04/2019 15:42

wealdentimes.co.uk

126

HushHeathWineryWT207.indd 1 24/04/2019 09:41

Food for Friends

Fabio Vinciguerra, Executive Chef for Hush Heath Hospitality,

shares a succulent lamb recipe featuring tender artichokes

Find out more about the

Hush Heath Estate, its

wines and restaurants

at hushheath.com

Mint-crusted cannon of lamb

You will need, per person

key ingredients:

• 8 new potatoes

• 2 globe artichokes

• 6 asparagus spears

• 200g cannon of lamb

• 6 heritage cherry tomatoes

from the store cupboard:

• lemon wedges

• 50g day-old

focaccia

• 1 clove garlic

• 10g mint

• 1 tbsp English mustard

1Heat the oven to 180°C. In a pot, cover the

potatoes with cold salted water, bring to the

boil and simmer for 5-10 mins, until just cooked.

Drain and allow to cool, then cut into quarters.

2For the artichokes, take off the outer leaves until

you get to the softer leaves in the centre. Peel

the stalks until they are white, rub with a lemon

half as you work to prevent discolouration.

3Slice the artichokes into quarters and with a

spoon scoop out the hairy centre part. Cook

them in a pot filled with water and a wedge of

lemon for 3-4 mins, then leave to cool.

4Boil the asparagus for 3 mins in salted

water, drain and set aside.

5Marinate the lamb with salt, pepper and olive

oil. In a hot pan, sear the lamb for a minute

on each side and remove from the pan.

6In a food processor blitz together focaccia,

garlic and mint. Spread a tablespoon of

mustard over the lamb and then roll in the

mint breadcrumbs until evenly coated.

7Place the heritage cherry tomatoes, artichokes,

asparagus and potato into a baking tray.

Season the vegetables and add a tablespoon of

olive oil, place the lamb on the top and cook in

the oven for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven

and allow the lamb to rest before slicing.

8To serve, place the lamb slices on a plate with a

generous portion of vegetables alongside. Top with

the roasted tomatoes, pour over some of the sauce from

the tray and add a few drops of olive oil to finish.

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wealdentimes.co.uk

128

BattleMowersWT207.indd 1 17/04/2019 CheekyMonkeyS40.indd 10:18

1 25/01/2018 15:42

Garden

uphorbia

Euphoria

Sue Whigham shares her love for this

zingy and diverse garden favourite

The other day we made a welcome pit stop at Dulwich

Park after crawling slowly up the South Circular and

through the dreaded Catford traffic on the way to

Brixton. Luckily we chose Dulwich, which, if you don’t know it,

is really a fabulous park with its boating lake, mature trees and

gardens and perfect for our ‘country’ dog to have a sniff around.

It was like home for him but with more dogs to say hello to

so he was more than happy. So was I, as up by the café was a

large intense planting of Euphorbia amygdalloides var. robbiae

growing in full sun. I know that it’s a plant recommended for

dry, shady areas but this proved that it flourishes absolutely

anywhere – and often where you haven’t intended

it to be. Well, in our garden at least. It’s all the

same to this particular euphorbia whether it

finds itself under a yew hedge or tucked in under

a mature tree. Do you think it would flourish

under the dreaded Leylandii? I suspect it would.

Anyway, it has dark, showy evergreen rosettes

of leaves and lime green inflorescences early in the year.

The other fabulous plant alongside the euphorbia which

in my garden was a battered specimen until a week or so but

is now cut back to the ground, was a spectacular Melianthus

major. Proof of London’s micro climate if ever there was

one. This is an exotic South African plant which has deeply

serrated glaucous grey-green leaves and smells of peanuts.

This one was about to burst into flower and I was quite

expecting a humming bird to appear to drink its nectar à

la Kirstenbosch Gardens in Cape Town. Do grow it if you

have somewhere sunny and sheltered for it to flourish.

Back to euphorbia. First a few facts. The vernacular

name of euphorbia is spurge. Euphorbia are to be found

Europe has 105

species of which

25 are native to

the UK

on every continent, bar Antarctica, and come in thousands

of different forms. The RHS Plant Finder lists over 150

species, varieties and cultivars but really this is the tip of

the iceberg in that at least 2,000 species exist throughout

the world. A lot are native to the European Mediterranean

region – Turkey alone is home to 95 species and Europe

has 105 species of which 25 are native to the UK.

Many euphorbia are succulents and are often confused with

cacti. In tropical East Africa they reach tree like proportions.

The way to tell whether they are cacti or euphorbia is that if

the spines are in pairs then it is euphorbia. Oh, and a sticky

white sap also means it is euphorbia (the

sap is somewhat toxic and to be avoided).

That of a cactus is a clear liquid. E. lathyris

or molewort was always thought to be

grown to put off moles using your garden

as a tunnelling venue but in fact its sap was

used to burn moles or warts off the skin.

The burrowing type of mole aren’t bothered by it at all.

Euphorbia flowers are quite unique and have neither petals

or sepals and instead have a colourful structure close to the

flowers which is known as a leaf or a bract. At the top of the

flower head you’ll see a pair of leaves with a cup like structure

inside it which is known as a cyanthium. The glands round its

rim secrete nectar and are a beacon for pollinators. Ants are

particularly possessive; protecting ‘their’ nectar from all comers!

The strongly honey scented amber flowers of the honey

bush, Euphorbia mellifera, are particularly glorious and the seed

capsules are notoriously ‘noisy’ as they explode on a sunny day.

I’ve always been told that they need a sunny sheltered position

to be their best and in countries like Madeira and the Canary

129 wealdentimes.co.uk

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130

PassmoresWT175.indd 1 11/04/2016 10:54

Garden

Islands, where they are native, and down in the West Country,

where the soil rarely dries out and there is plenty of high

humidity, that is certainly true as they grow to great heights (2

metres). But I have to say that the numerous plants we have here

facing east and all self-seeded into gravel, aren’t too bad either.

It is sometimes difficult to get out of the door in the summer.

Many of the spurges are evergreen and give good winter

structure. Not only that there is such a selection of colours

of stems, leaves and flowers. I just love the frothy bracts of

the big Mediterranean Euphorbia characias forms. They start

flowering in March and go on through to May and beyond.

In their native countries they grow out of crevices in rocks and

on poor soil and they make a good foil for hard landscaping.

Bear in mind too that they are drought tolerant and battle

on quite happily in hot summers – the perfect conditions

for them – whilst around them other plants are flagging.

We were spoilt for choice at Great Dixter’s Spring Fair in

early April. Dixter’s nursery had Euphorbia donii ‘Amjillasa’

for sale. It grows to 1.5 metres with lime green flowers, an

exciting prospect in the border and flowering from midsummer

through to the autumn. A stunning foliage plant. Bob Brown’s

Cotswold Garden Plants were there and his list of euphorbia is

absolutely extraordinary. His catalogue should be compulsory

reading for all plantaholics. Each plant gets marks out of ten for

its attributes! We succumbed and came home with Euphorbia

x arendsii which is a cross between E. wallichii and E. griffithi

and has ‘bronze foliage and flower tints’. This and Euphorbia

‘Excalibur’, another chance cross found at Fromefield Nursery,

near Frome, came from Pelham Plants who had a lovely

selection of plants. E. ‘Excalibur’s new leaves start the season

with a burgundy margin, fading to the edges as the season goes

on and as its jade flowers begin to make themselves known.

A few favourite euphorbias to look out for would include:

• Euphorbia characias subsp. wulfenii ‘John Tomlinson’

which has very large yellow/green flowers tapering towards

the base rather the shape of a light bulb. You get a good

long flowering period from this cultivar with flowering

starting in February and flowering on for five months.

• Euphorbia x martinii was found growing wild in France

in the 19th Century. It looks good as a winter foliage plant,

remaining compact (stems to 2 feet) but when it starts to flower

… wow! Lime green bracts each have a tomato red eye. I like

Val Bourne’s description of this euphorbia having ‘poise’ – with

each rosette having a flower head ‘perfectly placed on top’.

• Euphorbia palustris prefers moist conditions in sun

or shade and is also known as the marsh spurge. It’s

not only a spectacular sight all summer but has good

autumn foliage too with its leaves turning yellow.

• Euphorbia sikkimensis, the Sikkim spurge, is useful as

it flowers from July onwards and has sharp lime green

flowers which is unusual in the border so late. In the spring

the stems produce red leaves and as the season progresses

the plant becomes more willowy and gentle. Finally, blue

green seed pods are set off by the bright green bracts.

Sue Whigham can be contacted on 07810

457948 for gardening advice and help in sourcing

and supply of interesting garden plants.

Previous page: Euphorbia mellifera Top left: E. characias subsp. wulfenii Top right: Euphorbia cyparissias ‘Fens Ruby’

Above: E. characias subsp. wulfenii with Choisya.

131 wealdentimes.co.uk

Garden

Border Basics

Jo Arnell strips back the foliage to put in the

groundwork for beautiful borders

When we look at a beautiful garden border, packed

full of shapely shrubs and perennial colour it’s hard

to imagine that they haven’t always been there and

even harder to imagine that we could create such a thing in

our own gardens. Few things (let’s make an exception for Mary

Poppins and Father Christmas), appear fully formed and we all

have to start somewhere. The soil is the best place to start, as

this will dictate the basic growing conditions, but there are other

considerations too and it pays to think about these before you start

planting. It is daunting if you’re looking at a bare patch of earth

right now, or worse; an inherited space filled with brambles and

wayward bushes, but time and tide – and all those weeds – wait

for no man, so grab your fork and spade and let’s get started.

Situation and aspect

Which way will the border face – will your plants look into the

bright morning sun and then be in shade in the afternoon – or the

direct opposite? Morning sun is east facing, afternoon is west. If the

border is drenched in sunshine all day then it is south facing and

if it plunged into shade for much of the day it faces north. Watch

how the sun moves across the garden through the day, whether

there are buildings, walls or trees that cast shade. If next door has a

huge Leylandii hedge on their boundary it will be sucking moisture,

goodness and light from your side too. Perhaps you are exposed

to the elements, or in a frost pocket. The surrounding micro

See Jo Arnell in the

Home &

Garden Hub

at Wealden Times

Midsummer

Fair this June

climate will have a huge impact on the

growing conditions and may restrict the

plants you’ll be able to happily grow.

Soil

Improve the soil in which the plants will

put down their roots and they will reward you

with healthy growth and plenty of flowers. Easy to say, sometimes

hard to accomplish. Soil is a complex mixture of particles and

living organisms that has formed over many millions of years,

so it is almost impossible to change its fundamental nature, but

you can improve what is there by adding organic matter. Most

of the soil’s qualities will be dictated by the ground rock that

lies beneath, including the pH (how acid or alkali it is), and the

size of the rock particles. Large particles, like sand, will allow

water (and nutrients) to drain quickly through them, whereas

small particles like clay tend to stick together and hold onto

water, becoming a mud bath in winter, but as hard as concrete

in a long, dry summer. The best soil is somewhere in the

middle. This is known as loam, or the gardeners’ Holy Grail.

You don’t need a soil testing kit necessarily, although this will

give you a good idea of the soil’s pH. Go into the garden and pick

up a handful of soil. Squeeze it firmly, then open out your hand

again. If the soil stays in a ball, or feels sticky to the touch, it is

clay. If, on the other hand, the handful feels gritty (you can easily

see the particles) and it won’t stay in a ball, even when wet, then

it is sandy. Loam (and lucky you if you have it), will almost form

a ball when squeezed and then crumble nicely into a heap again.

These are the three main types of soil, but yours could also be silty

(silky, almost soapy to the touch) or peaty (spongy and fibrous).

Preparing for planting

All plants need soil that contains air, water and nutrients in order

to grow. The structure of the soil needs to be hospitable to the

plants’ roots – waterlogged soil will kill the fine roots and may cause

disease. Soils that dry out too quickly in the summer will equally

stress the plant, especially in its first two years, while root systems are

establishing. Incorporating organic matter will help the soil structure,

opening up a compacted soil and helping a poor, sandy soil to

hold onto moisture and goodness. Applying a mulch after planting

will also help to conserve moisture and keep the weeds down.

Weed seeds are lying in wait under the soil – some may

have waited for many years – and will germinate as soon as

they are brought near the surface by digging or cultivating.

Perennial weeds need to be completely removed (including

the roots), but annuals can just be hoed off. Do this with

a sharp hoe and you’ll avoid disturbing the soil.

Top: A joyful jumble of cottage garden plants Right: Adding a

mulch in spring will help the soil structure, conserve moisture

and help to keep the weeds down

wealdentimes.co.uk

132

merriments gardens

Merriments Gardens is the perfect place to

visit in May, with our RHS Partner Garden,

Plant Area, Shop & licensed Restaurant . . .

Lecture ‘Votes for Women! Art and the

Suffragettes’, Sunday 26 May.

Play ‘Three Men In A Boat’, Thursday

6th June. Visit our website for more info.

GreatCompGardenWT207.indd 1 02/04/2019 11:02

so why not take a stroll around the Garden,

browse in the Shop or pick up a plant before

enjoying lunch or tea in the Restaurant

and share our little slice of rural paradise!

GARDEN · PLANTS · RESTAURANT · SHOP

Merriments Gardens | Hawkhurst Road

Hurst Green | East Sussex | TN19 7RA

01580-860666 | www.merriments.co.uk

Kate Ball

Garden Design & Planting Plans

Individual and bespoke garden spaces

07870 627145

www.kateballgardendesign.co.uk

133 wealdentimes.co.uk

MerrimentsWT207.indd 1 12/04/2019 KateBallWT194.indd 14:35

1 08/03/2018 16:53

We’ve got designs

on your garden

Traditional or contemporary, large or small, the team at Gardenproud can help

you create a garden you’ll be proud of. Established 2007, we design, build and

maintain gardens throughout Kent and East Sussex. See our Show Garden at

Corker’s, Paddock Wood.

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Gates Open 9.30am - 5pm (last admission 4pm)

Featuring over 300 exhibitors with a wide variety of goods.

Floral marquees with stunning fl oral displays including

medal winners from Chelsea. There is a food hall,

craft pavilion, brass band & children’s rides.

Garden furniture, water features, garden sheds and

buildings, tools, sculptures, & much more.

Jacqueline Aviolet will be in attendance all weekend to

give answers to your gardening questions.

Tickets available now.

If you are planning a new garden for 2019 then contact Tim Sykes

on 07725 173820, see us on Instagram, or google Gardenproud

Tickets

available at

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Prices: Adults £8.00,

Seniors £7.00

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JustFasciasS34.indd 1 20/07/2017 SBIWT207.indd 17:14 1 24/04/2019 16:30

Garden

The plants

Planting up the border can feel like the most daunting part

of the process; there are so many plants and they all grow

slightly differently – and take up varying amounts of space

in the border. Spacing is important when you are planting

trees and shrubs, because they are going to be in position

for a long time and are difficult (but not impossible) to

move once established. Do not worry too much about

the positioning of perennials; these will positively enjoy

being lifted, divided and repositioned every few years.

Border design takes time to master, but understanding a little

about the conditions that your plants need in order to thrive will

help you to position them in the right place. The style of border

is entirely down to personal taste and it is a broad canvas, but

suiting the plants to their environment needs to come above

just ‘wanting’ the plant. I have wasted a lot of time and money

trying to get plants to grow in the wrong places just because I

like their colour or habit, or just, well having to have them.

I tend to start with the framework plants and then work around

them. I try – and this is not easy – to choose plants for their

shape and how they will play their part in the border as a whole

through the seasons. It might help to think of it like a production.

There are the stars – you only need one or two of these (too much

drama otherwise dahling) – then the other actors, the chorus and

the dancing girls. Don’t forget the props, costumes and backdrops

departments; these often go unsung, but the whole show would

fall apart if you left it to the stars and the dancing girls. Think

about the overall impact, rather than the individual plants and

how it will change over the year, as the flowers come and go.

You can rush out and plant the whole border up at once, or

you can take your time and add in plants every now and then,

depending on the budget and the time available. Planning and

planting a border is very rewarding, sometimes frustrating,

but I like to think it’s completely achievable and comfort

myself with the thought that even the Hanging Gardens

of Babylon might have started off as a hanging basket.

Contact Jo for details of 2019 gardening courses

01233 861149 hornbrookmanor.co.uk

Clockwise: A lovely combination of spring flowering

plants beneath a canopy of trees and shrubs; Annual

Cosmos ‘Purity’ is a great border filler

Plants for places

Dry shade

Heleborus argutifolius – a tough evergreen

with leathery, architectural leaves and pale limeygreen

flowers from February to April.

Buxus (box) – puts up with shade and

inhospitable soil, but may succumb to box

blight if grown in damp, enclosed spaces.

Mahonia ‘Charity’- another candidate with spiky leathery

leaves with scented yellow flowers in the depths of winter.

Euonymus fortunii ‘Emerald Gaiety’ – a tough little

stalwart, this variety has pretty variegated leaves.

Choisya ternata (Mexican orange) – glossy, dark

green leaves and scented blossom in May.

Damp soil

Hosta ‘Sum and Substance’– great big lush

looking leaves. Hostas are slug-prone, but

apparently this one is slightly resistant…

Cornus ‘Midwinter Fire’ – amazing winter

bark in fiery shades on the mound stems.

Rheum palmatum – ornamental

rhubarb with giant leaves.

Astilbe – dainty frothy plumes of flower in summer,

likes damp soil, but not too much shade.

Iris pseudoacorus – an iris that likes to get its feet wet.

Hot, dry conditons

Sedum spectabile ‘Autumn Joy’ has succulenttype

leaves, loved by butterflies and bees, this plant

will patiently put up with most conditions.

Phlomis russelliana – grey sage type leaves with whorls of

pale yellow flowers that fade into architectural seed heads.

Iris (bearded) – good strappy leaves,

likes to bake in the sun.

Stachys – soft felty leaves like ‘lamb’s ears’

- this plant will spread if you let it.

Cistus (Rock Rose) – an evergreen flowering in

June/July, it will put up with poor, dry soil.

135 wealdentimes.co.uk

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Road to the Abbey

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wealdentimes.co.uk

136

CranbrookSchoolWT205.indd 1 11/02/2019 16:18

Education

Reduce Reuse Recycle

How are Wealden schools developing their pupils’ environmental awareness?

straws and the school produced DVD cases are now cardboard.

Nash House (Early Years) are single use plastic free, reverting to

glass milk bottles at snack time and banning plastic wrapped food.

End of life computer equipment is collected by an Environment

Agency registered company for recycling and safe disposal.

Printing and photocopier usages are regularly monitored, with

high volume producers given advice on ways to reduce. We have

also changed the default output to double-sided to save paper.

Dulwich Prep Cranbrook

How do you teach pupils to be more aware of the impact they

have on the environment? The majority of the eco initiatives

introduced at Dulwich have been very much child led, we have

found that the children genuinely care and want to make a

difference. Our Eco Club was set up by the children in Upper

School. We are currently working towards the Eco Schools

Green Flag Award and hoping to become a single use plastic free

school. We created an art installation consisting of hundreds of

plastic milk bottles turned into upcycled birds on sticks displayed

on the fields. When we realised how many plastic bottles were

used at school we started a campaign to ban plastic bottles.

Can classes put any of their ideas into practice within

the school? In the grounds we are fortunate to have an area

set aside as a nature reserve and there is also an area of the

grassland which is left unmown over the spring and summer.

We have a very active Gardening Club which grows vegetables

and fruit as well as flowers. In Little Stream (Years 1-4) Eco

Club activities range from picking blackberries and making

jam to creating bird boxes. Year 3 have been looking at drones

monitoring wildlife, whilst Year 8 considered the use of future

technologies and the environment. Year 5 have been studying

the environmental poems of Roger McGough and Brian Moses

before writing their own responses. We now use washable towels

to dry hands in the art room – they have been made from lost

property towels which were not claimed at the end of term.

What environmentally friendly practices does the school

use on a daily basis? The Estates team only use energy efficient

lamps throughout the school and our newest building has a

biomass boiler. The school kitchen uses local food suppliers and

seasonal produce as much as possible. The school runs recycling

schemes for batteries, pens, biscuit/cake wrappers, plastics, paper/

cardboard and glass. Over the last six months we have been

working on reducing single use plastics in school, so no plastic

Do pupils learn how different communities around the

world care for their environment? During our Art lessons in

Year 1 we upcycled African masks – using rubbish like many

poor children in Africa have to use to make toys. Year 6 have

been looking at the impact of tourism on the French Alps and

Pyrenees in their French lessons. Year 7 created jellyfish from

porcelain and using plastic supermarket bags for the tentacles

(we stitched into them) as a response to plastics in our oceans.

Jellyfish are one of the only creatures multiplying due to

changes in our sea, such as temperature and pollutants. Year

8 sketched drawings of wasps, looking at the plight of bees

and discussing why wasps are important to our eco system.

dulwichprepcranbrook.org

Beechwood Sacred Heart School, Tunbridge Wells

How do you teach pupils to be more aware of the impact

they have on the environment? Lesson are considered and

adapted to the individual subjects. For example, we teach

them about food miles and sustainability in Food Technology.

These lessons are examined in more focus in our Geography

and Science classes where we look at the importance of our

behaviour on the environment and the future of our planet. We

have taken part in energy saving and waste impact surveys.

Can classes put any of their ideas into practice within the

school? Yes, this year the children have

taken part in a number of initiatives

including Eco Week, Waste Week and

Switch Off Fortnight. All of these have

presented opportunities for the children

to discuss and debate their personal

impact on the environment and how

we might reshape our future.

In the Summer term we have plans

for an Eco Garden. The students will

choose exactly what they would like

to plant and develop for sustainability

and environmental consideration.

137 wealdentimes.co.uk

Sutton Valence

Preparatory School

svs.org.uk

Open

Mornings

Prep School

Friday 17th May 2019

Senior School

Saturday 18th May 2019

Book online now

SuttonValenceWT207.indd 1 04/04/2019 15:03

BEECHWOOD

SACRED HEART SCHOOL

INDEPENDENT CO-EDUCATIONAL PREP & SENIOR SCHOOL

learning to be unique, not perfect

Join us for our OPEN MORNING, Wednesday 1st May 2019 : 9.30am-11.30am

12 Pembury Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN2 3QD T: 01892 532747 E: registrar@beechwood.org.uk www.beechwood.org.uk

wealdentimes.co.uk

138

BeechwoodSacredHeartWT207.indd 1 10/04/2019 14:38

Education

What environmentally friendly practices does the school

use on a daily basis? On a daily basis we encourage the

students and staff to recycle their paper waste in the classrooms

and their plastic waste, should they have any, although this is

something we discourage. We have a composter for food waste

and with the introduction of the eco garden, we hope to use

waste such as coffee grounds with the plants and vegetables.

‘A great place

to grow’ for

boys and girls

aged 2 to 11

years

Do pupils learn how different communities around the world

care for their environment? Our students learn about different

communities as part of the curriculum and the Beechwood Sacred

Heart network across the world. As part of our commitment to

becoming an Eco School, we also cover a number of issues via

assemblies and guest speakers. We have recently established an

eco-code which was written and developed by the students for

the students. This will be put in practice for the Summer term.

beechwood.org.uk

Visit,

Explore &

Discover

Claremont School, St.

Leonards-on-Sea & Bodiam

How do you teach pupils to

be more aware of the impact

they have on the environment?

Our Eco Committee is made

up of pupils of all ages. It

meets regularly to discuss

environmental issues as well as present

their findings, fundraising ideas and eco initiatives to their

friends in whole school assemblies. This keeps environmental

issues high on the agenda for both pupils and teachers alike

and influences lesson content across many subjects. More

recently, in Geography children have been learning about

Fairtrade, in Science lessons, the impact of plastic pollution

and the importance of water conservation ... in French!

Can classes put any of their ideas into practice within

the school? At Claremont, we are blessed with 125 acres

of beautiful grounds, incorporating a variety of both

managed and wild habitats including woodland, grassland

and freshwater habitats. We make full use of our outside

resources to teach environmental education which recently

has included an investigation into what happens to different

types of litter and how long it takes to degrade. To do our

bit to address the decline in insect populations, we will soon

be planting a wildflower meadow and lavender border to

attract a greater variety of pollinating insects. This will inspire

further cross curricular work in Maths and Science lessons.

What environmentally friendly practices does the school

use on a daily basis? We have a very ‘hands on’ approach to

recycling at Claremont, with children carrying out weekly

collections of the recycling bins. They have recently taken part

in ‘switch off week’, encouraging teachers and parents at home

to reduce energy use by switching off lights and appliances

when not needed. We also took part in litter picks for the

Big Spring Clean, encouraging their friends to be cleaner

and tidier, particularly in the dining hall at lunchtime.

Spring Grove School, Harville Road, Wye TN25 5EZ

SpringGroveSchoolWT207.indd 1 04/04/2019 15:06

VOICE TRIALS

for boys aged 7 & 8

9 th November 2019

Enquiries are welcome

at any time

Substantial scholarships are awarded

and choristers benefit from an all-round

excellent education at St Edmund’s

School Canterbury.

The Master of Choristers, David Flood,

is always pleased to meet and advise

parents and their sons.

For further details please telephone

01227 865242

davidf@canterbury-cathedral.org

@No1Cathedral

139 wealdentimes.co.uk

CanterburyCathedralChoirWT207.indd 1 02/04/2019 15:04

www.kings-school.co.uk

OPEN MORNINGS

13+ -

Saturday 15 th June

Saturday 5 th October

Sixth Form -

Saturday 22 nd June

Saturday 21 st September

Watch our film

www.kings-school.co.uk/school-film

A 21st Century education within

the historical City of Canterbury

Watch our film

www.junior-kings.co.uk/school-film

www.junior-kings.co.uk

OPEN MORNINGS

Saturday 18 th May

Saturday 12 th October

Do pupils learn how different communities around the

world care for their environment? Through studying

Fairtrade in Geography, pupils have been learning about the

importance of trade justice and how they can support their

global neighbours by purchasing products where producers

receive a fair price for their hard work. Children learn that

Fairtrade producers endeavour to use sustainable farming

methods that do not compromise future environments.

Our efforts to protect our environment and raise

awareness of eco issues have recently earned us a Bronze

Eco Schools Award. We are now working towards Silver.

claremontschool.co.uk

Hilden Oaks, Tonbridge

Education

How do you teach Pupils to

be more aware of the impact

they have on the environment?

Celebrating our centenary this

year has led the Hilden Oaks

community to ask the question

‘How sustainable is our

school?’ This has prompted us

to adopt the ‘One Planet’ initiative, to help

the children become aware of their impact on the environment

with three main goals in mind: Zero Waste, Use of Products

and Materials and developing Sustainable Water.

LCA Folkestone

Monday 29th July -

Friday 2nd August

10am - 4pm Each Day

£65pp

Stella Maris School,

Folkestone

LCA ashford

SING!

DANCE!

ACT!

Musical Theatre Summer Workshops

Performers who join us for our 5 day summer workshops are totally wrapped up in

a wonderful world of musical theatre fun, learning songs and scenes from different

musicals with the aim of putting together a demonstration performance for family

and friends on the final day. The LCA Summer Workshops are the perfect way for

any aspiring performers to spend a week of their summer holidays!! Performers

are given the opportunity to learn new techniques, build confidence, develop skills

and meet like-minded people, whilst working as part of a team! Please enquire as

soon as possible to avoid disappointment. Workshops are designed and suitable

for ages 6-18yrs. Places are limited.

Monday 5th -

Friday 9th August

10am - 4pm Each Day

£65pp

Godinton Primary School,

Ashford

lca-stage.com | 07714 276 241 | info@lca-stage.com

Can classes put their ideas into practice within the school?

Within the classroom the children are encouraged to use

resources wisely and to recycle paper and other materials

wherever possible. Our gardening club grow fresh produce

using our home-made compost and this term will be planting

a ‘nectar bar’ to support bio-diversity for bees.

What environmentally friendly practises does the school

use on a daily basis? Our delicious lunches are made from

locally sourced fresh produce as well as ensuring other

ingredients do not contain palm oil. We have had great success

reducing waste from snack packaging and many classes are

now ‘waste-free’. Children bring in reusable water bottles and

we provide refill water stations which are also available for our

whole school community. Water Rangers check that all taps are

switched off after use. In addition, the Eco Club have made

notebooks reusing single sided paper. The Young Enterprise

initiative not only raises money for good causes but also uses

recycled/upcycled materials and we will soon be collecting

plastic bottle tops and used ink cartridges for recycling.

LCA-StageAcademyWT207.indd 1 23/04/2019 14:44

Wednesday 15 May 9:00–11:00

Hilden Oaks

Help your child reach their full potential

Do pupils learn how different communities around the world

care for their environment? Within Geography lessons the

children learn about the physical and urban water cycle, drought

and the management of water, rivers and pollution around the

world. Hilden Oaks have raised money for Water Aid in the past

and last Christmas donated reusable water bottles (filled with

stationery and first-aid supplies) for Gambia to enable children

there to have clean water throughout their day.

hildenoaks.co.uk

Centenary Bursaries

Available for children in Years 1 & 2 from September 2019.

Please contact the Bursar, in confidence, for further information.

Hilden Oaks Preparatory School & Nursery

38 Dry Hill Park Road

Tonbridge

Kent TN10 3BU

01732 353941 bursar@hildenoaks.co.uk

Unlock the door to your child’s future

2019

1919

141 wealdentimes.co.uk

HildenOakSchoolWT207.indd 1 12/04/2019 15:09

Reception Places

Available

At Vinehall we question answers as well as

answering questions.

All children come into the world naturally curious, eager to play, impatient

to explore and hungry to learn.

At Vinehall we harness this natural curiosity by encouraging children to

ask questions. We want our pupils, even the very youngest, to think and

reason for themselves; so our teachers are as likely to question answers

as they are to answer questions.

Come and see how academic innovation is leading exciting curriculum

changes throughout our school.

OPEN MORNING 17th May 2019

Email: admissions@vinehallschool.com

Call: 01580 883090

Visit: www.vinehallschool.com

Vinehall

CO-EDUCATIONAL DAY, BOARDING SCHOOL &

NURSERY, FOR CHILDREN AGED 2-13

Education

Brain Waves

Hilary Wilce discovers that, in certain situations, we should be working

with our mobile phones, not necessarily against them

Mobile phones are a really big headache for schools.

Now that nine out of ten teenagers own a smartphone,

schools have to have clear and coherent policies on

what students do with them during the hours they’re in school.

Obviously, a phone vibrating away with texts and alerts

is going to distract anyone from learning. And at break

times, they draw children away from real-life conversations

and activities, and potentially into cyber bullying and other

dubious online occupations. One head described his “light

bulb” mobile phone moment when he went outside at

lunchtime and saw no one playing football, laughing, chatting,

or practising their dance moves. Only groups of students

clumped together silently staring at shared screens. There are

an awful lot of downsides to having phones in schools.

On the other hand, phones are now intimately woven into

daily life and can be brilliant classroom aids. Why should

a student spent precious time copying out instructions or

homework assignments, when they can whip out their phones

and take a quick picture? Phones are great for checking something

fast, or for looking up an unknown word, or taking some quick

notes. Pupils can access brilliant physics diagrams, famous

Renaissance paintings, or stunning photographs of geographical

features at the press of a button. We don’t make students write

on parchment with quill pens any more, so why keep them held

back in the pre-digital world of pen, paper and textbooks?

So schools have to steer whatever course they can through

this push-pull minefield of mobile phone use. Some ban phones

from schools altogether. Others demand that they be locked-up

during the school day. Still others allow them in school just as

long as they are kept in bags, and neither seen or heard, while

more lenient schools allow them to be used at breaks or playtimes.

In fact there are quite a few schools which have developed

escalator policies – allowing students increased access as they

grow older and move on into the higher years of school. This,

these schools hope, will encourage a sensible, self-moderated

phone habit – although given how terrible all we adults are at

unhooking ourselves from the magic screen, this seems unlikely.

However, out of this patchwork of policies, a new consensus is

slowly emerging, which is that phones can be good servants but

they are truly terrible masters. Evidence is mounting that they

are seriously detrimental to learning, and that even a switched-off

phone in a bag or a pocket can cause a fall-off in concentration.

Meanwhile, a London School of Economics research

project that looked at schools in four English cities found

that after banning phones there was a six per cent rise

in test scores across the board. Last summer, the then

culture secretary Matt Hancock called on schools to ban

them, and a group of Conservative MPs said they would

like all phones to be confiscated at the school gates.

Outright bans on phones in school time are now definitely

on the increase, not only in the classroom but also at playtimes

and lunch hours, as it becomes clearer and clearer that children

minus their phones are brighter, more active and more alert.

Against that, though, schools have to recognise some

realities. Phones are how parents and children keep in touch,

so young people need them before and after school. And there

are times when phones can be truly helpful and supportive of

classroom learning. If a school feels completely confident that

its teachers can handle contained phone use, it may decide

that students can keep them in school for occasional use.

143 wealdentimes.co.uk

Art Course

Join us for a two day plein air art course at Swallowtail Hill, one

of the South East’s most diverse and beautiful wildflower meadow

sites. Led by local artist-teacher Catherine Farr, the two days will

move from preliminary sketching to a final sustained piece of work.

All media welcome.

The course includes two full days’ teaching, two nights’

accommodation in one of our wonderful and secluded glamping

cabins and cottages, and all meals.

Swallowtail Hill is a truly special place - 40 acres of

wildflower meadow, ponds and woodland, run purely for

conservation - near Rye, East Sussex.

From 20th to 22nd May. Prices start from £235pp for

two people sharing a cabin, or £350 sole occupancy.

Call 01797 260 890 or visit www.swallowtailhill.com

for more details and to book your place.

£1 Off Entry with this Advert *

( Original advert from magazine only, no copies, one advert to be used per person Ref WT)

SwallowHillFarmWT207.indd 1 11/04/2019 14:31

BOUTIQUE & ARTISAN

Shopping Fair

Friday 10 May

Join us for a fabulous day of Shopping with

60 Boutique Owners & Artisan Makers!

Gorgeous Clothing / Unique Accessories / Beauty Products

Artisan Makers / Gifts / Homeware / Food / Drink

East Sussex National Hotel, Uckfield TN22 5ES

Open 104 / £4 cash entry / Restaurant / Free Parking

WIN £50 to spend countrylifestylefairs.co.uk

Festivals & Fairs

Sun 12 May 11am-4.30pm

Godinton House &

Gardens, Godinton Lane,

Ashford, Kent TN23 3BP

Plant Fair

An annual plant fair designed

to help conserve the diversity of

plants available to gardeners. Local

specialist nurseries sell a great

range of interesting and unusual

plants and are more than happy

to share their knowledge and give

advice on the plants they sell.

Entry: Adults £5

01233 643854 /

godintonhouse.co.uk

Sun 26 May 10am-4pm

Cranbrook, Kent

Cranbrook Goes

Nuts in May!

Cranbrook High Street will be

filled with stalls stocking plants,

food and drink, crafts and handson

children’s activities. There will

also be bands, goody bags and a

decorate your wellies competition.

Take the chance to look around

the sights of Cranbrook, including

Cranbrook Museum, the Union

Windmill and St Dunstan’s

Church, which will be running

tours of its tower. Free parking.

Entry: Free

cranbrookgoesnutsinmay.co.uk

Garden

What’s On in May

Sun 19 May 12noon-5pm

Knockholt allotments,

Sevenoaks, Kent TN14 7LD

Knockholt Open

Gardens

Ten private gardens, a bluebell

wood and the Knockholt

allotments will be open for visitors

to wander around, enjoy a cup of

tea/coffee and some homemade

cake. Organised by the Knockholt

Horticultural Society, all proceeds

in aid of Hospice in the Weald.

Put TN14 7LD in your sat nav

and come and enjoy a relaxed

afternoon out. Families welcome

but no dogs.

Entry: £7 on the day, under 14’s free

01959 532002 /

knockholthorticulturalsociety.co.uk

Sat 25 – Mon 27 May 10-5pm

All Saints Church, High Street,

Biddenden, Ashford TN27 8AH

BIDDENDEN FLOWER

FESTIVAL 2019: “MEMORIES

ARE MADE OF THIS”

Stunning floral displays set

in Biddenden’s beautiful 12th

century church. There will be

refreshments on sale, musical

interludes throughout the day, the

chance to see the church tower

which will be open daily and

Morris Dancers performing at the

Lych Gate at 3.45pm on Saturday.

Entry: Free

jeannetteoatway@btinternet.com

Music & Theatre

Sat 11 May 7-10pm

Camden Arms Hotel, High

Street, Pembury TN2 4PH

RNLI “LONDON NIGHT”

A traditional sing-a-long with

accomplished pianist (song sheets

provided) and two-course meal

for just £15. All profits to the

Lifeboats. Tickets from Pembury

Pharmacy or 01892 823759 /

825686.

paulcrook@uwclub.net

Shopping

Fri 24, Sat 25 and Sun 26 May

9am-4.30pm

Silcocks Farm, Grange Road, St.

Michael’s, Tenterden, TN30 6TL

The Three French Hens’

Three Day Brocante

Sale

The Three French Hens’ latest

brocante sale offers a selection

of home and garden collectibles

almost entirely sourced from

France. Plus, while you’re there be

sure to stop by Silcocks Café and

Silcocks Farm Shop and Butcher.

07803122820 / 07983360885 /

thethreefrenchhens.co.uk

Weddings

Sun 19 May 11am-3pm

Penshurst Place, Penshurst,

Tonbridge, Kent TN11 8DG

Penshurst Place &

wealdentimes.co.uk

144

CountryLifestyleFairsWT207.indd 1 15/04/2019 12:19

SUMMER 2019

May – August

Youth Workshops | Education | Gallery | Community

Kitchen & Bar

Box Office 01892 678 678 | trinitytheatre.net

The stage is set

TrinityTheatreWT207.indd 1 09/04/2019 14:17

18+

AT THE

MON 17 –

SAT 22

JUNE

TUE 4 – SAT 8 JUNE

MON 10 JUNE

SAT 15 JUNE

The hit movie with on screen

lyrics so everyone can join in!

CRAIG REVEL HORWOOD

AS MISS HANNIGAN

Irresistible

Irresistible FUN!

Sin g FUN!

-a-

Lon g -a

ROYAL

PHILHARMONIC

ORCHESTRA

LAST NIGHT OF

THE PROMS

SUN 14 JULY

7.30PM

THU 27

JUNE

WED 3 JULY

SUN 14 JULY 2PM

/The Orchard Theatre @OrchardTheatre theorchardtheatre

TICKET OFFICE 01322 220000

wealdentimes.co.uk

146

WhiteRockTheatreWT207.indd 1 04/04/2019 17:18

What’s On in May

Gardens Wedding Fair

Don’t miss the Penshurst Place

Wedding Fair for a chance to

discover the beauty of this historic

countryside retreat. Enjoy a

complimentary glass of bubbly

as you meet with a collection

of local suppliers and enjoy the

opportunity to see Penshurst Place

dressed for a wedding.

Entry: Free

banqueting@penshurstplace.com /

weddings.penshurstplace.com

Workshops &

Trials

Sat 11 May 10am-12.30pm

Charing Surgery, 1 Surgery

Close, Charing, Ashford, Kent

TN27 0AW

Breathe Better with

Yvonne Fernando

Become more aware of how you

breathe and make conscious

changes to breathe better with

NLP Master Practitioner &

Life Coach, Yvonne Fernando’s

latest workshop led by Antonia

Boyle. Includes exercises, tips and

different techniques.

Entry: £45

01233 878474 /

yvonnefernandonlp.co.uk

Sun 19 May 2-5pm

Tonbridge Town Sailing Club,

Haysden Lake, Lower Haysden

Lane, Tonbridge TN11 9BA

Free trial sailing

Try sailing for free this month at

Tonbridge Town Sailing Club.

This family-friendly club offers

its members the chance to learn,

train, race and experience the joy

of sailing, and for one day it is

open for you to give it a go with

a special open day membership

package. Refreshments available

to purchase from the clubhouse.

Booking not required.

tonbridge.sailing@facebook.com /

tonbridgesailing.org

Wed 22 May 7pm- 9.30pm

Stalisfield Village Hall,

Stalisfield Road, Faversham,

Kent ME13 0JE

Djembe Drumming –

Healing Power

Created by NLP Master

Practitioner & Life Coach, Yvonne

Fernando, this workshop with

Richard Latham, will demonstrate

the positive benefits of djembe

drumming for stress relief,

confidence, communication and

self-development. Good for mind,

body and soul.

Entry: £55

01233 878474 /

yvonnefernandonlp.co.uk

Looking forward:

June

Sat 1 Jun 10am-6pm

River Walk, Tonbridge

Tonbridge Art Fair

Following its great success last

summer, Tonbridge Art Fair

returns with even more artists this

year, showing paintings, drawings,

sculpture, jewellery, glass, ceramics

and more. Visitors can enjoy

demonstrations and a chance to

chat with the artists themselves,

some local and some not so local.

The Fair is free to visitors and

promises an enjoyable day out by

the River Medway. Artists wishing

to take a stall should contact

tonbridgeartfair@gmail.com for

details but don’t delay as space

is limited.

tonbridgeartfair@gmail.com

Listings are correct at time of going

to press but may be subject to change.

Readers are advised to check with

venues before making arrangements.

We can list your event in the next

issue of Wealden Times for only

£15+VAT! Please supply up to 200

words that should include date, time,

venue, contact for enquiries and any

entry price to whatson@wealdentimes.

co.uk or send with payment (cheques

payable to Priceless Media Ltd.)

to What’s On, Wealden Times,

Kettle Chambers, 21 Stone Street,

Cranbrook, Kent TN17 3HF. Wealden

Times reserves the right to edit text to

fit space allocated. If you would like

your event listing to be accompanied

by a full colour reproduction (42.5

x 62.5mm) of a poster or other

pictorial image, the total charge

will be £95+VAT. Deadline for the

May issue is 10 May 2019.

TULIP FESTIVAL

22nd April every day to

7th May; 10am - 5pm

35,000 tulips in 108 varieties!

SCULPTURE IN

PARTICULAR

25th May every day to

1st June; 10am - 5pm

Over 150 sculptures on

Café and Gift Shop display and for sale

Open Tuesday to Saturday and Special Event Days

Ticehurst, TN5 7HE 01580 200888

pashleymanorgardens.com

PashleyManorWT207.indd 1 11/04/2019 10:06

PRE-BOOK YOUR TICKETS

MAKING MEMORIES FOR 90 YEARS

5,6,7 JULY 2019

www.kentshow.co.uk 01622 633060

Kent Showground, Maidstone ME14 3JF

147 wealdentimes.co.uk

KentShowgroundWT207.indd 1 03/04/2019 10:45

The complete kitchen service...

...from a hinge to a complete makeover

The supply & replacement of

drawers, doors, worktops,

hinges, all fitted kitchen

components/appliances, door

renovation & polishing, bedroom

doors & bespoke cabinets.

Please call

01689 850000

www.thekitchendoctor.com

Serving London & the South-East since 1984

Full

colour

advertising

from as

little as £40

a month.

Call Jen on

01580 714705

Book: www.hephzibahuk.com

Email: emma@hephzibahuk.com

MAY 18TH

Let your yes be yes and

your no be no

An introduction to healthy

boundaries both horse and human.

JUNE 22ND

one body Many parts

Explore herd dynamics and

horse/ human relationships.

Location - Woodchurch, Kent

Time - 10:00am - 4:00pm

Price - £65 Lunch Included

One to one and group sessions available

Call Emma for a chat on 07769 682320

KitchenDoctorWT145.indd 1 28/01/2014 10:12

Pop-up Shop Now Open

Ockley Road, Hawkhurst TN18 4DP

bespoke ironwork for home & garden

07765 344298

www.cranbrookiron.com

Open: Wednesday - Saturday

hephzibahWT207.indd 1 23/04/2019 11:33

Ibbett Mosely

AuctIoneers & VAluers

Limited Liability Partnership

Primary logo

The Auctioneer's Next Sale Will Be On

Wednesday 15th May 2019

clare langdon

The Auction Rooms, Argyle Road, Sevenoaks, Kent, TN13 1HJ

Commencing at 12.30pm | Viewing 10.00am - 12.30pm

Tel: 01732 456731 Web: www.ibbettmosely.co.uk

125 High St, Sevenoaks, Kent TN13 1UT

Registered in England No. 0C341637 Regulated by RICS Registered at the Sevenoaks office as Ibbett Mosely Surveyors LLP

CranbrookIronWT177.indd 1 25/10/2016 IbbettMoselyWT206.indd 15:41

1 06/03/2019 17:07

SATURDAY 13 TH JULY

Event Sponsor:

To book tickets please:

visit leedscastleconcert.co.uk or call 0845 652 6262

/Classicalconcertleedscastle

Media Partner:

@classicalconcrt

www.dhallcabinetmaker.co.uk

secondary Primary logo logo & pattern

clare langdon clare langdon clare langdon

I N T E R I O R S

secondary logo & pattern

clare langdon

Made to measure curtains, I N T E Rblinds I O R Sand soft furnishings

I N T E R I O R S

Showroom by appointment

clare langdon

I N T E R I O R S

clare langdon

David C = 0 Hall

* High Quality Bespoke Furniture

* Antique C = 0Restoration of all types

M = 5

* Carving Caleigh and Copy Carving

Y = 5

* Polishing K = 60

NO VAT

Phone 01797 270761

Email: Caleigh hallcrocket@aol.com

LeedsCastleWT207.indd 1 17/04/2019 DavidHallWT108.indd 16:34

1 14/01/2011 15:27

fonts

clare langdon

01580 712209

colour 01580 palette

clare@clarelangdoninteriors.co.uk

712209

clare@clarelangdoninteriors.co.uk

www.clarelangdoninteriors.co.uk

Association House, St David’s Bridge,

Association

Cranbrook,

House,

Kent,

St David’s

TN17 3HL

Bridge,

I N T E R I O R S

Celebrate summer with friends and family at the Leeds Castle

Cranbrook, Kent, TN17 3HL

ClareLangdonWT200.indd 1 12/09/2018 17:10

Celebrate Classical Summer summer Concert with friends on Saturday and family 13th at July the 2019. Leeds Castle

C = 20

Classical Summer Concert on Saturday 13th July 2019.

This year will be a unique celebration of Leeds Castle’s

M = 15

M = 5

This year will be a unique celebration of Leeds Castle’s

Y = 72

remarkable 900-year milestone, with the world premiere of

colour palette Y = 5

Cabinet Maker

remarkable 900-year milestone, with the world premiere of

K = 5

K = 60

“A Tribute to Leeds Castle” performed by the Royal Marines Clare Langdon business card 3 heavier font.indd 1 15/05/2018 21:49

Band “A Tribute accompanied to Leeds by Castle” the Royal performed Philharmonic by the Royal Orchestra. Marines Clare Langdon business card 3 heavier font.indd 1 15/05/2018 21:49

Antique Restorer

Band accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Enjoy a wonderfully varied programme ranging from the

Enjoy traditional a wonderfully classics to varied world programme class soloists, ranging all rounded from the

fonts

off with

traditional a spectacular classics firework to world and cannon class soloists, finale. all rounded off with

C = 20

a spectacular firework and cannon finale.

M = 15

Gotham Book Y = 72

K = 5

wealdentimes.co.uk

148

Gotham Book

I N T E R I O R S

Competition

WIN A 7 NIGHT BOATING HOLIDAy WORTH

£225 PER PERSON COURTESy OF

Le Boat and Wealden Times have joined forces to give one lucky winner a chance

of winning a seven-night holiday on the beautiful River Thames for up to eight

people. As the captain of your very own self-drive cruiser, escape from the hustle

and bustle of everyday life whilst discovering the famous river at your own pace.

Sail back in time whilst you admire some of England’s most majestic

landmarks, including Hampton Court Palace and Windsor Castle. Meander

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up and enjoy a scenic stroll, stopping in a quaint riverside pub before returning

to your cruiser to watch the sun set from the comfort of your top deck.

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celebrating 50 years of experience, Le Boat offers the opportunity to discover the

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HOW TO ENTER: For your

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eight people, just answer the

following question: How many

years of experience are Le Boat

celebrating this year? Enter

your answer with your contact

details in the online form at

wealdentimes.co.uk/competition

by 31 May. Terms and

conditions apply, please visit

wealdentimes.co.uk/competition

for full details.

Congratulations to Tina Penny who wins our March competition for a beautiful Cashara jacket

149 wealdentimes.co.uk

Jane Howard’s

Fables from

the Farm

It’s a riot of sound this month at Coopers Farm

Oh how I love the Dawn Chorus. The joy of being

drowsy, warm and still tucked up in bed listening

to nature’s great symphony is one of life’s real

pleasures. My dear old Dad – sadly no longer around – was

able to identify most common birds by their song, a skill

that has sadly not been passed down. But I do know it’s

the robins who get the show rolling just before daybreak

while the blackbirds, lazy stop-in-beds, don’t join in till

the sun is well up. Apparently the chorus is about territory

and love interest but still, it does seem strange to spend

so much effort advertising one’s presence when there are

often dangerous predators also making an early start.

The chickens do that, too. Our cockerel, Phil, gets

going around 4am some mornings – I’m convinced

these especially early starts have more to do with flights

coming over the farm on their way to Gatwick than any

chicken ancestory stuff. You might think that the time

at which cockerels start up is influenced by the changing

hours of night time and day time, but you’d be wrong.

In an experiment where cockerels were kept in constant

daylight for a month, at the end of that

month the cockerels still crowed at what

they thought would be dawn – and they

were only ever a few minutes out. This

experiment also found that when kept in

groups, the highest ranked cockerel had

priority in breaking the dawn, with the

other guys letting him have his own ten

minutes of glory before they too got going.

Phil is our only cockerel, he doesn’t have

competition

from other

roosters

but maybe he sees the 04.20

EasyJet flight from Alicante as

more than just an aeroplane

and needs to get in first.

The hens are also

unnecessarily vocal. Having

laid an egg they then squawk

and screech making what

is generously referred to as

an ‘egg song’. And if he’s

around, Phil will add his

hap’orth to the choral

ensemble – it’s awful.

But while the chickens

When a cow has

delivered a calf she

will talk almost

constantly to it for

the first few hours of

its life with a very

low gentle moo

are tuneless and noisy other sounds around the farm are far

more pleasing. When we’re calving I go down to see if there

are any new arrivals and you can often tell what’s going on

long before you get there by the sounds coming from the

shed. When a cow has delivered a calf she

will talk almost constantly to it for the

first few hours of its life with a very low

gentle moo. The calf uses this sound and

her smell to recognise Mum, but as the

days pass and the youngsters get more

confident and go walkabout the sweet

melodious rumble gets replaced by a loud

bossy moo demanding they return from

wherever they’re not supposed to be.

But of course of all the noises around

the farm the one we most look forward

to every year is the singing of the

nightingales and at Coopers Farm we are lucky enough

to attract a good number of these tiny brown birds. The

hazel, ash and sweet chestnut woodlands of the Weald were

coppiced for hundred of years by a rural workforce needing

firewood. The practice created lots of low thick undergrowth

much favoured by the nightingales. Sadly the decline in

woodland management has been matched by a huge decline

in nightingales, but if you haven’t ever enjoyed another of

nature’s musical miracles, pop down to Stonegate Station

late one evening in May, park up, listen and be amazed.

Follow Jane Howard – and the farm – on Instagram @coopersfarm

wealdentimes.co.uk

150

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Authorised and Regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

www.

interiors.co.uk

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