Wealden Times | WT209 | July 2019 | Summer supplement inside
Wealden Times - The lifestyle magazine for the Weald
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PRICELESS
JuLy 2019
Wealden Times
The lifestyle magazine for Kent & Sussex
SUMMER Supplement inside
Inspirational Interiors • Fabulous Fashion • Delicious Dishes
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
UK distributor of Decking, Cladding
& Flooring Products by Thermory ®
UK Distributor
of OOD Houses
www.roundwood.com
OAK FRAMED BUILDINGS
QUALITY DECKING
& CLADDING
OAK & WALNUT
FLOORING
HOME & GARDEN
FEATURES
OOD HOUSES
Tel: 01435 867 072
Round Wood | Newick Lane | Mayfield | East Sussex | TN20 6RG
DOES YOUR LAND HAVE
DEVELOPMENT POTENTIAL?
We are actively looking for land for
residential development all over
the South East.
Based in Kent, family run Jarvis
Homes is one of the oldest known
house builders in the country and
has unrivalled experience in creating
the highest quality homes using
traditional methods.
We have a great track record of
successful planning applications that
maximise land values.
Plots of any size will be considered,
from half an acre to over 100 acres!
Contact us in confidence
land@jarvishomes.com
01580 761300
www.jarvishomes.com
JarvisNewHomesWT209.indd 1 12/06/2019 11:22
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 £220.00+VAT / Mirror Wills from £350.00+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
8
KingsfordSolicitorsWT208.indd 1 07/05/2019 11:00
Contents
July 2019
24
96
SPLASH OUT
Maggie Alderson finds
homes for water lovers
105
112
SCENTS OF SUMMER
The latest perfumes to love
from Josephine Fairley
130
70
TIME FOR A CHANGE
Considering downsizing? Here’s
what you need to think about...
31
40
63
70
93
96
NOTEBOOK
A collection of the best
events coming up soon
FAIRGROUND ATTRACTION
The St. Leonards Bath House
transformed with neon, a bowling
alley and industrial style
GET THE LOOK
Pieces to help imitate the
Bath House’s look
A FINE VINTAGE
A tour of Squerryes, a magnificent
17th Century estate
GET THE LOOK
Our guide to adding some
Squerryes style to your home
FAIR STYLE
Kate Watts’ street style finds from
Wealden Times Midsummer Fair
109
110
112
119
124
WILD AT HEART
Wild Nutrition’s Henrietta
Norton shares summer health
and beauty tips
SUMMER FITNESS
FUN WITH OR
WITHOUT KIDS!
Sarah Maxwell’s tips to make
exercise fun and manageable
BAKED TO PERFECTION
Mouthwatering
sourdough recipes
WATER RETENTION
IN POTS
Tips for potted plants
from Sue Whigham
MAD ABOUT THE BEES
Jo Arnel tells us why she thinks
bees are the bees knees!
Published by Priceless Media Ltd. Kettle Chambers, 21 Stone Street,
Cranbrook, Kent TN17 3HF | Call 01580 714705 | Email info@wealdentimes.co.uk
Visit wealdentimes.co.uk Copyright © 2019 Priceless Media Ltd. The views of
the advertisers & contributors are not necessarily those of Priceless Media Ltd.
133
134
139
140
SCHOOL’S OUT FOR SUMMER
Hilary Wilce spells out the
advantages if the lengthy summer
holiday ceased to exist
WHAT’S ON
All the best events this July
COMPETITION
Win a two-night stay, with breakfast,
at Molly Dishwasher in Sussex
FABLES FROM THE FARM
Jane Howard explains the breeding
cycle of the Coopers Farm herd
SUMMER
SUPPLEMENT
28 pages of pools,
events, cocktails,
staycations and
summer fun
After page 94
9
Perfect pools & pool rooms
● Family festivals & events ● Heavenly cocktails & canapés
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.
Follow us on: 020 7600 1660
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.
CELEBRATE SUMMER AT CONNINGBROOK LAKES
WITH OUR SUMMER BUNDLE, WORTH UP TO £5,000*
SET AMONGST 31 ACRES OF LAKES, COUNTRY PARK
AND NATURE RESERVE IN ASHFORD, KENT
• Find out how we can help you get the keys to your new home, with incentives tailored to suit you*
• Explore our beautiful collection of 2, 3 & 4 bedroom homes. New show home now open!
PRICES FROM £299,000
CONNINGBROOKLAKES.COM | 01233 216099
MARKETING SUITE & SHOWHOMES OPEN DAILY: 10AM - 5PM
WILLESBOROUGH ROAD, ASHFORD, KENT TN24 9QX
*Incentives available for a limited time only on selected plots. Please speak to a member of the sales team for more information. All information correct at time of print. Photography is indicative only.
King’s Meadow
will transform your life
Something rather unique is being created in Kent and it could
be the start of an altogether better way of living for you.
King’s Meadow is a stunning new residential park exclusively for over 45s in a
tranquil and picturesque location. Whether you’re looking to release equity from
your existing home or enjoy an alternative lifestyle that’s only a 40-minute train
commute from London, take a closer look at what’s happening at King’s Meadow.
Visit our Show Home Open Weekend
at King’s Meadow
Friday 12th - Sunday 14th July
For full details go to
serenityparks.co.uk/show-home-open-weekend/
King’s Meadow Residential Park, Romney Street, Sevenoaks TN15 6XW
Call us free on 0800 644 4499
Email info@serenityparks.co.uk
Follow us @Serenity Parks
serenityparks.co.uk
Straight talking,
no bull.
Selling your home is a big decision − don’t settle for less.
We’re here to provide clear and considered advice, personalised to you.
3a Stone Street, Cranbrook, TN17 3HF
01580 714888 | www.cjpc.co.uk
Orlestone Oak
Tailor-made Oak Joinery and Oak Flooring
OAK
ORLESTONE
OAK
ORLESTONE
OAK
ORLESTONE
SOLID OAK fLOORING
PRE-fINISHED & DISTRESSED fLOORS
NEW SHOWROOM DISPLAYS
OAK STAIRCASES & WINDOWS
OAK DOORS AND PORCHES
OAK DECKING & BEAMS
www.orlestoneoak.co.uk 01233 732179
SHOWROOm Open mOnday tO FRiday 9am-5pm, SatuRday 9am-12pm
OrlestoneOakWT167.indd 1 02/12/2015 11:42
Urban Grow Pod
Eco Friendly - Locally Designed & Made - Complete Service
At times we all need a place to think, a space for ideas
to flourish, for minds to rest and dreams to grow.
Do you need more room ? We can
help you maximise your garden with
8m2 to 30m2 garden rooms.
- Free site survey
- Foundation & Electric options
- Highest specification for all year use
- Outstanding value per m2
- Under floor heated with touch control
- Customisable design with upgrades
- Thick eco Sheep’s wool insulation
- Low maintenance + 5yrs guarantee
Visit our website for more information.
Prices from £10,795 inc Vat.
urbangrowpod.com
01892 315 123
wealdentimes.co.uk
14
UrbanGrowPodWT207.indd 1 23/04/2019 10:30
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 £510,000
THE WEALD
FOUR BEDROOM SEMI-DETACHED
THE WEALD SHOW HOME NOW OPEN
OPEN DAILY 10AM - 5PM
Great Incentives Available | Help to Buy Available
Please speak to our sales team for further information.
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. Image shown is the The Weald show home.
‘Our Focus Determines Your Reality’
HARPERS AND HURLINGHAM
RURAL SANDHURST £1,295,000
16TH CENTURY GRADE II LISTED
FARMHOUSE • Four receptions • Kitchen • Cellar
with natural light • Five bedrooms (two ensuite)
• Two bathrooms • Garden approx. 2.6 acres •
Swimming pool • Pool house • EPC: n/a
Cranbrook School Catchment Area
RURAL SMARDEN £1,195,000
QUINTESSENTIAL KENTISH COUNTRY
HOME • Four receptions • Kitchen/breakfast room
• Utility room • Five bedrooms (two ensuite) •
Delightful gardens • Swimming pool • Pool house •
Outbuildings • Garaging • EPC: n/a
Rural yet not isolated location
CRANBROOK £995,000
STRIKING EDWARDIAN FAMILY HOME
• Sitting room • Kitchen/dining/family room •
Four double bedrooms (one ensuite) • Two family
bathrooms • Garaging • Enclosed garden • Edge of
town location • EPC: E
Cranbrook School Catchment Area
RURAL BIDDENDEN £849,000
WING OF GRADE II LISTED TUDOR
MANSION HOUSE • Two reception rooms •
Kitchen/breakfast room • Utility room • Four
bedrooms (one ensuite) • Garden and courtyard
garden • Summer house • Garaging • EPC: n/a
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
the full value of their land
Industry leading experts
We take care of the planning permission!
The risk-free way to maximise your land
Zero cost to you!
Planning laws are changing
Act now before its too late!
What our clients say…
"The team had a huge amount of
knowledge and every step was handled
in a professional manner. Their excellent
relationship with the local planning
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
PLOT OR NOT?
If you think your land or property has development potential,
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
buildings for redevelopment, buildings for conversion or replacement, houses
for improvement, large sites on the edge of town, barn conversions, large
gardens in residential areas and major regeneration projects.
Contact Stephen Donnelly on
07739 514350 or 01892 579937
website: sjd-projects.com
email: steve@sjd-projects.com
For regular updates, visit us at
twitter.com/projects
Kent & Sussex
kentsussex@humberts.com
01580 230281
humberts.com
MOVING YOU SINCE 1842
How would you like to wake up to this view?
Introducing Home Farm,
an exclusive collection of
bespoke homes situated in
the picturesque village of
Bidborough with stunning
panoramic views of the Weald.
Call us today for
more information
Tenterden FOR SALE £215,000
This lovely top floor two bedroom apartment boasts light,
spacious rooms with views over the recreational ground.
Situated in the heart of Tenterden, tucked just down Oaks Road,
Elmfield Court provides the perfect location with the benefit of
a garage. EPC Rating C
Bethersden FOR SALE £715,000
A stunning Grade II listed 4 bedroom barn conversion situated
close to the beautiful village of Bethersden with gorgeous
gardens extending to just under an acre, this stunning 18th
Century barn has been sympathetically converted into a 4
bedroom, 2 bathroom family home. EPC exempt
Canterbury FOR SALE £380,000
A charming & characterful 3 bedroom end terrace cottage
set close to the City Centre. Extensively refurbished recently
to an exceptionally high standard to now offer stylish &
contemporary period living. EPC Rating D
Heaverham FOR SALE £650,000
A charming semi-detached cottage, in a sought-after rural
location with stunning views, presented to an exceptional
standard with period features throughout. EPC Rating D
Halstead FOR SALE £450,000
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
Tunbridge Wells SOLD STC £325,000
A fantastic 2 bedroom semi-detached home in a popular
location in Rusthall which has been recently renovated
throughout by the current owners with a south-west facing
garden and off road parking. EPC rating D
William Bankes,
Regional Manager,
Kent and Sussex,
07810 715892
Stuart Hutchinson,
Assistant Regional
Manager,
Chichester,
07395 790035
Martin Jordan,
Assistant Regional
Manager,
Canterbury,
07796 338345
Emma Tighe,
Property Consultant,
Tenterden,
07395 790033
Glynn Amos,
Property Consultant,
Sevenoaks,
07734 555545
Lizzie Jordan,
Property Consultant,
Canterbury,
07891 654996
Leila Himm,
Base Camp Team,
01732 741212
Tracey Jackson,
Base Camp Team,
01732 741212
ND WANTED
VELOPMENT POTENTIAL?
VELOPMENT POTENTIAL?
Specialists in obtaining
• Planning Specialists Permission in obtaining for development
• Proven Planning track Permission record & for large development resources
• Proven • We take track on record hassle & and large expense
resources
• We take on hassle and expense
LAND WANTED
and pay top prices
DEVELOPMENT and pay LAND top prices WANTED
POTENTIAL?
Specialists in obtaining
LAND DEVELOPMENT POTENTIAL?
Specialists in obtaining
n work with neighbours to assemble a site
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DEVELOPMENT
Planning Permission for
POTENTIAL?
development
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• Planning Specialists in obtaining
DEVELOPMENT Specialists in obtaining
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POTENTIAL?
development
Problem site? Multiple ownership?
sues Problem which site? need •Proven Multiple resolving? Proven Planning ownership?
• Planning track Lapsed/existing
track Permission
Permission record for
for large development
development
resources
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and expense
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THE MOST VERSATILE SURFACE
We take hassle prices
and
for expense
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and expense
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GIVE YOUR PROPERTY A FRESH LOOK
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78, Pall
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7947 5501 SW1Y
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WANTED
Nicholas Cooper, NFC Homes, 78, Pall Mall, London, SW1Y 5ES
t: 020 7947 5501 e: info@nfcooper.co.uk
t: 020 7947 5501 e: info@nfcooper.co.uk www.nfchomes.co.uk
Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew
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Enviro-Tech Resin Systems Ltd
CALL TODAY AND QUOTE WT0719
ENT POTENTIAL?
For informal discussion, without
obligation, For contact:
for a 10% DISCOUNT
For informal informal discussion, without
Nicholas obligation, Cooper, contact:
NFC Homes,
78, Nicholas Pall Mall, London, SW1Y Cooper, NFC Homes,
5ES
t: 78, 020 7947 5501 e: info@nfcooper.co.uk
78, Pall Mall, London, SW1Y 5ES
01825 890973
www.nfchomes.co.uk
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sibleypares.co.uk
NFCCooperWT209.indd 1 07/06/2019 EnvirotechWT209.indd 16:44
1 12/06/2019 15:33
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LAND WANTED
AND WANTED
pay top prices
DEVELOPMENT POTENTIAL?
neighbours
neighbours to
to assemble
assemble a site
site
Fishers Paddock
RESIN BOUND
An exclusive development of nine
Specialists in obtaining
spacious 3, 4 and 5 bedroom executive
homes.
ite?
ite? Planning Multiple
Multiple ownership?
Permission
Last few properties available for
and development
ready to
move into now.
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and expense
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• Proven Problem track site? record Multiple & ownership?
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informal discussion, without
• We Fishers Site
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take Road, on site?
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resolving? TN12
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expense 0DD *Terms and conditions apply
wealdentimes.co.uk
22
Site issues which and need resolving? Lapsed/existing
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pay top prices
EVELOPMENT Specialists in obtaining
Planning Permission for POTENTIAL?
Specialists in obtaining development
psed/existing Planning Permission with difficult conditions?
SibleyParesWT209.indd 1
Planning Permission difficult conditions?
14/06/2019 10:41
Pall
For
Mall,
informal
London,
discussion,
SW1Y 5ES
without obligation, contact:
Find your new
Westerhill Home
in Coxheath
A very special development of 3, 4 and 5 bedroom homes
in the heart of the popular, rural village of Coxheath, Kent.
Help to Buy and Easy Move available
Find out more by visiting our show home
Open daily 10am - 5pm
Call 01622 244054 for further details
Internal image of Linden Meadows
show home.
Or visit our website
www.westerhillhomes.co.uk
01622 244054
maidstone@connells.co.uk
www.westerhillhomes.co.uk
LAST ONE REMAINING...
COX HOUSE
ConnellsWT209.indd 1 12/06/2019 14:26
8 LUXURY 4 AND 5 BEDROOM FAMILY HOMES SET IN THE RURAL
VILLAGE OF SHADOXHURST CLOSE TO ASHFORD
SHADOXHURST • KENT • TN26 1LD
Specifications - Cox House
l 4 Bedrooms, 2 with en-suite
l Bespoke Roma kitchens with Neff
appliances
l Under-floor heating
l Log burner
l High speed internet access
l Electric garage doors
l Electric car power supply
l Fully landscaped front and back
gardens
l Patio and external lighting
l Full 10 Year NHBC Warranty
www.jarvishomes.com
Email: sales@jarvishomes.com
Call: 01233 421055
23 wealdentimes.co.uk
JarvisNewHomesWT209b.indd 1 12/06/2019 11:26
House
Month
of the
£POA
Splash Out
Maggie Alderson picks beautiful homes with water features
The Cliff House
The dream: With its deep gables,
romantic verandah and varied
accommodation, this would be a
dream home in any setting, but sitting
atop the actual white cliffs of Dover,
with unrestricted views across the
Channel to France from practically
every window, the Cliff House is in
a league of its own. As if that weren’t
enough, it has its very own crenellated
lighthouse… Along with the main
house there is an annexe, plus two
further cottages (appealingly called
Dolphin’s Leap and Baby Dolphin), all
light, airy and freshly decorated, with
lovely wooden floors throughout.
Where: Just outside the pretty
coastal village of St Margaret’s
Bay, five miles from Dover.
Setting: Surrounded by National
Trust land on three sides – and
the sea on the other.
Beds: 5 in the main house (six more in
the various annexes) Baths: 5 (plus four)
Special features: The sitting room is
particularly appealing with a vaulted,
beamed roof and windows on three sides.
Pleasing details: The kitchen is
very cool with white tongue and
groove and marble worktops.
Outside: 11.5 acres of lawn, woodland
and paddocks, plus a pool.
Time to town: Just over an hour
to St Pancras from Dover.
Agent: Knight Frank
01892 772942 knightfrank.co.uk
wealdentimes.co.uk
24
France Hill
£2,250,000
The dream: This 20th Century house
has cool charm and loads of space.
Floor to ceiling glazed walls in the
dining/family room make the most
of the amazing views south over the
Downs, with balconies along the front
providing the same from first floor.
Where: In the South Downs, ten minutes
from Alfriston, 11 miles from Lewes and
fifteen minutes to the coast at Seaford and
the lovely beach at Cuckmere Haven.
Setting: A spectacular hillside position
with views out over the Downs.
Beds: 6 Baths: 4
Special features: A two-bedroom
annexe to the rear would make a
perfect granny flat or holiday let.
Pleasing details: A claw-foot
bath in the master bedroom.
Outside: Wonderful gardens with a
pond, an established potager and a
stone ruin folly feature and a pool.
Time to town: About 1.5 hours from
Polegate, ten minutes drive away.
Agent: Savills Haywards Heath
01444 446000 savills.com
Buxford Mill
£1,400,000
The dream: A Grade II listed former
corner mill, dating from the 17th
Century, has been extended and added
to over the centuries creating a spacious
house of great character. Four square
from the front in lovely old red brick,
to the side and rear are the charm of
the original mill race and pond, with
wooden bridges across to the lawns.
Where: Great Chart, two miles from Ashford
Beds: 6 Baths: 5
Special features: The kitchen/breakfast
room opens into a vaulted orangery
currently used as a dining room.
Pleasing details: The sound of
the waterfall in the garden.
Outside: Lovely grounds of around
on acre, with the mill stream, waterfall
and pond, plus a swimming pool.
Time to town: From Ashford,
under 40 minutes to St Pancras.
Agent: Fine & Country, Tenterden
01580 766388 fineandcountry.com
25 wealdentimes.co.uk
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Notebook
What to do and see near you this month
JAM on the Marsh
Be amazed by Jon
Foreman’s large-scale,
daily-changing beach art
on the sands at Dymchurch
(above), join the critically
acclaimed King’s Singers,
hear Canterbury Cathedral
Girls’ Choir joined by the
Chapel Choir of Selwyn
College (Cambridge),
watch Changeling Theatre’s
racy ‘Nell Gwynn’ under
the copper beech tree
in New Romney, luxuriate
in orchestral music by
Tchaikovsky, Sibelius, Finzi
and Paul Mealor with the
London Mozart Players, or
hear Bach as you never have
before with Art of MOOG’s
Bach on Synths. JAM on the
Marsh returns from Thursday
4 to Sunday 14 July.
Children are welcome
free at all events, and
JAM has created
some especially
for them, like
Children’s Sunday,
full of storytelling,
clowning, nature
sculptures and
steam trains.
jamconcert.org
The First
Kentish Whisky
Anno Distillers has teamed up
with Westerham Brewery to
create the first whisky ever to be
produced in Kent. This limitededition
Kentish single malt was
sealed into an oak cask in
2015 and stays true to its roots
in the Garden of England, as
it uses local water and English
barley malt in the mash. It is
now available in collectors box
sets at annodistillers.co.uk
Money
Matters
Burfields House Wealth
Management is holding a
financial management seminar
on Monday 8 July, at Giacomo’s
restaurant in Sevenoaks, including
a traditional Italian lunch and an
opportunity to meet the advisers in
person. burfieldshousewm.co.uk
31 wealdentimes.co.uk
News
Classic cars
Sunday 28 July sees The
Bearsted Classic Car
Show and Retro Vintage
return to Bearsted Green.
Admission is only 50p or
free when you buy a £1
programme and this raises
funds for Kent, Surrey &
Sussex Air Ambulance
which celebrates its 30th
anniversary this year, and is
reliant on public donations.
For further information,
please contact Philip
Hill on 07580 093985
Antiques
Road Show
The Antiques Roadshow team will be
coming to Battle Abbey on Tuesday
9 July. This free, family day out is
an opportunity to go behind the
scenes of one of the BBC’s most
popular programmes, and even
be part of it. Experts will be on
hand to help visitors discover the
hidden history and value of their
antiques. Entry to the show is free,
everyone is welcome, and no tickets
or pre-registration is required.
The Roadshow opens at 9.30am
and last entry is 5pm bbc.co.uk
Cranbrook
Farm Shop
& Nursery
This month marks 20 years
since the Driver family first
started running Hartley Dyke
Farm Shop, and to celebrate,
they are changing their name
to ‘Cranbrook Farm Shop
and Nursery’. Stocking all the
best of locally sourced food,
the Farm Shop also keeps a
keen eye on the environment,
using paper, biodegradable
or jute bags and coffee cups.
cranbrookfarmshop.co.uk
The Kent County Show
The Kent County Show’s 90th show celebrates
the best of the county’s farming, countryside,
and rural communities from Friday 5 to Sunday 7
July. The show is set to amaze with showjumping,
livestock competitions, vintage vehicles, floral
displays and food and shopping areas. You can
also catch performances from the Salvation Army
Band, a flypast from the ‘Spirit of Kent’ Spitfire
and the main ring attraction, the International
Dzhigitovka Show. kentshowground.co.uk
wealdentimes.co.uk
32
WWAd05-123 Wealdon Times 90x130mm.qxp_Layout 1 14/06/2019 13:06 Page 1
AN INVITATION TO CONSIGN
SILVER AND JEWELLERY FOR AUCTION
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FOR VALUATIONS IN YOUR AREA CONTACT
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33 wealdentimes.co.uk
PennardVetsWT209.indd 1 18/06/2019 14:11
Grandparents - do you know your rights?
Lora Grogan is part of the Family Team at Buss Murton Law LLP. Here she
talks about the rights grandparents have to protect their relationship with their
grandchildren following the parents’ separation.
Most grandparents have a
special relationship with their
grandchildren and increasingly,
often play a crucial role in
childcare. It’s hardly surprising
then that when parents separate,
it can be hugely distressing and
disrupting for all concerned, if
grandparents find themselves on
opposite sides of an imaginary
battle line. One set may even
find themselves completely
excluded from the children’s
lives by the parent with care.
Whilst it is widely known that
children have a right to a
relationship with both parents,
often members of the extended
family, such as grandparents, can
be overlooked, even though they
have a crucial and valuable role
to play in the children’s lives.
So, what happens when
grandparents are prevented by
one of the parents from seeing
their grandchildren? In my
experience, many grandparents
are completely unaware that
it is open to them to seek the
Court’s assistance to ensure
that they can continue to
have a relationship with their
grandchildren. Courts often
really value the role which
grandparents can play, not
least because they can provide
children with sanctuary
from battling parents.
However, before resorting to
a court application, my advice
would be to try to resolve any
problems by agreement, either
by sitting down with the parents
to discuss a way forward or a
little more formally by using
mediation or collaborative law.
Therefore, if any grandparents
out there are struggling
to remain part of their
grandchildren’s lives following
a separation or divorce, please
don’t give up - help is available.
Buss Murton Law LLP offers
a free 30 minute initial
family consultation to allow
you to meet us and to discuss
your options. To make an
appointment in our East
Grinstead, Tunbridge Wells,
Cranbrook or Dartford Office
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.
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The Saracen - Painted White
Editor’s
Letter
ake a look inside dramatically different homes this
issue. Imagine being able to chalk up the ultimate
strike, just a bowling ball’s throw from the sofa in the
comfort of your own personal bowling alley... or strolling
past oil paintings of your ancestors en route to the
kitchen for your morning coffee... Maggie Alderson speaks
to the owners of two uniquely memorable houses.
Kate Watts tracks down some very stylish visitors to last
month’s Wealden Times Midsummer Fair (Fair Style page 96)
and we get crafty with Ilgin Beaton as she makes unadulterated
sourdough loaves (Baked to Perfection page 120).
Our brand new, and very glorious Summer Supplement
celebrates outdoor living at its best with information on local
events, the ultimate destinations for a staycation, irresistible
pools and quick-to-prep recipes to enjoy with friends.
Follow Sue Whigham and Jo Arnell’s guides to keeping
your garden and its residents hydrated, happy and healthy
throughout the warmer months and check out Jo Fairley’s
scent picks from the wealth of new fragrance launches.
If you fancy escaping it all for a couple of nights,
check out our competition to win a stay in an
idyllic shepherd’s hut in the Sussex countryside –
turn to page 139 for details of how to enter.
Summer
LIVING
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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
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Executive Chairman ...................................................................... Julie Simpson
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37 wealdentimes.co.uk
LenleysWT209.indd 1 11/06/2019 11:56
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
© 1996 Forest Stewardship Council A.C.
Where to find your copy of
Call 01580 714705 to find your nearest distributor of
Wealden Times or to have your free copy delivered
for 12 months for just £22 postage
Distribution of Wealden Times published in Cranbrook for Kent & Sussex.
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STATIONS:
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• Tunbridge Wells
• Uckfield
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• West Malling
Will, Estate or
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Whitehead Monckton has considerable
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Whitehead Monckton Limited (no. 08366029), registered in
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WT 10/18
39 wealdentimes.co.uk
WhiteheadMoncktonWT209.indd 1 14/06/2019 11:58
PEFC/16-33-795
Fairground
attraction
Words & styling: Maggie Alderson
Photographs: David Merewether
When Laurie and Sol bought a derelict
listed building in St Leonards they’d
never done a renovation before, but
with boundless resourcefulness they
have created an unforgettable
family home
wealdentimes.co.uk
40
41 wealdentimes.co.uk
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KITCHENS WARDROBES MEDIA UNITS LIVING APPLIANCES
Previous pages: A huge neon ‘Carnival’ sign by
Chris Bracey hangs over The Bath House’s double
doors Top: The cocktail bar is an old carpenter’s
bench, sourced on eBay Left: Lengths of reclaimed
wood, laid out in a parquet style, make a creative
backdrop to shelving in the kitchen
All the houses that feature in this
magazine have required leaps of faith
from the owners – whether it was
taking on a renovation project, being bold with
colour, or choosing which bespoke kitchen
designer to hire. But The Bath House is in a
league of its own. Something like jumping off
the top of The Shard without a parachute.
But the moment you throw open the redsequinned
double doors from the hall into
the main living area, stand at the top
43 wealdentimes.co.uk
Above: A fairground coconut shy sign is mounted above the kitchen sink, and a painted metal spiral staircase leads up to an office space
of semi-circular steps that just demand a Ginger Rogers
entrance and take in the sheer scale of the place – and the
fact that it has a full-size bowling alley in the sitting room
– you understand that its owners were up to the task.
Laurie and Sol Parker are clearly not afraid to
make a statement. Or take on a challenge.
The first thing that might have put off the less bold, is
that the building had never been a home before, in its 150
years plus history. It started out as a purpose-built Turkish
bath – ‘the most luxurious in England’, according to the
advertisement from an 1864 newspaper, that Laurie Parker
has had enlarged and framed in one of the bathrooms. But its
policy to have a ladies’ day (as also stated in the ad) proved too
scandalous for the bourgeoisie of Victorian St Leonards and it
didn’t last very long in that incarnation.
Sold to a local girls’ school, they added a whole new wooden
vaulted structure at the back to house a swimming pool.
In the 1920s, the pool was boarded over and the space
wealdentimes.co.uk
44
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VisionExpressWT209.indd 1 13/06/2019 10:15
OUR NEW WEBSITE
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45 wealdentimes.co.uk
TownsBathroomsWT208a.indd 1 09/05/2019 11:07
SilKS BESpoKE FUrNiTUrE
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wealdentimes.co.uk
46
EnsorInteriorDesignWT209.indd 1 14/06/2019 14:49
Top: The kitchen Above: Bespoke industrial steel
light switches and plug points are embossed with
the words The Bath House Left: A fairground bird
illuminates one side of the open plan living space
became first a spiritualist church and then,
after the local parish church was bombed in
WW2, a Church of England one, where many
marriages, christenings and funerals took place.
A couple who got married there in the
1950s, now in their nineties, have knocked
on the door since Laurie and Sol have been in
residence. (Oh, to have seen their faces…)
The Bath House’s last pre-Parker family role
was as a glass factory, making the specialist vessels
for laboratories. By the time Laurie and Sol first
viewed the place in 2013, the factory was long
closed down, although all the stock and machinery
was still there. With trees growing through it.
But even getting to that viewing was a
challenge, as Laurie explains – and all the more
extraordinary that they kept going, considering
they had visited Hastings only once, when they
started on their marathon Bath House journey.
“We came down from London
47 wealdentimes.co.uk
This page: The living space is filled with original finds, such as this
vintage shuffleboard table Top & Above: The dodgems sign was
bought from a shop in Hastings Old Town. “My first ever job was on a
fairground and my life’s ambition aged 10 was to work on the dodgems –
I just knew we had to have it,” says Sol
and walked the dogs on beautiful Camber Sands. We saw the
signs for Rye and Battle and went on to Hastings. We looked
round all the antique shops and loved it. Sol immediately started
looking on Zoopla and other listing sites for houses in Hastings
and found this place at the bottom of the list… it was described
as ‘the Wreck of the Hesperus’, but it didn’t put us off.
“It was a nightmare even to see it. The agents told us ‘we’re
not showing it, we’re sick of time wasters’. In the end, we
contacted the agent’s head office in London and then we
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“The bowling alley used to be in Soho House,” says Laurie. “Sol heard they were getting
rid of it and asked if he could buy it and they told him, if he took it out, he could have it.
We didn’t even know if it would fit in the space, but it slotted in to the millimetre.”
were told ‘we’ve lost the keys’ or the person we’d
made the appointment with ‘wasn’t there’.
“Even once we’d made an offer we had to
have an interview with the owner – he wanted
to know what we were going to do with it as
it had been his father’s glass factory.”
Those hurdles would have been enough
to put less determined buyers off – and it
turned out to have been just the start.
“We bought it in 2013 and started renovating
51 wealdentimes.co.uk
Above: A mezzanine provides an office space and seating
area above the kitchen Left: One of the children’s bedrooms
after a year. The entire building was completely
derelict and the main space was very dark and
dingy. There were even plants growing through
the walls, and old machines from the abandoned
glass factory had been left all over the place.
“We were determined to preserve as much of the
original structure as we could. We knew immediately
we wanted to keep it open plan and not carve it up
into bedroom pods, so we had to build up to get
three bedrooms to accommodate the three boys.
“It’s Grade II listed, so the conditions were very, very
strict. We hadn’t done any renovation before, but we’d
watched Grand Designs and thought it was easy…We
were wonderfully naïve and horrifically underestimated
everything. We had to deal with conservation and
building control totally contradicting each other – and
we were still living in London while we did it.”
Despite all that, two years later it was done –
and the result is a simply glorious three-bedroom
family home, with all the features a modern family
could desire, including a fluid social/kitchen/
dining space and a bespoke screening room.
And a bowling alley of course, as you do.
“It used to be in Soho House,” says Laurie. “Sol
heard they were getting rid of it and asked if he could
buy it and they told him, if he took it out, he could
have it. We didn’t even know if it would fit in
wealdentimes.co.uk
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“We bought it in 2013 and started renovating after a year. It was derelict
and the main space was dark and dingy, plants were growing through the
walls and machines from the abandoned factory were all over the place.”
the space, but luckily it slotted in to the millimetre.”
And it looks like it’s always been there, with lockers
containing different-sized bowling shoes and old cinema
seats to sit on to put them on completing the scene. The
fairground attraction effect of the bowling lane’s clown face
is set off by other items around the space, including a huge
neon sign saying ‘Carnival’ – by the late neon artist and
designer Chris Bracey, who owned Gods Own Junkyard
in London – over the double doors and a basketball hoop
arcade game. “Sol gave that to me one Christmas,” says
Laurie, “because I used to play netball at county level.”
It’s impossible not to have a go on it – or in my
case, about 500, because it’s so addictive – and
then it seems the most natural thing in the world
55 wealdentimes.co.uk
Above & previous page: Laurie and Sol added the new upper floor to give them a master
bedroom with its own bathroom
to shuffle over to the vintage shuffleboard table and have a few games of that.
Shuffleboard is an old pub game, like a miniature version of curling,
where you slide pucks along a sanded wood surface and try and reach
the highest score level, while knocking off your opponent’s puck.
Photographer, David Merewether was much better at it than me, but that didn’t put
me off trying and we had to tear ourselves away from these distractions and remind
ourselves we were there to do a job. After a very short while at The Bath House it is easy to
understand how apt that carnival sign is. It would be hard to imagine a better party house.
Adding to the convivial mood is the dining table which forms the entrance to the
kitchen area – it seats a casual 14 people. “It’s built from off-cuts from Champagne
barrels,” says Laurie. “A carpenter made it for us for £800.” Whilst the whole –
huge and amply cupboarded – kitchen was made from old pallet boards.
Continuing the inventive scheme, the cocktail bar is an old carpenter’s bench and a row
of vintage gym lockers makes a brilliant pantry, with genres of food items filed in each
wealdentimes.co.uk
56
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Above Laurie sourced the copper bath in the Turkish-bath inspired guest bathroom directly from the makers in Morocco
one. Like many of the one-off items in The Bath House, both
of these came from eBay. “Sol is eBay’s best friend,” says Laurie.
But while eBay may be Sol’s go-to site, Laurie is the queen
of Google – and the amazing suppliers she has found on
there had me giving her (entirely unsolicited) career advice
that she should start a business as The Resourceress. She
can find anything, at a brilliant price and, more often than
not, locally – the couple bought their Arne Jacobsen chairs
from the traders in Hastings Old Town and a selection of
light fittings from 20th Century Filth in St Leonards.
The fish-scale style copper splashback behind the kitchen
sink was the result of a search for local panel beaters. The
poured concrete worktops were brought into being after she
found a YouTube video of how to do it and showed their
builders. “I convinced them they could do it,” she says.
All over the house is the fabulous result of another of
Laurie’s searches – bespoke industrial (not ‘industrial
style’, the real thing) steel light switches and plug
points embossed with the words The Bath House.
“The space needed industrial light switches. The
repro ones are rubbish and vintage are very expensive,
so I did a Google search and sourced a foundry
in Hove which could make them all for us.”
Another of Laurie’s searches resulted in the knock-out
copper boat bath in the wonderful Turkish bath-inspired
en-suite bathroom off the guest bedroom. Laurie had
decided she wanted this style to be a feature in the room
– according to her decorating philosophy of starting with
one eye-catching item and letting the rest of the room
treatment follow – but they’re eye wateringly expensive.
But not one to take that as a cue to settle for something
less thrilling, Laurie tracked down the company that
makes them in Morocco and ordered one direct…
£6,000 cheaper. Actually, she ordered two; there’s
another one upstairs in the master bedroom. “We had
to be resourceful,” she says with impressive modesty.
The combined impact of one feature piece and Laurie’s
inventiveness carries on in the boys’ bedroom, across the
hall, in the original bath house part of the building. This
is set up as a triple-decker bunk room, in the American
style, with enough space for seven excited children. Laurie
sketched it and the builders, Grant and Tom, made it.
The fourth door in the hall – there is also a chic black
and white bathroom, featuring an Art Deco basin, which
Sol bought from builders renovating a flat in Mayfair,
for a princely £20 – opens onto a stairwell with flights
up and down. This features a wonderful circus light
bought from their friend Samantha Bruce of the brilliant
vintage resource In House Junkie (whose house was
featured in Wealden Times June 2018), another source
of many of the great original pieces in the house.
Down the steps is another brilliant light feature in the
form of a rotating ‘now showing’ cinema light, in front
of the ‘box office’ for the adjoining screening room. This
has a giant built-in modular sofa, big enough to take the
same seven kids who will later be romping around upstairs
in the bunkroom and large amounts of popcorn.
Next to that is a basement laundry room like
59 wealdentimes.co.uk
THE BEAUTIFUL EVERYDAY
Above: A backlit crucifix provides a stunning focal point in the guest
bedroom and alludes to The Bath House’s former use as a church
something out of Das Boot, painted battleship grey to
encourage the association, and at the end of that – just
in case this wasn’t already the dream home for boys – a
secret tunnel, which pops up in the kitchen…
Though perfect for a tribe of boys the house may
be, their educational needs are forcing Sol and Laurie
to move everyday life to a new house back up towards
Sevenoaks, where Sol’s two older boys are at school.
For now, the future of the amazing Bath House for the
Parker family remains open. They might make it available
as a special rental, or if the offer is right adept negotiator
Sol (he’s an agent for major musicians) says he might sell.
After all the work they’ve done, it must be a tough choice.
Head back up from the basement to the top of the stairs
and you arrive at the new upper floor, which Laurie and
Sol added to give them a master bedroom with its own
bathroom – cleverly tucked behind a wall panel the bed
sits in front of – and a dressing room on the landing.
With a sea view out of a porthole-style window, next to the
boat bath, this room has a very maritime feel – enhanced by a
vintage life belt from Saltdean Lido they bought in Greenwich
Market long before The Bath House entered their lives. It looks
as though it has been bought exactly for that spot – a happy
serendipity that seems to have played out in the whole house.
“We sourced as much as we could locally and by the time it
was finished, we couldn’t remember what we had, but when we
got it all out, it all fitted and the colours just went together.”
Which makes you think that if you put enough effort
and determination into a project, in the end the details
can seem to sort themselves out. Acts of faith rewarded.
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61 wealdentimes.co.uk
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Receiving grant of probate
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Receiving grant of probate
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Tenth anniversary of Wealden Times Midsummer Fair
We can’t believe that 10 years have
gone by since our first Fair at Brick
House Farm in High Halden in
2009. Since then, we’ve grown
from one marquee and a few outside stands to a
tented village and it’s wonderful that so many of
our original visitors still come back to join us.
Despite rain showers on Friday and high winds on
Saturday, our tenth anniversary was a fantastic affair.
Thousands of you joined us for three great days of
shopping, eating and socialising with friends, family
and the extended family of Wealden Times readers.
Over 250 exhibitors showcased an amazing array of
products for home and garden, plus fashion, gifts
and food and there was a mouthwatering collection
of street food vendors serving breakfast, coffee,
lunch, afternoon tea, with locally produced wines
and gin for those wanting something with a kick!
“Thousands of you joined
us for three great days
of shopping, eating and
socialising with friends, family
and the extended family of
Wealden Times readers’’
We were delighted to welcome brand-new show
sponsor Burfields House Wealth Management.
The Burfields House team were joined on their
stand by two charities very close to their hearts:
The Tongole Foundation – supporting local
communities in Malawi – and Ocean Sole, a social
enterprise based in Kenya working on beaches
all over the world to collect discarded flip-flops
and make them into unique pieces of art.
NFU Mutual Ashford, Tenterden and Whitfield
hosted and sponsored three days of talks in
their Home and Garden Hub. Advice, tips and
inspiration on a wide range of topics from growing
veg to creating the perfect table for an alfresco
supper were just some of the subjects discussed.
Our regular charities, Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air
Ambulance Trust, Canterbury Oast Trust and Demelza
House Childrens’ Hospice, were joined by Jarvis
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A fine vintage
Claire and Henry Warde take us inside
Squerryes, the splendid historic home of
the award-winning Kent sparkling wine
wealdentimes.co.uk
70
Words: Maggie Alderson
Photographs: David Merewether
Styling: Holly Levett
71 wealdentimes.co.uk
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Previous pages & left: The drawing room was
beautifully decorated by Henry’s mother Anthea with
decorative wallpaper she commissioned specially.
French windows take you out into the formal back
garden Below: The second entrance hall
All houses have a vibe – but not many
have one you can bottle. Squerryes,
however, is not only the splendid 17th
century country seat of the Warde family (eight
generations and counting), but also the name
on the bottles of award-winning sparkling wine
that is now produced on the 2,500 acre estate.
The family motto is also on the bottle –
appropriately, because Licet esse beatis translates as
‘Permitted to be joyful’. “We have been creating joy
for 300 years,” says Henry Warde, sitting at the table
in the family kitchen. “Now we are bottling it.”
And joy it is most certainly bringing to those who
drink it, being awarded no less than a Platinum
rating in wine bible Decanter magazine’s 2019
World Wine Awards, for the 2014 vintage.
The house deserves the same rating. Even
before you turn into the drive (with classic estate
railing fences) the glorious countryside just outside
Westerham has Jerusalem playing loudly in your head.
As you pull up in front of the house the prospect
opens up to reveal a perfect Mr Darcey lake,
73 wealdentimes.co.uk
“My father was in the army so I moved constantly as a child and I didn’t
understand having an emotional connection with bricks and mortar,” says Claire.
“But the day we moved in here, I was 100 per cent committed – I wanted to
understand the estate, take it on, be part of it. We want to do it all together.”
wealdentimes.co.uk
74
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This page: Contemporary built-in
furniture hold a portion of Squerryes’
books in the library
the first visual beat in a vista over parkland and countryside,
with a domed white folly perched on a nearby hillside.
Turn your head left towards the house and you see a glorious
symmetrical frontage from the Stuart era (1681), although it
looks more like the style we identify as Queen Anne. Built from
narrow red bricks, with a pillared and porticoed front door, it has
two storeys with three sash windows on each side, then another
layer with six mansard windows and a triangular gable with a
roundel window and splendid chimney stacks. It makes you sigh.
This urge stays with you, once you step into the huge entrance
hall with a black and white marble chequerboard floor – and
large portraits of Henry’s rels, male and female, all around and
classical busts over each porticoed doorway into adjoining rooms.
It’s just the kind of space where you want to be holding
a flute of cold sparkling white, while chatting to interesting
people – which is exactly what you get to do if you join
up to a Squerryes membership package, which involves
no joining fee, just a commitment to buy one case (12
bottles) a year. Hardly a hardship (especially as you get
15 per cent off, so really it would be rude not to).
Membership brings invitations to all kinds of jolly
events at the house – which is not open to the public
– including a summer garden party with 299 fellow
bubbly-lovers, which sounds particularly appealing.
But with a house to study and photograph, we stuck to
coffee, in the lovely light, high-ceilinged kitchen, looking
over the formal garden at the back of the house. A kitchen
which looks and feels like it has always been there, but was
actually a fairly recent conversion by Claire and Henry.
They moved into the house six years ago, when Henry took
on the commitment of running the estate and his parents
moved out to a farmhouse on the land. At that point, while
totally understanding the responsibility to preserve a house
like this for future generations – one of the bedrooms has
listed wallpaper – Claire and Henry decided to make some
thoughtful changes to adapt its old bones to
77 wealdentimes.co.uk
This page: The formal dining room’s chairs feature the wolf head that is in
the family crest Top right: A portrait of Charlotte Warde, mother of The
Admiral – 4th generation at Squerryes Court – by John Opie
modern family life with their four children, aged from six to 11.
Claire explains: “In 1947, in order to be able to keep the house going,
Henry’s grandparents pulled down two wings. The original kitchen had been
in one of them, so they created a small kitchen and dining room in this
space. We knocked it through and converted it into a family kitchen with
a table in it, but we wanted it to look as though it had always been there.”
Which, with its classic kitchen cabinetry, painted in Farrow & Ball’s Oval
Room Blue it certainly does – helped along by Claire’s clever harvesting of
varied objects from other parts of the house and pressing them back into
use. The row of lovely, mismatched white glass light shades hanging in a row
were found all over the house. “We just washed them and rehung them.”
The splendid blue and white vases – which look like they might
wealdentimes.co.uk
78
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This page: Henry and Claire knocked through a small kitchen
and dining room to create a family kitchen. The lights above the
dining table were found throughout the house by Claire
be rather precious – were languishing in obscurity in
the cellar, but Claire has no anxiety about having fine
objects in a part of the house with heavy family traffic.
“If someone throws a ball and breaks them all at
least they’ve been seen. We are going to live here.”
Their other big change was to create a second
entrance hall on the same side of the house (the
north) as the kitchen, with a more domestic
feeling than the formal main one, more conducive
to everyday family comings and goings.
They put in a similar floor and a column to echo
the ones in the grand hall, but Claire had fun with
wallpaper in the rooms coming off: a map of the world
in the loo and large pink flamingos in her office.
“And we took out the servants’ bells,” she
says, another statement of the more modern
way they wish to live in this historic house –
while completely respecting its heritage.
Although Claire admits that before she lived in
Squerryes, she hadn’t ever experienced a sense of
passionate devotion to a house. In fact, on her first
visit there she had felt quite differently about it.
“I met Henry when I was invited through a friend
of a friend as a spare girl for a house
81 wealdentimes.co.uk
“We have rehung all
the pictures,” says Claire,
“to show the story of
the family to visitors.”
party here. In those days you had to
shower in the attic and I remember
thinking, ‘there is no way I am ever
going to live somewhere like this…’
“My father was in the army so
I moved constantly as a child and I
didn’t understand having an emotional
connection with bricks and mortar.
But the day we moved in here I was
100 per cent committed – I wanted to
understand the estate, take it on, be part
of it. We want to do it all together.”
And while Claire may not
have understood loving a house
before, being shown round it by
her, it is clear how much she does
now – and it’s easy to see why.
Passing back through the main hall,
brings you to the formal (south) side
of the ground floor, which includes the
drawing room, beautifully decorated
in the cosy/grand classic English
country house style, by Henry’s late
mother Anthea – making her mark
on the house, just as Claire is doing.
It has exactly the combination of
glorious chintz, decorative wallpaper –
which Anthea commissioned specially
– and some very serious pieces of
carved and gilded furniture, that you
see in stately homes like Chatsworth.
Lovely French windows take you out
into the formal back garden, which was
also designed by Anthea, taking out a
Victorian arrangement and putting it
back to a more formal design she found
on old plans, with clipped box parterres
and avenues of pleached lime trees.
The next room along is the formal
dining room with a splendid set of
dining chairs, featuring the wolf head
that is in the family crest – and which,
once again, Claire emphasises they use,
rather than just have for display. There
are some splendid paintings in this room,
including portraits by George Romney
and John Opie, of Henry’s ancestors.
“We have rehung all the pictures,”
says Claire, “to show the story of the
family to visitors.” One in here is of the
Warde who bought the house in 1731
and another of his wife
wealdentimes.co.uk
82
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This page: Beautifully carved and gilded furniture sits alongside ornately framed
artwork throughout Squerryes Court
who died before they could move into
it – but not before she had commissioned
two splendid tapestries, which hang in
the bedroom over the dining room.
The bedroom opposite has the exquisite
chinoiserie wallpaper, which they are
not allowed to touch (and nor would
you want to). These rooms have not
been refurbished or refurnished in any
way and to my eye, the worn carpets,
alongside treasures like the tapestries
and wallpaper, have a patinated charm
that is unique to lovely old houses.
This is only heightened and improved
by the shift on the other side (back to the
north again) of the very large landing –
which sits over the grand entrance hall
and makes an excellent venue for the three
girls to practice their dancing, Claire says.
Here, where the family bedrooms are,
is a second staircase, leading down to
the new entrance hall, where they have
replaced a wall with a glass balustrade,
so light now pours into the upper floor
from both ends of the house. It really is
a lovely effect. No wonder English
85 wealdentimes.co.uk
This page: Two splendid tapestries, which hang in the bedroom
over the dining room, were commissioned by the wife of John
Warde, who bought the house in 1731
Heritage gave all the plans the official stamp of approval.
It’s the same spirit of progress shown by Henry’s
father 13 years ago, when he dug up the fields of
wheat he’d cultivated for nearly 40 years and planted
chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier grapes, the
classic combination used to make Champagne.
What inspired him to do it was the great interest shown
by a French Champagne house in buying their land. “It’s a
chalk terroir perfect for growing champagne grapes,” says
Henry. “Part of the same geological area as Champagne.
We negotiated for five months, but in the end we didn’t
make a deal and we decided to do it ourselves.
“We knew from the due diligence that the French had
done that we had the capability to produce a world class
product here. There is increasing recognition of how
big English sparkling wine is going to be globally. In 40
to 50 years it will overtake Champagne. The Romans
grew vines here and there is the tradition of orchards –
this is certainly land that is great for growing fruit.
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Left: Beautiful views over the lake to the west
of Squerryes. The family motto immortalised in
stained glass Below: The formal back garden was
designed by Henry’s mother Anthea to a more
formal design she found on old plans
beating heart of the brand, with the
family name and history is on it.”
To have a taste of all that in a very
appealing setting, you can now go to the
Squerryes Winery, which is a kind of food
and wine hub in the tradition of Californian
wineries – where Henry and Claire have
been to visit on a fact-finding mission.
Just outside Westerham, this is a cluster of
appealing buildings that includes an (unrelated)
craft brewery and the excellent Flint Oak Farm
Shop, alongside the purpose-built Squerryes
tasting room, seafood restaurant and private
dining room, looking out over a field of vines.
Beautifully designed with a lot of timber,
wallpaper made from the plans Anthea used
for the garden and chic banquettes, this is
sure to become a major venue in the locale
and beyond, with its excellent links up to
London and across Kent and Surrey.
For Claire and Henry it is part of the slow rise
they want to take their wine on, building its history
year on year, just as his ancestors have at the house.
“We are going slower out of the blocks,” he
says, “because we want it to build and last. We
planted on faith and only launched after 10
years, when the bottles were ready to release.
“Eight generations of the family
have lived at Squerryes and I want the
next eight to live here too.”
89 wealdentimes.co.uk
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Above: Clipped box parterres in the formal back garden Left:
Woodland forms an extensive part of the 2,500 acre Squerryes Estate
Image courtesy of Squerryes Winery
Address Book:
To find out more about Squerryes membership, and for
information about wines and events, see squerryes.co.uk
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wealdentimes.co.uk/interiors
91 wealdentimes.co.uk
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at Fitness Superstore
Thinking about turning an empty space into your very
own home gym? Or simply looking for an essential
piece of kit to keep you trim and toned for summer?
Look no further than Fitness Superstore, Tunbridge Wells.
Come in-store, browse our unrivalled product range
from the world’s greatest fitness brands and talk to
us about your goals and objectives.
1000’s of strength training and cardio products
Experts in-store to help you make the right choice
Free home gym design
Installation service available
Free delivery on orders over £99
0% Finance available** as well as buy now pay later
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SAVE 7.5% on 1000’s of products with offer code WT0719 plus exclusive in-store deals
30/34 Grosvenor Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, TN1 2AP
01892 883747 | fitness-superstore.co.uk
*T&C’s apply, code expires 04/08/2019.
**Subject to status, T&C’s apply.
Perfect pools & pool rooms ● Family festivals & events ● Heavenly cocktails & canapés
Swimming in
QUALITY
& STYLE
Composite Armour = Lifetime Warranty
The speed and ease of installation will impress.
Short lead times as most models are in stock.
Composite Not Armour only the very best = looking, Lifetime but the Warranty
Composite Armour = Lifetime Warranty
strongest structures
Not only
available
the very best
for
looking,
swimming
but the
pool design.
strongest Not structures only the very available best looking, for swimming but the
Models sizes pool design.
strongest
- 4.6 metres
structures
to 12
available
metres,
for
with
swimming
and without
pool designs.
in pool safety covers.
Models sizes - 4.6 metres to 12 metres, with and without in pool safety covers.
Exclusive
Models
to the
sizes
Cube
- 4.6
and
metres
Precision
to 12 metres,
models,
with and
Leisure
without
Pools
in pool
have
safety covers.
incorporated an
in-built overflow Exclusive to skimmer the Cube system. and Precision This allows models, the Leisure water Pools level have to be incorporated the same level an as
in-built the Exclusive surrounding overflow to the skimmer Cube paving/patio and system. Precision This giving models, allows Leisure a unique, the Pools water have exclusive level incorporated to be mirror the same an effect level as
in-built the overflow surrounding skimmer paving/patio system. This allows giving the a water unique, level exclusive to be the same mirror level effect as
the surrounding paving/patio giving a unique, exclusive mirror effect.
www.swimpools.co.uk www.swimpools.co.uk
enquiries@swimpools.co.uk
Phone Phone for for for brochure and and prices
01444 411411 / or 01444 or 01444 411376
411376
Contents
19
5 Take a break
Fabulous staycation
options
7 Creature
Comforts
Make your garden
pollinator-friendly and
home plant-filled
9 Garden Games
Outdoor toys and
entertainment
11 Once you pop...
The coolest of canapés
13 On the rocks
Luscious cocktail
recipes to sip all
summer
15 MAKE A SPLASH
The pools and hot
tubs of your dreams
28
19 Pool house
rock
Structures to
compliment your pool
23 Poolside
Stylish poolside
furniture
25 The Sweet life
Foody favourite events
27 Best of the fest
Ten festival essentials
28 Summer fun
for everyone
Family friendly
outdoor events
27
Sale
High Street,
Cranbrook,
Kent TN17 3DN
Up to
15 %
off
15 June to
20 July 2019
Tel: 01580 712555
bellhousefabrics.co.uk
sales@bellhousefabrics.co.uk
BellHouseWT208.indd 1 16/05/2019 11:22
FOLK MUSIC BY THE SEA
JON BODEN & THE REMNANT KINGS | THE POOZIES
THE OUTSIDE TRACK | TIM EDEY | MEGSON | THE WILLOWS
SHEELANAGIG | NOBLE JACKS | DAMIEN & THE O’MEN
KITTY MACFARLANE | KABANTU | GRANNY’S ATTIC
NINEBARROW | BANTER | GILMORE ROBERTS
ALDEN PATTERSON AND DASHWOOD | HOT ROCK PILGRIMS
MOIRAI | PILGRIM’S WAY | BELLA, POLLY & THE MAGPIES
PETE COE, LAURA SMYTH,BRIAN PETERS
FUNKE DAN & THE TWO TONE BABY
ANTHONY JOHN CLARKE | TRUCKSTOP HONEYMOON
ZULU TRADITION | MOONRAKERS | BEN WALKER | STRANNIK
RYAN YOUNG | MISHRA | JEFF WARNER | LIZ SIMCOCK...
PLUS MANY MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED!
CONCERTS . CEILIDHS . WORKSHOPS . CHILDREN’S FESTIVAL
DANCES . CRAFT & MUSIC FAIR . FESTIVAL CAMPSITE
FESTIVAL TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW!
WWW.BROADSTAIRSFOLKWEEK.ORG.UK BOX OFFICE: 01843 604080
WITH OR WITHOUT CAMPING FOR A WEEK, WEEKEND OR DAY - NO BOOKING FEES IN 2019
9
3 wealdentimes.co.uk
BroadstairFolkWeekWT208.indd 1 22/05/2019 10:45
MULTI-AWARD WINNING DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION
TURNING YOUR DREAMS
INTO REALITY
Family Company celebrating 53 years of excellence.
Call us for a no obligation
FREE site survey on
01883 622335
• Heating & Environmental Specialists
• Service & Maintenance Contracts
• Pool Refurbishments
• Chemicals, Equipment, Safety Covers
• Moveable Floors
• Saunas & Steam Rooms
• Jacuzzi Spa Showroom
• Supporters of Make a Wish Foundation
Tanby Swimming Pools, 620-622 Limpsfield Road, Warlingham, Surrey CR6 9DS
www.tanbypools.co.uk
Take a break
Indulge in a staycation at three beautiful properties that are just a drive away
Paradise House, Sandwich, Kent:
Paradise House is a beautiful
period property designed with a
contemporary twist and finished
with stylish furnishings and artwork.
Set in the heart of historical
Sandwich, one of the most perfectly
preserved medieval towns in the
country. To get to the beach at
Sandwich Bay, take a riverside
walk, then across the famous Royal
St George’s Golf Club where The
Open 2020 is taking place.
From £840 per week, £120 per night
Sleeps: 6 (3 bedrooms)
Accepts pets: Yes, one
Book: kentandsussexcottages.co.uk
The Chalet on
the Beach, Lyme
Regis, Dorset: You
couldn’t get closer
to the beach if you
tried! This chalet is
located along the
very popular Lyme
Bay coastline. With
a balcony right
onto the seashore,
it’s a very fun way
to spend your
summer holiday.
7 nights from £444
Sleeps: Sleeps 2 (no
children under 16)
Accepts pets: No
Book: classic.co.uk
Sunnynook, Bigbury-On-Sea, South Devon:
This property has the most incredible views
across the South Devon coast. With fantastic
indoor and outdoor seating as well as a pool, it’s a
perfect beachside holiday with a real wow factor!
7 nights from £2,198
Sleeps: Sleeps 10 + 2 cots (4 bedrooms)
Accepts pets: No
Book: classic.co.uk
5 wealdentimes.co.uk
MORE THAN JUST A GARDEN CENTRE
What’s on at COOLINGS...
Coolings is so much more than just a paradise for plant lovers.
Whatever the weather, come rain or shine, there is always
something to do. Keep an eye out for events coming soon...
Summer
Flower Showcase
Friday 28 June - Sunday 28 July 2019
Theatre in the Garden
Coming to Coolings this Summer...
August & September
Entertainment for the whole family
performed in our picturesque garden
For more information or to book
visit www.coolings.co.uk/events
Come and immerse yourself in
the beauty of our 14,000ft 2 display
glasshouse.
Bursting with colour, scent and interest.
All plants home-grown on our very own
on-site production nursery.
BOOKING
NOW OPEN!
Discover Courses
at COOLINGS
I have attended courses at Coolings for many years.
The level of expertise and support they provide makes
studying so enjoyable. Rita Wyatt
S C H O O L
O F H O R T
I C U L T U R E
NO EXAMS - NO PRESSURE
LEARN AT YOUR LEISURE
Study for a nationally
recognised qualification
Gain skills & knowledge
without exams
Enjoy part-time study,
evening classes
available
Purpose built areas for
practical sessions
The Gardener’s
Garden Centre
Rushmore Hill,
Knockholt, TN14 7NN
01959 532269 www.coolings.co.uk
Creature
Comforts
RHS Young Designer of the
Year finalist Caitlin McLaughlin
explains what to include to make
your garden pollinator-friendly
WT Supplement
Create habitats within
the garden design – don’t
leave thinking about
pollinators until after the
garden is finished, build
in spaces for them to nest
as part of the layout. This
way wildlife becomes a key
aspect of the garden rather
than an afterthought.
Create sculptures as habitats
– a habitat wall or solitary
bee nest need not be a rustic,
messy space at the back of the
garden. Incorporate Green
& Blue Bee Bricks or Bee
Posts for sleek grey habitats
in your garden, or build
your own to suit your style.
Our show garden features
a freestanding hexagon
sculpture that also acts as
a habitat for solitary bees,
mixing together art, design,
and nature in one space.
Think about your material
choices – if you are creating
a contemporary garden
using grey sandstone tiles,
why not use these to create
bumblebee homes as well.
The nest underground
needs to be straw lined, but
the top of the nest can be
contemporary stone, or in the
case of my RHS Hampton
Court garden, custom made
tiles with copper inlaid bee
silhouettes, making sure
nature features are functional
and also high design.
Water
– help keep the
pollinators in your garden
hydrated by providing a
shallow pond or water bowl
for them. Using metal tanks
or powder-coated water
bowls create contemporary
features in your garden
that also help the bees.
Plan your planting with
pollinators in mind – there
are so many perennials,
shrubs and trees that help
bees so, regardless of your
garden style, you will be
able to find options that
suit you and nature.
See Caitlin’s garden, The
Urban Pollinator Garden,
at RHS Hampton Court
Palace Garden Festival, from
1-7 July. The project fuses
design, function and wildlifefriendly
value to focus on
pollination with planting
that encourages pollinators
to thrive. Tickets to the
Festival start at £20 rhs.org.
uk/shows-events/rhs-hamptoncourt-palace-garden-festival
Tropical Vibes
Rhipsalis
cassutha
(common
name:
Mistletoe
Cactus)
This is an
unusual jungle
cactus which is a
gorgeous bright
green colour and
has delicate stems
with a cascading shape. The name Rhipsalis
comes from the Greek word for wicker work. It
is an epiphyte and in the wild it grows attached
to the trunks of trees. It is easy to care for as
it requires minimal watering over the autumn
and winter and just a weekly water during
the spring and summer when it is actively
growing. It’s ideal for a kitchen or bathroom
as it will enjoy the humidity, but will be happy
in any room with bright indirect sunlight.
Care tip: allow the topsoil to dry out between
waterings, but keep the subsoil evenly moist.
Add a liquid cactus feed to the water once a
month when the plant is actively growing.
Christine Bartlett, Shop Manager at that little plant shop...
picks three of her favourite exotic houseplants
Stromanthe
Triostar
(common
name: prayer
plant)
This is a really
stunning exotic
houseplant
which has
variegated leaves
in cream, green
and pink colours
with bright pink/purple on the underside.
It is related to the calathea group of plants,
know as prayer plants, which react to the
level of daylight and raise their leaves when
there is less light. This plant is truly beautiful
and really popular as a gift. It prefers a
warm place with lower light and requires
minimal watering in the autumn and winter.
In the spring and summer when the plant
is growing keep it evenly moist and add a
half-strength liquid feed once a month.
Care tip: mist the leaves in the morning to
provide humidity, or keep in a bathroom/
kitchen where the natural humidity is higher.
Ficus lyrata
(common
name: Fiddleleaf
Fig)
This exotic
plant is really
fashionable at
the moment
and is a real
statement
specimen. It
grows up a
long straight stem with large glossy, unusual
shaped leaves. It will continue to grow
upwards and in time could reach the ceiling if
well cared for! In the wild it grows in tropical
rainforests and so it loves plenty of warmth
and bright light making it ideal to stand
near a sunny patio window. In the winter
it rarely needs watering and in the spring
and summer a weekly watering will suffice.
Care tip: if you don’t have a bright
location then simply reduce the watering
and the plant will adapt. In the growing
season add liquid feed to the water once
a month to promote excellent growth.
Find that little plant shop... at 100 High Street, Hythe; 01303 770610
7 wealdentimes.co.uk
ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE
Milbourn Equine Vets is a local
100% equine practice spanning
Kent and East Sussex. We also
have a sister company, Cinque Ports Vets
which has been providing small animal
services since their first branch opened (at
that time a mixed practice) in Rye in 1930.
We both aim to provide gold standard
care and a compassionate service,
and hope to achieve personal trusting
relationships with our clients. We have a
practice ethos of a happy team, healthy
horses and pets and satisfied clients!
We have a large equine team at Milbourn
Equine helping us to achieve this. It
consists of 10 equine vets with a broad
range of interests, all of whom are
committed to providing excellent care
for your horse, pony and donkey (or
even the odd alpaca!) Whether you are
a happy hacker or international eventer
we offer a high standard of care with
our range of services. Our vets are ably
assisted by our clinic and support team
who make sure we stay organised!
Depending on your requirements we
offer a range of services to help provide
you with the best care. Whether you
require an annual booster for your
horse, you are planning on breeding
from your mare or have a horse
which requires a poor performance
investigation we are happy to help!
We are also really excited to
announce we are opening a new
office in June at Denne Hill Business
Park, Canterbury to complement our
existing sites at Hawkhurst, Rye and
our Clinic at Sevington, Ashford.
Ashford
Tel: 01233 500505
Canterbury
Tel: 01227 200992
www.milbournequine.co.uk
Hawkhurst
Tel: 01580 752301
Rye
Tel: 01797 208128
Cinque Ports Vets have a
dedicated small animal practice
team working across our 6
branches. We offer a range of services
from your pet’s annual booster and
health check to endoscopy and
echocardiography. Our Rye branch
is also able to offer the advanced
technique of keyhole surgery for
your dog’s neutering procedure.
Our Ashford RCVS accredited Hospital
is proud to hold Gold ISFM Cat
Friendly status with all our branches
implementing a cat friendly approach
to our feline patients. You can find out
more about what this means for your
cat on our website. Our nurses also
provide free nurse appointments for a
range of services from senior clubs to
administering worming tablets (for when
you cat becomes all teeth and claws!)
www.cinqueportsvets.co.uk
Ashford
Tel: 01233 640022
Tenterden
Tel: 01580 763309
Rye
Tel: 01797 222265
Lydd
Tel: 01797 321771
Hawkhurst
Tel: 01580 752187
Wye
Tel: 01233 813003
Don’t forget our branches offer a range of convenient appointment
times until 7pm as well as Saturday appointments.
We look forward to welcoming you soon!
1
2
Garden
ames GGet the whole family
enjoying the garden
with outdoor toys
and entertainment
3
4
5
1 Ridley’s croquet set £40, Giant tumbling
tower £40, Badminton set £30, Nordic
bowling set £25, all John Lewis
johnlewis.com 2 Outdoor pool, table tennis
and diner table £4,999 Garden Furniture
Centre gardenfurniturecentre.co.uk 3 Mini
golf set £29.50 and 4 Hooplah £19.50,
both M&S marksandspencer.com 5 Giant
dominos £45 Sunnylife uk.sunnylife.com
Garden maintenance
Lawn care
Tree surgery
Flowerbeds & borders
Irrigation & propagation
Development & renovation
Garden design & landscaping
16yrs experience
07852 549005
www.cobwebgardenworks.uk
info@cobwebgardenworks.uk
Always In Season
SALES AND SERVICE
M&A Brown & Sons Ltd, Iden Green Farm, Cranbrook Road, Goudhurst, Kent TN17 2PA
info@mabg.co.uk 01580 211599 www.mabg.co.uk
9 wealdentimes.co.uk
CobwebGardenWorksWT209.indd 1 13/06/2019 MABrownSonsLtdWT206.indd 09:49
1 20/03/2019 15:10
Goodnestone Old Old Dairy Dairy Café Café now now open open to to all
all
June June 2019
2019
Battle Mowers Ltd
Main dealer for
The The Old Old Dairy Dairy Café Café at Goodnestone at at Park Park Gardens Gardens has has thrown thrown open open its doors its its doors
to anyone to to anyone looking looking for for delicious for delicious home-cooked refreshments, whether whether or not or or not
they they are are visiting visiting the the Gardens.
Gardens.
Goodnestone Old Dairy Café
now open to all
Now Now everyone everyone exploring exploring the the beautiful beautiful countryside countryside of this of of this secluded secluded corner corner of of of
Kent Kent on foot, on on foot, by car by by car or by or or bike, by by bike, is welcome is is welcome to drop to to drop in at in in The at at The Old Old Dairy Dairy Café Café – ––
dogs dogs (on
The (on leads) Old leads) as
Dairy
well! as as well!
Café at Goodnestone Park Gardens has thrown
open its doors to anyone looking for delicious home-cooked
Newly Newly appointed refreshments, appointed chef chef Chris whether Chris Larman Larman or not (Cornerhouse/Deesons/Broome they are visiting the Gardens. Park) Park)
has has devised devised a mouth-watering a a menu menu using using locally locally sourced sourced food, food, including including
produce produce from
Now
from the
everyone
the Gardens.
exploring Gardens. Everything
the
Everything is
beautiful
freshly is is freshly made
countryside
made on on site,
of
on site, including
this
including
secluded corner of Kent on foot, by car or by bike, is welcome
bread, bread, pastries pastries and and cakes.
cakes.
to drop in at The Old Dairy Café - dogs (on leads) as well!
Newly ‘The ‘The appointed food food the in chef the Café Café Chris was was absolutely Larman absolutely (Cornerhouse/Deesons/
wonderful wonderful . . . . . . .
Broome Park) a really a a really has relaxed devised relaxed and a and friendly mouth-watering friendly environment’
menu using locally
sourced food, including produce from the Gardens. Everything
The The Old Old Dairy is freshly
Dairy Café Café is made located is is located on site, the at at
including
the entrance entrance to bread, Goodnestone pastries Park and
Park Gardens, cakes.
Gardens,
near near Wingham, Wingham, “The Canterbury, food Canterbury, in the CT3 Café CT3 1PJ 1PJ was and and absolutely is open is is open Tuesday wonderful...
Tuesday to Friday to to Friday and and
Sundays, Sundays, from from 11 – 11 a 5, 11 – really – 5, 5, year all year relaxed round. round.
and friendly environment”
THE ESSENCE OF FINE BRITISH LAWNS
For further information please phone 01424 773096
or-email: battlemowers@btconnect.com www.battlemowers.co.uk
Visit our showroom: 15 Vinehall Business Park, Vinehall Rd,
Mountfield, Nr. Whatlington, TN32 5JW
01304 01304 840107 840107
enquiries@goodnestoneparkgardens.co.uk
T: 01304 840107
enquiries@goodnestoneparkgardens.co.uk
g
11.00am -5.00pm Tuesday to Friday and Sunday
Goodnestone Park Gardens, Wingham, Canterbury, Kent, CT3 1PJ
Help on your doorstep
BattleMowersWT207.indd 1 17/04/2019 GoodnestoneParkGardensWT209.indd 10:18
1 14/06/2019 12:05
Close to Hand is an online service matching
people looking for a helping hand, to local Home
Helpers seeking work.
Whether you need help with shopping, laundry,
housework, gardening, running errands, pet
care, a chaperone or just some companionship
- our service is for anyone who finds themselves
needing an extra pair of hands.
CloseToHandWT199.indd 1
Register now to browse local Home Helper profiles
www.closetohand.co.uk
WT Summer Supplement
10
CloseToHandWT209.indd 1 19/06/2019 17:16
Once you pop...
We
pick three of our favourite, ridiculously
moreish, summer canapés from the extensive
recipe archive online at wealdentimes.co.uk
Watercress, Roasted Beetroot
and Goats’ Cheese Roulade
by Nicci Gurr from Home Gurr’own
Prep time: 1 hour 30 mins
Cooking time: 32 mins Serves: 6
• 225g fresh watercress
• 4 medium eggs (separated)
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• 250g red beetroot
• 100g crème fraîche
• Olive oil for roasting
• 100g crème fraîche
• 200g soft rindless goats’ cheese
1Preheat the oven to 190°C, gas 5. Grease
and line a 20 x 30cm (8 x 12 inch) Swiss
roll tin with non-stick baking parchment.
2Finely chop the watercress in a
food processor, then tip this into
a large bowl. Beat in the egg yolks
and season with salt and pepper.
3In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites
with a pinch of salt until stiff but not
dry, then fold them into the watercress
mixture using a large metal spoon.
4Pour into the prepared tin and quickly
level the mixture, spreading it out
into the corners. Bake for 10-12 mins
until set and light golden brown.
5Meanwhile, peel the beetroot, roughly
dice and roast with olive oil and salt
and pepper. Cook for about 20 mins
until a knife will go through the beetroot
easily. Cool, grate and set to one side.
6Beat the crème fraîche into the goats’
cheese and spread evenly over the cooled
roulade, then spread the cooled beetroot mix.
7Roll up from the long side, using the
greaseproof paper, then carefully wrap
in clingfilm and refrigerate overnight.
8Serve, slice into rounds and pushed on
to a cocktail stick. homegurrown.co.uk
Minted Pea and Feta
Cheese Tartlets
by Jo Arnell
Prep time: 15 mins
Cooking time: 25 mins
Makes: 24 tiny tartlets
• 75g fresh or frozen peas
• 1 small handful of
finely chopped mint
• 1 chopped onion
• 1 whole egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 3 tbsp double cream
• salt and freshly
ground pepper
• 1 pack of ready-rolled
shortcrust pastry
• 200g feta cheese, cut
into cubes
Preheat the oven to 180°C,
1 gas 4. Toss the peas and
mint together in a small
bowl and leave to one side.
Gently fry the onions and
2 then leave to cool slightly.
Beat the eggs and cream
together. Season if you wish
at this point, but remember
feta is a salty cheese.
Cut out small squares of
3 pastry and place into a
greased muffin tin. Place 1
tsp of onion into the bottom
of each tart, add another
tsp of egg mixture, then top
with minted peas and finally
some cubes of feta (I used 5
or 6 tiny cubes per tartlet).
Bake in the oven for 25
4 mins, or until golden.
Serve warm or cold.
Mini Margarita Cheesecakes
by Jo Arnell
Prep time: 15 mins
Cooking time: 30 mins Serves: 12
• 100g digestive biscuits
• 50g melted butter
• 300g cream cheese
• 1 egg
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 120g caster sugar
• 100ml soured cream
• 100g strawberries
• 50ml tequila (2 shots)
• 2 tsp lime juice
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar
•
1Preheat the oven to 180°C, gas 4. Prepare
biscuit base by crushing biscuits (in a
food processor, or use a pestle and mortar).
Combine with the melted butter and then
press 1 heaped tsp of the biscuit mix into
each section of the mini cheesecake pan/
muffin tin and set to one side (or refrigerate).
Beat cream cheese, egg, ¼ tsp vanilla
2 essence and 100g of the sugar together
until smooth. Add 2-3 tsps to the top of each
biscuit base and bake in the oven for 20 mins.
3Mix soured cream with remaining 20g
sugar and ¼ tsp of vanilla essence.
Remove cheesecakes from the oven and
4 add 1 tsp of the soured cream mixture to
the top of each one. Turn the oven down to
160°C, gas 3 and return cheesecakes to the
oven for 10 mins. Cool and refrigerate.
Chop strawberries and combine with
5 other topping ingredients, mashing
some slightly to release the juice.
Remove cheesecakes from tin and carefully
spoon a little topping onto each one.
6
For a non-alcoholic version, add 30ml water and
20ml lemon juice instead of tequila and lime.
11 wealdentimes.co.uk
Food Served:
Monday – Saturday:
Lunch: 12:00 – 14:30
Dinner: 18:30 – 21:00
Sunday:
All day: 12:00 – 20:00
www.kingsheadrye.co.uk
Located on the outskirts of the picturesque
town of Rye, the Kings Head Inn is located in
one of the most visited towns in the whole of
the South East of England. Owned and run by
the Tindall family (Steve, Lisa, James and
Lucy), the team will always give you a warm
and personal welcome. Food is all cooked to
order using fresh, seasonal and (when
possible) local ingredients. We have a main
menu, specials board which changes weekly as
well as Sunday roasts.
@thekingsheadrye
The Kings Head, Rye
01797 225962
info@kingsheadrye.co.uk
Food Served:
Monday – Friday:
Lunch: 12:00 – 14:30
Dinner: 18:00 – 21:00
Saturday:
All day: 12:00 – 21:00
Sunday:
All day: 12:00 – 20:00
Upcoming event!
Sunday 21 st July 2019
14:00 – 17:00
Rum & Reggae Festival!
- Outside BBQ
- Outside Tiki Bar
- Olas Boss performing
Visit our website or social
media to find out more!
www.shipinndymchurch.co.uk
Situated in the small seaside town of Dymchurch,
the beautiful Ship Inn has undergone extensive
refurbishment (completed September 2017),
blending the old with the new whilst still retaining
its character and charm. Owned and run by the
Tindall family, the team led by James and Jessica
offer you a personal and inviting welcome. All of
the Ship Inn’s food is cooked fresh to order using
seasonal and local produce. We have weekly
specials as well as our main menu, and roasts on a
Sunday!
@theshipinndymchurch
The Ship Inn, Dymchurch
01303 874425
info@shipinndymchurch.co.uk
On the rocks
Lottie Muir, the creator of the Midnight Apothecary pop-up
cocktail bar, set on a roof garden in London, shares her recipe
for a sweetly satisfying seasonal cocktail
Wild Strawberry and Rose Daiquri
Strawberries and roses are from the same family (Rosaceae) that gives us so
much pleasure, from apples and pears to these two beauties. Wild strawberries
(Fragraria vesca or F. virginiana) are those tiny, jewel-like treasures that you
sometimes find in woodland clearings and meadows, on forest edges and along
trails, and even in some quiet urban areas. Here they are combined with white
rum and Rose Petal Syrup to conjure up summer meadows on a hot day.
• 1½ oz (45ml) white rum
• ¾ oz (20ml) Rose Petal Syrup
(see right)
• 2 tsp (10ml) freshly squeezed
lime juice
• 10 wild strawberries or 3
large strawberries,
hulled and halved
• ⅔ cup (100g) crushed ice
• 3 wild strawberries, toothpick or
cocktail stick, to garnish
1Combine all the ingredients in a
blender and pulse/blend at a high
speed for 30 secs or until smooth.
2Pour into a rocks glass. Garnish
with 3 wild strawberries threaded
on a toothpick or cocktail stick.
WT Supplement
Rose Petal Syrup
(Makes approx. 1½ pints (750ml)
This recipe involves massage, roses, and
perfume… don’t blame me if things get
out of hand! Use the most perfumed
roses you can find and make sure they
are unsprayed.
It also helps if their petals are quite
thin. Two good choices that grow wild
and adorn many a private and public
space are Rosa rugosa and the wild dog
rose, R. canina.
Whenever I use wild dog rose, which
has very delicate pink petals, I add a few
petals of a red rose to give a really
rich-coloured syrup.
• 6 handfuls of pink and/or red rose
petals
• 6 cups (1.2 kg) superfine caster sugar
• 3 cups (750ml) water
• Zest of ½ unwaxed, organic orange
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• Pinch of salt
• Sealable presentation bottle(s),
sterilized
1Snip off the bitter white tip at the base
of each petal – it’s a little awkward
to do, but worth it. Alternatively, when
picking the petals from the rosebush, pull
the petals in a clump with one hand and
snip the base off in one go with the other.
2Loosely pack the petals in a non-reactive
bowl and add about 2 cups (400g) of
the sugar. Gently massage the sugar into
the petals to bruise them and start the
maceration. Cover with a clean tea-towel
and leave overnight or for up to 12 hours.
3You should return to a gooey mess,
where the petals have shrunk and the
sugar has extracted some colour and flavour
out of them. Tip this sugar and petal mix
into a non-reactive pan, add the remaining
sugar, the water, orange zest, lemon juice,
and a pinch of salt, and gently bring to
a boil. You will notice that the colour
transfers from the petals into the liquid.
Leave to simmer for 5 mins or until you
have a thick, unctuous syrup.
4Let the syrup cool. Strain it into a wide
mouthed pitcher, then funnel into the
sterilized presentation bottle(s) and seal.
You can store the syrup in the refrigerator
for well over a month.
Floral Cocktails by Lottie
Muir, published by Ryland
Peters & Small (£7.99)
Photography by Kim
Lightbody © Ryland
Peters & Small
13 wealdentimes.co.uk
AWARD
WINNING | LUXURY
| SWIMMING
POOLS
WWW.XLPOOLS.COM
01233 840336
Specialists in Indoor/Outdoor Swimming Pools, Cleaning & Renovations
SPATA Contractor of the Year 2015 & 2018
EUSA Domestic Outdoor Pools Silver Award Winner 2018
13 x Gold SPATA Awards, 3 x Silver SPATA Awards, 6 x Bronze SPATA Awards
Make a
H
Who needs a holiday abroad when you can spend long hot summers filled with
cannonballing, pool parties and… all in your own back garden
SPLA
S
THE popular
one
XLPools’ most popular One-
Piece installation is the Compass
XL Trainer 110 in Nova Pearl with
sandstone copings, to give a vibrant
and beautiful blue water colour.
Prices from £80,000 +
VAT
xlpools.com
15 wealdentimes.co.uk
oxrestorations.co.uk
Barn Conversions
Extensions
Joinery
Design & Planning
Restoration
New Build
Barn Conversions
Extensions
Joinery
Design & Planning
Restoration
New Build
www.coxrestorations.co.uk
COX
Developments
(Charing) Limited
Design & Planning
Restoration
New Build
Barn Conversions
Extensions
Joinery
Barn Conversions
Extensions
Joinery
www.coxrestorations.co.uk
Design & Planning
Restoration
New Build
COX
www.coxrestoration
Developments
(Charing) Limited
Design & Planning
Restoration
New Build
Barn Conversions
Extensions
Joinery
www.coxrestorations.co.uk
For a free consultation please contact: 01233 714950
www.coxrestorations.co.uk
Established 1986
For a free consultation please contact: 01233 714950
For a www.coxdevelopmentscharing.co.uk
free consultation please contact: www.coxrestorations.co.uk
01233 714950
For a free consultation www.coxrestorations.co.uk
please contact:
Established
01233 714950
NATIONAL AWARD WINNER COX DEVELOPMENTS 1986
(CHARING) LIMITED www.coxrestorations.co.uk
– BEST Established SMALL DEVELOPMENT
1986
CoxRestorationWT138.indd 1 15/07/2013 15:12
For a free consultation please contact: 01233 714950
www.coxrestorations.co.uk
Established 1986
Established 1986
www.coxdevelopmentscharing.co.uk
NATIONAL AWARD WINNER COX DEVELOPMENTS
(CHARING) LIMITED – BEST SMALL DEVELOPMENT
For a free consultation please contact: 01233 714950
www.coxrestorations.co.uk
Established 1986
CoxRestorationWT202.indd 1 20/11/2018 12:33
CoxRestorationWT187.indd 1 CoxRestorationWT187.indd 1 21/08/2017 12:14
21/08/2017 12:14
CoxRestorationWT138.indd 1 15/07/2013 15:12
CoxRestorationWT138.indd 1 15/07/2013 15:12
CoxRestorationWT138.indd 1 15/07/2013 15:12
ltation please contact: 01233 714950
w.coxrestorations.co.uk
Established 1986
Do you dream of relaxation and
fun in today’s stressful world?
Invest in a Swimming Pool or Spa and
turn that dream into a reality.
15/07/2013 15:12
For a free consultation please conta
www.coxrestorations.
Established 1986
At Home Counties Swimming Pools Ltd, we
have over 25 years experience in building,
refurbishing and servicing Swimming Pools.
If you would like a professional, honest and effi cient
service, then we are the company for you. No
job is too big or too small and we are here to help
with all your Swimming Pool and Spa needs.
CoxRestorationWT138.indd 1
For a free consultation please contact: 01233 714950
www.coxrestorations.co.uk
Established 1986
We are based in Tunbridge Wells and offer a range of
services, including our online store selling everything you
need to maintain and enjoy your Swimming Pool or Spa.
CoxRestorationWT138.indd 1 15/07/2013 15:12
Home Counties Swimming Pools Ltd | 8C Chapman Way, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN2 3EF
Tel: 01892 522299 | Email: admin@hcsp.co.uk | www.hcsp.co.uk
WT Summer Supplement
16
HomeCountiesSwimmingPoolWT209.indd 1 12/06/2019 16:14
The one to
Relax and
rejuvenate
Home Counties Swimming Pools’
Caldera Hot Tub offers a full range
of the wellness benefits that a Spa can
within the privacy of your home.
Prices from £4,000
hcsp.co.uk
The modern
minimalist One
The Cube from Easy Pools is all
sharp formal lines and minimalistic
design, it also has an exclusive
inbuilt overflow skimmer system
which raises the water level to be
even with the patio, for a sleek
and modern effect.
swimpools.co.uk
The Glam One
Tanby Pools’ J500 Series Jacuzzi
Hot Tubs: Revolutionary Range
features a beautiful architectural
lighting design and new exclusive
PowerPro FX Directional Jets for
targeted hip massage.
Prices from £19,999
tanbypools.co.uk
17
Timber
POOL ENCLOSURES
Sun Abris are specialists in wooden
structures and since 1970 offer a
range of pool enclosures with an
arched glue-laminate timber frame.
Successfully deployed for many years in the
construction industry as well as in highly
aggressive environments, such a salt storage
warehouses, bridges and virtually all public swimming
pools, this material provides aesthetics, sturdiness and
durability combined.
Glue-laminate timber offers much higher
mechanical resistance than any other material used
in the design of telescopic pool enclosures and also
provides scope for custom-designed structures
with safety guaranteed. All the wooden arches we
deploy are approved by the most stringent quality
bodies in terms of mechanical resistance and
anti-damp treatment – Standard NF 50-100 (antidamp
guarantee for wood) and Standard NFP 90.309
(construction guarantee, safety compliance).
Widths of up to 40 metres or 130 feet are
available as are special bespoke designs. One of our
larger installations covers 1,200 metres is at Port de
Plaisance Yelloh! Village campsite at Benodet Harbour.
The "Rotunda" Model's end fans open and is a
decorative feature in itself. It can be a solution
where a rectangular structure would not suit.
Enclosures can be fixed, telescopic,
attached to the house or used as a roof only.
Customers include municipalities, schools, holiday
villages, camp sites, hotels, restaurant terraces and
residential properties.
More information can be seen on our website
Web: www.archenclosures.co.uk
Tel: 01444 411411 and 01444 411376
Email: enquiries@swimpools.co.uk
4 Editorial - Timber Frames.indd 1 03/05/2018 15:
14
Pool house rock
From covers and terraces to full buildings, structures like these are a
great way to add versatility and style to your pool and your garden
Bring the outdoors in with a
glue-laminate timber frame
arch pool enclosure. These
enclosures can be fixed or
telescopic, attached to walls or
free standing. In Rotunda models
(above), the end fans open and is
a decorative feature in itself.
• Arch Enclosures archenclosures.co.uk
The Camargue® is an innovative
aluminium pergola/terrace covering
equipped with an automatic watertight
bladed roof system. You can also choose
from a selection of side elements to make
your canopy completely enclosed.
• Garden House Design gardenhousedesign.co.uk
Quality glass
you can enjoy
for years
Supply & installation
specialist offering a wide
range of made-to-measure
glass products and
bespoke glass solutions
01233 626045
cpglassandwindows.co.uk
Shower screens/cubicles
Toughened glass splash backs
Double glazed units
Mirrors inc. antique
Balustrades/balconies
Horticultural/restoration
Supply of:
Windows, doors & conservatories
CPGlassWT209.indd 1 18/06/2019 11:01
Beautiful, bespoke-designed, fully finished
rooms with the highest quality features,
including underfloor heating for year round
use. Superb value, expertise and friendly
service ensure complete satisfaction.
07966 680812
www.curvegardenrooms.com
garry@curvegardenrooms.com
WT Summer Supplement
20
CurveGardenRoomsWT209.indd 1 10/06/2019 12:50
Since debuting their first orangery at the
Chelsea Flower Show in 2001, Haddonstone
have been creating bespoke pieces in a range
of styles, from Tuscan to Gothic to Ionic.
• Haddonstone haddonstone.com
To mark the 90th anniversary of the first
publication of Virginia Woolf’s A Room
of One’s Own, Malvern Garden Buildings
have created a writing retreat
inspired by Woolf’s writing lodge at
Monk’s House especially for this year’s
Chelsea Flower Show. A similar garden
building from the Malvern collection
would make a beautiful pool room, too.
• Malvern Garden Buildings
malverngardenbuildings.co.uk
This Pool House with
Swimming Pool Surround and
Enclosure is by Redwood Stone,
sprecialists in creating Gothic follies and
ruins. Bringing the genre into the 21st
Century, the company has designed and
built structures including garden rooms,
tennis pavilions, pool houses, swimming
pool enclosures and hot tub surrounds.
• Redwood Stone redwoodstone.co.uk
10% exclusive discount
for Wealden Times readers during June & July 2019
Specialists in Traditional Timber, Aluminium & Composite Windows & Doors
CALL 01959 565343
www.thewindowsanctuary.com
21 wealdentimes.co.uk
WindowSanctuaryWT208.indd 1 20/05/2019 10:29
Armadillo Sun produce luxury bean bag chairs &
bean furniture, perfect for indoors or outdoors,
from our workshops in the Kent countryside.
Luxuriously made from a tried and tested, (almost)
indestructible fabric that’s water-, mould- and
fade-resistant, our bean bag chairs, bean bag
loungers, tables and cushions are lightweight and
portable, which are perfect for any setting.
We recently designed our Monaco Range of modular
bean bag furniture. This unique range consists of two
products, large bean bag chairs and ottomans, that can
be connected to create a modular furniture solution that
will bring a difference to your garden and become a
talking piece. Stylish enough to adorn your front room
or even by the pool, whatever your inclination may be.
Use code WEALDEN to receive
10% off your first order
ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE
01580 753903
caroline.lomax@armadillosun.com
Stockmans, Water Lane, Hawkhurst, Kent TN18 5BA
AWARD WINNING
SWIMMING POOLS
Celebrating 15 years of business, XL Pools
are proud members of SPATA, specialising
in installing Compass one piece and concrete
pools across Kent and the South East.
Over the past 7 years, XL Pools have brought
home numerous awards from the annual
SPATA awards for their swimming pools
including 13 Gold, 3 Silver, 6 Bronze, as well as
Pool of the Year 2018. Not only have XL Pools
won these prestigious awards, they have also
been lucky enough to win Swimming Pool
Contractor of the Year not once, but twice!
In addition to this, XL Pools were honoured
to win a Silver award at the European Union
of Swimming Pool and Spa Associations
(EUSA) Awards in 2018, which showcase
the best examples of construction,
design and innovation Europe-wide.
01233 840336
WWW.XLPOOLS.COM
ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE
ArmadilloSunWT209.indd 1 19/06/2019 17:12
WT Summer Supplement
22
XLPoolsWT209ADVERTORIAL.indd 1 17/06/2019 11:33
2
1
4
Poolside
Nothing says summer like lounging on glamorous poolside furniture
3
5
7
6
9
8
1 Saparella fireside chair from £1,248, diabolo from £1,303 and footstool from £577 Ligne Roset
ligne-roset.com
2 Clivenden modular set £5,199 Bridgman
bridgman.co.uk 3 Aloe plant in blue ceramic £69 M&S marksandspencer.com
4 Wall light £87 dar lighting group darlighting.co.uk 5 Colwell sofa set £2,000 Garden Trading gardentrading.co.uk
6 Gandia Blasco DNA teak lounge chair £3,595 corner sofa £14,295, coffee table £1,680 and chaise longue table
£960 Chaplins Furniture
chaplins.co.uk 7 Roshults outdoor towel rack £813 Chaplins Furniture chaplins.co.uk 8 Cane
chair £390 Beaumonde beaumonde.co.uk 9 Swimming wall art print £7.95 Abstract House abstracthouse.com
23 wealdentimes.co.uk
Traditional values and a warm welcome from
experienced operators, Andrew and Diane Ward
and their team at the beautiful old country pub,
Chequers on the Green at High Halden.
Enjoy fresh produce from the gardens and
locally sourced meats, fish, ales and wines
from fine producers around Kent.
Check out our website and Facebook page for Summer
BBQ’s , Paella & Carvery Days and Special events.
Weekly Seasonal Specials
Vegetarian & Vegan Options
Children’s Menu
Large sunny terrace
Customer parking
Opening times 12.00-23.00 7 days a week
The Chequers
on the Green
Dogs
welcome
& adored
The Chequers
on the Green
Bookings on 01233 850503
Email: info@chequersonthegreen.com
Chequers on the Green, Ashford Road, High Halden, TN26 3LP, Kent
The sweet life
Take a moment to enjoy the summer with these foodie attractions
Summer
sparkle
Eastwell Manor estate was one of the first to serve afternoon tea to
aristocratic guests – Queen Victoria is said to have feasted upon small
fancies and sipped tea from china cups in the Manor House.
Today, Afternoon Tea at Eastwell Manor includes a selection of
freshly-cut finger sandwiches and savouries, hand-crafted cakes,
scones with clotted cream and locally produced fruit jam, and Exotic
Routes speciality loose teas (certified by the Rainforest Alliance). Or
you can opt for a delightful Bottomless Bubbles Afternoon Tea with
Gusbourne English Sparkling Wine or Prosecco. eastwellmanor.co.uk
Hotel du Vin in Tunbridge Wells is inviting
guests to their lovely terrace to enjoy live music,
Chapel Down Gin Cocktails and special prices on
Chapel Down Sparkling Wines on June 28, July
26 and August 23 between 5pm and 7pm at their
Sundowner Sessions. hotelduvin.com
Afternoon
Tea for
you
“We selected The Bespoke Care Company for
a number of reasons but, importantly, local and
personal service were high on our list.
They state they are a family concern -
this I think is their greatest asset. “
Live-in care
The Bespoke Care Company is an independent,
family run agency in Tunbridge Wells.
Established in 2010, we provide one to one
live-in care and support in Kent and Sussex.
Call us on 01892 518400
to discuss your requirements.
www.bespokecarecompany.co.uk
25 wealdentimes.co.uk
BespokeCareCompanyWT209.indd 1 19/06/2019 14:16
REDISCOVER
WALMER
Find your favourite spot in the newly restored gardens
surrounding this historic royal castle.
Moments to
remember
made at Smallhythe
Place
© National Trust 2019 . Registered charity, No. 205846. © National Trust Images \John Millar.
Registered charity no. 1140351 (England).
Deal, Kent CT14 7LJ
Wander through blossoming
gardens, discover new exhibitions
and kids craft activities. Or
immerse yourself in a world of
theatre with Shakespeare classics
in the historic Barn and in the
open-air. Make memories this
summer, and explore.
These are the places that make us.
nationaltrust.org.uk/smallhytheplace
WALMER SC-SE WEALDEN
NCG VISITOR MKTG CAMPAIGNS 5875
TIMES ADVERT
JESSIE ASKEY
ENGLISH HERITAGE,
PORTRAIT
BRAND & DESIGN
90X130MM
ENGINE HOUSE,
CMYK
KENT
AVENUE, SWINDON SN2 2EH • TELEPHONE 01793 414451
DALE AW 5.6.19
TEAM, THE FIREFLY
BATTLE OF BRITAIN
MUSEUM
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Opening Times:
2nd April to 3rd November - 10am to 4pm
but May to September - 10am to 5pm
Last entry one hour before closing.
We are closed on:
Mondays, except Bank Holiday Monday.
The Premier Collection of
Battle of Britain Artefacts
Aircraft ·Vehicles · Weapons ·
Flying Equipment · Fine Art Prints ·
Relics from over 700 crashed aircraft
Adults: £8.00
OAPs: £7.50
Children: £4.00
Museum Shop, No.25
Squadron Mess and Tea Room
Free parking for cars and
coaches
On the grounds of both security
and copyright, we regret that no
cameras, video recorders, mobile
phones or any other type of
electronic recording equipment is
allowed in the museum.
Aerodrome Road, Hawkinge, Nr. Folkestone, Kent, CT18 7AG
www.kbobm.org
)01303 893140
WT Summer Supplement
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1
The bag
A spacious cool bag/tote
in a cool ombre design.
£15 M&S
marksandspencer.com
4The boots
National Trust designed
Hunter wellies
£110 National Trust Shop
shop.nationaltrust.org.uk
6
6The fairylights
To add a fun VIP feel to your tent.
£25 Hurn & Hurn hurnandhurn.com
BEST
of the
FEST
Meet our 10 family festival essentials
Meet our 10 family festival essentials
7The tent
Roomy and magical bell tent.
£509 Boutique Camping
boutiquecamping.com
2The light
Recyclable, solar-powered
and for every one sold,
one goes to rural Africa.
£21.95 Hurn & Hurn
hurnandhurn.com
3
3The rug
Colourful, 100% wool
and perfect for a picnic.
£124 Tolly McRae
tollymcrae.co.uk
5
The cuppa
£10.95 Hurn & Hurn
We Brits like a good cuppa in a
folksy enamel number like this.
hurnandhurn.com
8The BBQ
A smokeless barbecue,
which is cool to the touch
and ready to cook food
3-4 minutes from lighting.
£145 Cuckooland
cuckooland.com
9The sunnies
Look retro cool in these
Swarovski shades.
£140 Swarovski
swarovski.com
The bed
than an air
bed, multi-functional
and easy to carry.
10Softer
£129 Boutique Camping
boutiquecamping.com
The small festival with the BIG names! Three days of Classic
Rock, Prog, Blues & Roots music, in the beautiful ornamental
garden setting of Mt Ephraim Gardens, Faversham, Kent.
August 2-4 Gates open midday Friday
Jethro Tull’s Martin Barre Band + Tull
legends Clive Bunker & Dee Palmer
celebrate 50 Years of
FIERCE & THE DEAD * KINGDOM OF MADNESS – CLASSIC MAGNUM * THUNDERSTICK
BAND OF FRIENDS – celebrating RORY GALLAGHER * JACKIE LYNTON * KYLVER
MARTIN TURNER x WISHBONE ASH * LAPIS LAZULI * KANGAROO MOON * SOLSTICE
SACRED GEOMETRY BAND * KANDA BONGO MAN * ZAL CLEMINSON’s SIN DOGS
LEATHERAT * JACKIE McAULEY * JAWBONE * BAD TOUCH * + more
Camping & Glamping available. Free Parking. Good food to cater for all tastes and dietary requirements,
great beers at sensible prices, wines, spirits & cocktail bar, craft & music stalls & more
Details & tickets (online or Mail Order) at
www.anewdayfestival.com
27 wealdentimes.co.uk
ANewDayFestivalWT209.indd 1 18/06/2019 15:26
Theatre in the Garden
On Sunday 18 August Coolings is hosting a brand-new
musical production of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley featuring
a fully orchestrated musical score, professional actor/singers,
spectacular stage effects, puppetry and flashes of wickedly dark
humour. There will be homemade picnic boxes available to
snack on during the show or you are welcome to bring your
own. The show contains mature themes, but is suitable for all
ages over five. Adults £17.99, Children 15 & under £5.99,
Family ticket £39.99 coolings.co.uk/events
Treasure Island
Belmont House has big plans for a summer of open-air theatre
this year. It all starts with Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale on 5
July, then Changeling Theatre will visit on 21 July to perform
Nell Gwynn, and finally everyone’s favourite swashbuckling
pirate adventure: Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island with
Chapterhouse Theatre Company will be on 18 August. The
Winter’s Tale / Nell Gwynn: £22 (ages 10-18 £12) Treasure
Island: £16 (children £11 families £46) belmont-house.org
Summer fun for everyone
It’s the great British summertime, so get the whole family outside with these handpicked events
Castle Concert
With the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, The Band of Her
Majesty’s Royal Marines, and a selection of sensational soloists
plus a special fly-over with a Spitfire from the Aero Legends
stable, the Leeds Castle Classical Concert is how to do an openair
concert with real class. Visit the castle on Saturday 13 July to
sip on prosecco, feast on a Carluccio’s picnic hamper filled with
delicious Italian dishes and enjoy the show, which just so happens
to be set in the grounds of ‘the loveliest castle in the world’.
Ticket prices from £47 leeds-castle.com / leedscastleconcert.co.uk
Neverworld
The ultimate family-friendly festival comes to John Darlings
Farm in Edenbridge from 1-4 August. It’s divided into
three realms: the pirate-filled Skull Ridge, the tropical
and glittering Mermaids Lagoon, and the great adventure
playground of the Neverwoods. Artists performing include
Craig David, The Vaccines and Professor Green, and there
is lots of additional silliness to enjoy, including a real beach,
pirate playground, and circus stage. Weekend tickets:
Adults £158.40, teens (13-17) £58.08, children (3-12)
£26.40, infants (under 3) free neverworld.co.uk
WT Summer Supplement
28
westkentshooting.co.uk
30%
Off
Clay Pigeon Shooting
Lessons
Throughout August 2019
West Kent
Shooting School
Old Hay
(off Pearsons Green Rd)
Brenchley Kent
TN12 7DG
T: 01892 834306
A Summer of Outdoor Theatre at Belmont
The Winter’s Tale - Friday 5 th July, 7.30pm
Leontes has everything a man could want, wealth, power, a
family that loves him and friends, but he is not at peace. Inside
he harbours a bitter jealousy that drives him to destroy all he
holds dear. Years later, in a distant country, a journey begins that
may ultimately heal his pain and reunite his family.
Adults £22, Ages 10-18: £12.00.
Nell Gwynn - Sunday 21 st July, 3.00pm
London, 1660, King Charles II has exploded onto the scene with
the love of all things loud and extravagant. And at Drury Lane
a young Nell Gwynn is causing stirrings amongst the theatre
goers. Enjoy an evening of theatre in our beautiful Walled
Garden. Adults £22, Ages 10-18: £12.00.
Treasure Island - Sunday 18 th August, 2.00pm
Pack a picnic and enjoy an afternoon of entertainment in
the gardens of Belmont House. Join Chapterhouse Theatre
Company for this brand-new adaptation of everyone’s favourite
swashbuckling pirate adventure. Adult £16.00 / Child £11.00 /
Family (2 Adults & 2 Children) £46.00.
belmont-house.org • 01795 890202 • events@belmont-house.org
Belmont House & Gardens, Throwley, Faversham, Kent ME13 0HH
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OrchardTheatreWT209.indd 1 10/06/2019 10:28
“I’d describe my
style as laid back,
cool, chic, but
comfortable. For
me comfort is key.”
Catherine De Crèvecoeur
catherinedc.com
What are you wearing today?
I’m in a really lovely jumpsuit from
Reiss that I’ve had for years. I’ve layered
it with a navy blue jumper from Cos
and a camel jacket and scarf from
the high street with my Catherine
De Crèvecoeur earrings to match.
How would you describe
your personal style?
I would say laid back, cool, chic, but
comfortable. For me comfort is key.
Whose style do you admire,
and/or where do you get your
style inspiration from?
Actually, a couple of my friends have
always been style inspirations to me.
I was bought up in France and these are
friends who still live there. But then I
also love Alexa Chung – she has a great
laid-back style with a bit of an edge.
What are your ‘go to’ pieces to
wear during the summer months?
I do have a couple of long dresses
that I love to wear and I love floral
prints. My favourites are the dresses
I have from Preen, and also dresses
from Gap that I accessorise. I really
like to mix high street with designer.
Do you have a favourite place to shop?
That’s a really tough one! I like to
look around everywhere, I don’t have a
favourite shop – when I see something
I like, I buy it. It could be vintage,
secondhand, online, on the high street
or a designer piece from a boutique.
What fashion favourite could you
not live without in your wardrobe?
I have to say my earrings, as I really
do wear them nearly every day and
as I make them myself, I can build
my outfit around them. Other than
that, I’m a big fan of jackets, my
Amanda Wakeley blazer is a favourite
that I can wear with everything!
wealdentimes.co.uk
96
Sophia Fish & Family
@opulentboho
What are you wearing today?
I’m dressed quite casually, but nice and
colourful. I’m in leggings, because I’m
very pregnant, and a H&M silk top.
My ASOS tassel earrings and neon
Hunter wellies are both favourites.
How would you describe
your personal style?
Opulent bohemian. I like to mix stuff
up and if I love it, I put it all together.
I go for tassels, sequins, colour, but
also in summer I love clean classic
linen pieces, so it’s a total mix really.
“I always have colour in
my wardrobe and I always
have leopard print!”
What are your ‘go-to’ pieces to
wear during the summer months?
A loose linen tunic dress with
leopard print sandals. It’s usually
always a dress in the summer.
Do you have a favourite place to shop?
Usually ASOS and Zara and I love
Mango when we travel around Europe.
What fashion favourite could you
not live without in your wardrobe?
That’s a hard question! I always
have colour in my wardrobe and
I always have leopard print!
Fair Style
Kate Watts goes in search of the Weald’s most stylish
shoppers at Wealden Times Midsummer Fair to
find out what influences their fashion choices
Photographs: David Merewether
Charlie Allaway
What are you wearing today?
I’ve gone classic, I really
like to wear classic clothes.
I bought my hat here at the
fair from Rose & Bows.
Whose style do you admire,
and/or where do you get your
style inspiration from?
I’d have to say my Mum.
What are your ‘go-to’ pieces to
wear during the summer months?
Dresses, always dresses!
97 wealdentimes.co.uk
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98
OdylWT208.indd 1 22/05/2019 AbiGurneyWT207.indd 12:56
1 02/04/2019 11:01
Melanie Laslett laslettengland.com
“I like to look back to the past.
Especially the 1930s, as I think it’s
forever being re-interpreted.”
What are you wearing today?
I have one of my new Tilly scarves – it’s a great new
piece that you can wear like jewellery – and one of my
pocket squares, as I like to mix the prints together. I
always have a little bit of leopard thrown in as well, and
my khaki Uniqlo blazer that neutralises it all a bit.
How would you describe your personal style?
I would say, I like to mix pieces together – maybe a little bit
designer, a little bit high street and always a little bit of vintage.
Whose style do you admire, and/or where do
you get your style inspiration from?
I like to look back to the past. Especially the
1930s, as I think it’s forever being re-interpreted.
I love looking back to past decades but bringing
it up to date with a modern interpretation.
Do you have a favourite place to shop?
At the moment, my go-to place is Coal Drops Yard
behind King’s Cross Station in London. Or I like to
shop in Hastings, especially the vintage shops.
“I’m really happy that cycling shorts
are back. I love a big baggy T-shirt,
cycling shorts and classic clogs.”
Oooh, probably all the lovely ethical
and sustainable brands I follow on
Instagram like @sideline_ww and
@bugclothing and @henri_london.
What are your ‘go-to’ pieces to
wear during the summer months?
I’m really happy that cycling shorts
are back, I love a big baggy T-shirt,
cycling shorts and classic clogs. Or
a midi-dress, always with clogs!
Do you have a favourite place to shop?
I love shopping in independents
and fairs are great, because you
can always find new designers.
Sacha Schwartz
kittyclogssweden.co.uk
What are you wearing today?
My relaxed black jeans with this
summer’s Kitty Clogs Kraft clog in
tan and a chunky black sweatshirt.
Whose style do you admire, and/or where
do you get your style inspiration from?
What fashion favourite could you
not live without in your wardrobe?
Clogs – of course. I’m the low
Klassisk clog girl, I love this style,
probably in sand suede or black.
99
Liz Wilson
eclectica.biz
What are you wearing today?
My linen pinny with leather straps,
yellow Converse, grey trousers that feel
like I’m wearing thin air and my 1940s
metal necklace, which I absolutely
love – it’s like a Battenberg cake!
What are your ‘go-to’ pieces to wear
during the summer months?
A Victorian nightie with stripy leggings.
What fashion favourite could you
not live without in your wardrobe?
My African oversized embroidered
top that’s yellow and green. At the
moment yellow’s the colour for me!
How would you describe
your personal style?
A mix between industrial and
quirky. I feel like there’s about four
different people in my wardrobe,
so it depends on the mood – it’s
definitely a mood, not a look.
“I would suggest that a lot of my
inspiration comes from going to
fairs like this. I see pieces here that
I would never see anywhere else.”
Tim Dodd
sallywilcox.co.uk
What are you wearing today?
I’m wearing a Nehru collar jacket from
SirPlus and a waistcoat from Hippy
Happy by Anju Rani. My jeans are from
Scotch & Soda, and Blundstone boots.
How would you describe your
personal style? In one word: eclectic
Whose style do you admire,
and/or where do you get your
100
style inspiration from?
I would suggest that a lot of my
inspiration comes from going to fairs
like this. I see pieces here that I would
never see anywhere else. In general, you
see such eclectic style at these events.
What are your ‘go-to’ pieces to wear
during the summer months?
Oh yes, a pair of Henry Maxwell boots
I bought 30 years ago and they’re still
going. And at the moment this waistcoat!
Do you have a favourite place to shop?
I do get my clothes from all over
the place, but Toast make glorious
men’s clothes. If I could find more
places like that, I’d be really happy.
What fashion favourite could you
not live without in your wardrobe?
A tailored suit from my brother and father
for my 50th birthday. My birthday suit!
Summer
ready!
Cool days are
a
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CharityFarmWT208.indd 1 09/05/2019 Elizabeth44WT209.indd 11:34
1 14/06/2019 12:26
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101 wealdentimes.co.uk
DominicWalmsleyWT209.indd 1 19/06/2019 CountyClothesWT209.indd 14:21
1 13/06/2019 10:17
Judith Howard
What are you wearing today? I’m
wearing this one-off mac that my
son bought for my birthday from the
Chelsea Flower Show – he’d never
given me clothes before, ever in his
life. I was really nervous as I had to
open it in front of him and I could
feel it was clothes. Then I saw it
and screamed because I loved it!
How would you describe your
personal style? I like colour and
quirkiness, but I really go for accessories
now to add something extra.
Do you have a favourite place to shop?
I always shop for clothes and accessories
when I’m in another country.
What fashion favourite could you
not live without in your wardrobe?
Interestingly, this blue necklace. I have
worn it nearly day in, day out since
I bought it in Jaipur two years ago.
Emma Randle
What are you wearing today? I didn’t pack enough to
visit my mum this weekend, so I’ve pieced this outfit
together from my mum’s and my teenage wardrobe. The
shirt is from Mango and my jacket is from Zara.
What are your ‘go-to’ pieces to wear during
the summer months? Nude sandals.
Do you have a favourite place to shop? I
like the high street, especially Zara.
What fashion favourite could you not live without
in your wardrobe? It has to be my black jeans.
Kate has recently launched Déjà Vu,
a curated, handpicked collection
of reloved clothing and accessories
which you can browse at Pearl &
Queenie in St Leonards at 10 Marine
Court. Déjà Vu’s mission is to breathe
new life into once loved pieces. Recycling
and re-using clothing and accessories, Kate sources and
handpicks each item for the Déjà Vu rails. She’ll be in Pearl
& Queenie every Tuesday 11-3, so pop in and say hi!
The shop is open Tuesday, Wednesday & Sunday
11-3, Thursday 11-4 and Friday & Saturday 11-5.
Follow @katelizwatts on Instagram for the latest
Déjà Vu updates and see katelizwatts.com.
103 wealdentimes.co.uk
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104
DrChristineWT204.indd 1 22/01/2019 12:31
Scents of
Summer
Beauty
Josephine Fairley takes a look at this season’s new releases
I
love the quote from Aerin
Lauder (the legendary Estée
Lauder’s granddaughter)
that ‘You wouldn’t wear the
same perfume with a tennis
dress as an evening dress.
Now, this is rather more the
season of tennis dresses than
evening dresses (if you don’t
count Glyndebourne), and it’s
certainly a philosophy I embrace.
For me, there are fragrances that come
out when I put my opaque tights away
and vice versa. Scent is very much part of
my wardrobe – and a glance at my dressing
table will tell you: that wardrobe’s expanding.
It will certainly be somewhat more crowded
after summer 2019, meanwhile – because there are just
so many beautiful scents being launched around now.
Before I share the fragrances I’d long to add to my summer
fragrance line-up, though, a few caveats. It’s wise never to
spray directly onto skin, when you’re going to be spending
any time at all outside, because of possible interactions
between scent ingredients (particular citrus notes) and UV
light. There’s a risk of irritation, but also more longer-term
of pigmentation problems. Instead, I like to mist my hair (a
great carrier of perfume), and also my clothes. Just do the
Kleenex test, first: spritz a tissue, and once you’ve established
that the liquid dries completely clear, it’s safe to spray on
fabric. My clothes have an incredible mélange of fragrances
sprayed onto them – and somehow, because I like all the scents
I do that with, it creates something even more wonderful.
And now, my summer perfume lust-haves…
Chanel Les Eaux de Chanel Paris-Riviera (£99 for 125ml eau
de toilette). Chanel perfumer Olivier Polge is creating an
olfactory map of Gabrielle Chanel’s life through his Les Eaux
de Chanel collection. After Paris-Biarritz, Paris-Deauville and
Paris-Venice, he now plants a flag in the sands of the Côte
d’Azur, evoking the sun-drenched paradise Chanel helped
to popularise via a bouquet of sheer summer petals, woven
together with fresh citrus notes, jasmine and neroli and
warmed by resinous benzoin and sandalwood. Wear it with…
jaunty palazzo pants and a striped Breton shirt, à la Coco.
Burberry Her Blossom (from £44 for 30ml eau de toilette).
Longstanding Burberry perfumer Francis Kurkdjian explains
that this fresh, airy interpretation of Burberry Her was
‘inspired by London’s parks in spring.’ (It’s equally gorgeous
for high summer, though, with the combination of plum
blossoms, citrus notes and delicate peony petals creating an
unexpected floral breeze, and the addition before creamy
sandalwood and hints of musk emerge. The so-prettyin-pink
flacon is inspired by an archival Burberry design,
meanwhile – definitely my kind of hip flask. Wear with…
the prettiest, floatiest of summer dresses. Ideally chiffon.
Floris Neroli Voyage (£120 for 100ml eau de parfum).
Inspired by an expedition Floris Perfumery Director Edward
Bodenham took to retrace the footsteps of his ancestor,
Robert Floris, this transports us from Antibes across the
Ligurian Sea to the aromatic isle of Corsica and onwards
to the Italian coastal town of Positano, our sails filled by a
breeze fragrant with neroli, lemon, marine notes, jasmine,
ginger and fennel seed. It weighs anchor via musk, amber
and oak wood, indigenous to Corsica’s famous maquis.
Wear with... white linen as crisp as the scent itself.
Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Flora Cherrysia (£59 for 75ml eau
de toilette). I’m often wary of cherries, in a fragrance. (They
can be a bit ‘juicy fruits’ synthetic-smelling.) But rather
than the fruit itself, this showcases cherry blossom, that
most ephemeral of blooms, famous for lighting up Japan
in spring. The liquid refreshment begins with a dash of
bergamot, overtaken by diaphanous notes of nashi par and
watermelon, with a too-too-pretty, powdery, softly woody
end-game. Wear with… pretty-as-a-picture pastels.
L’Occitane Herbae Par L’Occitane (£59 for 50ml eau de parfum).
Now that we’ve (finally) shrugged off layers to head outdoors,
here’s the perfect fresh air spritz: a green floral creation from
Shyamala Maisondieu and Nadège Le Garlantezec focused
around wild grasses, all tangled up in bramble, nettle and wild
roses. Bergamot and pink pepper open, and as the sun warms
Herbae on your skin, you’ll begin to make out a honeyed
sweetness, touches of musk and woody, spicy Cashmeran.
105 wealdentimes.co.uk
Beauty
The striking
bottle is
tied at the
neck with
gardener’s
raffia. Wear
with… your
favourite scruffy
gardening gear, or any
summer frock. It’s equally
at home in a herbaceous
border as on a terrace
enjoying lunch outside.
(Put a visit to their Covent Garden
boutique on your perfume pilgrimage
‘map’, after reading this!) Effervescent
bubbliness abounds here in in a sunfilled
creation from rising star perfumer
Jérome Epinette (who has created all
Floral Street’s collection), with sparkling
rhubarb popping the cork on a frothy
gush of gardenia, exotic frangipani and
radiant jasmine Sambac. Wear with…
a sleeveless summer party frock. It’ll
have you wanting to kick off your shoes
and dance barefoot on the lawn.
Floral
Street Electric
Rhubarb £58
for 50ml eau de
parfum
Coach Floral Blush
(£49 for
50ml eau de parfum). Don’t we
all need cheerfulness and optimism,
right now…? That’s precisely what
Coach Floral Blush sets out to deliver,
in a spirit-lifting blend powered by
goji berries. What do they smell like,
in a scent? Juicily tart, sitting alongside
grapefruit, mellowing to an armful
of tea roses in the heart, before a
white woods finale. A playful floral
that celebrates ‘the carefree energy of
summer.’ Wear with… that vintage crêpe
de chine tea dress you most treasure.
BYREDO Sundazed (£110 for 50ml
eau de parfum). This is probably my
favourite yet from cult perfumers
BYREDO. Paying tribute to the era
of free love, Sundazed comes wrapped
in all things sunshine; bright, dazzling
mandarin and Californian lemon. Neroli
shimmers like the twinkle of light on
water while Arabian jasmine cloaks your
skin with its soft, yet opulent, touch.
A dry-down of cotton candy and skin
musks evokes distant memories of
summers spent at beachside funfairs.
Definitely a scent in which to bask
in a state of summer-induced bliss.
Wear with… a sarong, beside a pool or
lounging around on the back terrace.
Perfumer H Petit Grain (£220 for 100ml
eau de parfum). Right at the other end
of the price spectrum from Floral Street
are the fragrances created by perfumer
Lyn Harris, best known as founder
and for many years creator at Miller
Harris, who has a new scent boutique
on Marylebone’s Crawford Street where
she releases seasonal collections. I’ve been
saving pennies to build a mini-wardrobe
of these stunning scents, and for spring/
summer 2019 have my eye (or maybe
nose?) on this gust of citrusy greenness,
zestily powered by Italian bergamot,
Florida orange, and Paraguayan
petitgrain. Aromatic herbs, woods and
musks endow this with a much longer
skin life than most Colognes. If you can
afford to, splash with abandon. (And if
money’s really no object, splash out on
the hand-blown Michael Ruh bottle of
this, which is priced at a cool £450).
But whatever you spend – and
whether you’re matching your
fragrance to a tennis frock, a
Glyndebourne gown, a linen kaftan
or a snuggly pashmina – may you
enjoy a beautifully fragrant summer.
See perfumesociety.org for more of
Jo Fairley’s fragrance reviews
Chanel Les
Eaux de Chanel
Paris-Riviera £99
for 125ml eau
de toilette
Floris
Neroli
Voyage £120 for
100ml eau de
parfum
Floral Street Electric Rhubarb (£58 for
50ml eau de parfum). Floral Street is a
disruptive new fragrance house making
a splash for all sorts of reasons. First off,
they scooped ‘Retailer of the Year’ in the
prestigious Fragrance Foundation Awards
2019 (against very tough
competition). Secondly,
they’re offering
wearable ‘niche’-style
fragrances at very
mainstream prices.
L’Occitane
Herbae Par
L’Occitane £59
for 50ml eau
de parfum
Perfumer H
Petit Grain £220
for 100ml eau
de parfum
wealdentimes.co.uk
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The Summer Solstice on 21st June
this year marked the transition
into a new season and the start
of summer. It is on this day that the sun
rose and set at its most northern point,
leading to longer hours of daylight and
therefore the longest day of the year.
The word solstice is derived from the
Latin “sol” (sun) and “sistere” (to stand still)
and for me this says so much; this is the
time to stop, pause and reconnect with the
beauty of nature and the powerful effect that
the sun and its light has on all living things.
This time is celebrated by the druids
as a festival to give thanks to nature
and the changing faces of the seasons.
These seasonal rituals underpinning
practices such as druidism traditionally
evolved around farming practices. Now,
however, as our food production and
farming practices have changed to align
more with global demand than with
nature, this connection is less apparent.
Yet working intimately with the
change of seasons is a very simple and
powerful tool that can bring with it a
great opportunity to improve our physical
and emotional wellbeing. Indeed, the
inseparable relationship between the natural
environment around us, wherever we are
in the world, and our own wellbeing of
body, mind and spirit is a core belief in my
work at the Wild Clinic in Lewes and the
product formulations at Wild Nutrition.
The months leading to this seasonal
turning point allow us to celebrate by
feasting on nutrient-rich seasonal delights,
such as artichokes, asparagus, Jersey
potatoes, watercress or strawberries.
The longer, lighter evenings allow us to
relax with friends over a light evening
supper or wild swimming with your
family. Whichever ritual you choose
to celebrate nature’s gift of summer,
do so with abandon and gratitude.
Upping my water intake
During the winter or colder, damper
seasons, my water intake can be lower,
coming primarily through broths,
vegetables and fresh teas. In the summer
however, I have a natural pull to drink
more room temperature water, and water
rich fruits, such as watermelon. Adding
a morning green juice is a great way
to start the day feeling hydrated and
energised. A vegetable juice will provide
condensed nourishment from vitamins,
minerals and phytonutrients, but also
the natural water content they provide.
Try to make your juice with fresh
ingredients, such as cucumber, celery,
courgette, lettuce, fennel, lemon, lime
and mint, and drink within 15 minutes.
Eating summertime foods
The summertime produces some of
the most wonderful foods, such as
strawberries, that are particularly rich
in vitamin C, raspberries, apples,
runner beans, fennel, cucumber,
melon, rhubarb and rocket.
Eating in season also ensures
you are getting the best
flavours and nutrition
from your food and
can also support the
immune system and
skin from seasonal
ailments. Try to
source organic,
certified or just
a trusted source,
where possible.
Visit wildnutrition.com for Food-Grown® supplements and information
on Nutritional Therapists at clinics in Lewes and London
109
Health & Wellbeing
Wild at Heart
Henrietta Norton from Wild Nutrition explains how
she’ll be harnessing summer goodness to keep her
body and mind healthy throughout July
Here are just some of the changes I will
be making in this Season of Abundance
Exercising outside
What better way to enhance the benefits
of exercising than with an outdoor
routine in summer. Immersing ourselves
in nature supports our mental health
and physical wellbeing and is immensely
stress relieving. We don’t need a scientific
study to know that a walk through the
woods or cycling through the park is
uplifting and healing for the soul.
Adjusting my skincare
You can extend your summer changes
to your skincare routine, make-up and
sunscreen, too. There are some wonderful
naturally-derived, ethical products
available (my supplement regime shifts
during this season too) to help protect
your skin from oxidative damage and
contribute to collagen production.
SUPER BERRY SMOOTHIE
This smoothie will give you a nourishing kickstart
to the day, providing fats and protein to keep
hunger at bay and deliver a wonderfully creamy
texture. The seasonal berries offer a generous boost
of phytonutrients, such as anthocyanidins.
Serves 2
Ingredients
1 dssp almond butter
(or a nut or seed butter of your preference)
½ an avocado
1 tsp coconut butter/oil
2 tbsp raspberries
(or blueberries/blackberries – fresh or frozen)
1 dssp Manuka honey
Fresh ground cinnamon or vanilla powder to taste
Almond milk to cover
Instructions
Put all ingredients into a blender and blend!
Health & Wellbeing
Summer fitness fun
with or without kids!
Sarah Maxwell breaks down the sometimes daunting
prospect of exercise into easily manageable activities
that can be slotted into a busy lifestyle
Whether you have children or
not, summer is the time when
your regular exercise class can
go out of the window, or even stop for the
summer altogether! Holidays, days out
and family time give us endless excuses for
‘getting back on it tomorrow’. However,
summer can be a great time to shake up
your fitness routine or get started on a
new one – with or without the kids! Nicer
weather (hopefully) and longer evenings all
give perfect opportunities to get out there
and get moving, so this summer I have been
trying out something a little different to get
all ages moving. Here are my favourites…
Playground memories
I recently went to a ‘Rabble’ class in
Tunbridge Wells (at the cricket ground) and
it took me straight back to my schooldays,
running around playing British Bulldog,
Dodgeball and throwing frisbees! I had
such a great time at the class and can’t wait
to go back. An hour passes in the blink
of an eye and you get a great workout
without even realising it – maybe next
time I won’t fall over trying to “Dodge
that ball”! The beauty of it is that all ages
are welcome so you can go along with the
kids or on your own. joinrabble.com
Bouncing into fitness and fun
If you do have children to entertain over
the holidays, open jump sessions are
perfect. Many of my clients with children/
grandchildren find that the summer holidays
can be rather stressful and often tell me
they feel guilty when they use ‘family time’
to do their fitness programmes. It needn’t
be that way. Open jump sessions are for
all ages and are a brilliant way to burn off
those calories and have some fun with the
kids at the same time. I went to Urban
Jump in Heathfield, East Sussex, to try it
out and can definitely recommend it.
Entertaining teenagers can be tricky but
Urban Jump’s Urban Fit is something a
little different for those aged over 16 – a
45-minute class involving 30 minutes of
trampoline fun followed by 15 minutes in
the urban rainforest assault course. Swinging
and climbing at your own pace makes for
a fun and effective workout and will work
multiple muscle groups. urbanjump.co.uk
Love being in water? Prefer
looking at water?
With Bewl Water on our doorstep there
is definitely something for everyone here:
cycling, walking, watersports AND the
new Aqua park! There is 1500 metres
of inflatable fun for individuals, groups,
families, adults and children. I know
where I’m heading this summer!
bewlwater.co.uk
These are just a few of the things I have
tried, but there are lots of activities and
courses over the summer that will take
you outside and get you moving – with or
without the kids! Try searching the local
area online or checking our your local
Facebook groups to see what’s on offer
Now for something that can be done
without leaving the comfort of your own
home, this month’s exercise of the month!
With my hectic lifestyle I have to fit in
exercise as and when I can. Contrary to
popular belief, many of us in the health and
fitness industry stand around a lot telling
other people what to do without actually
doing the whole classes we are teaching!
This simple exercise (see right) can be
done anywhere – I often do it while I’m
brushing my teeth! A triple achievement
– clean teeth, improved balance and
stronger core in just two minutes!
Now that really is multi-tasking!
Sarah Maxwell is a
multiple award-winning
Fitness and Lifestyle
coach and mum of two
who juggles a lot of
balls. Find out more
about Sarah and her
work at sarahmaxwell.
com Sarah shares her
Fitness and Lifestyle
tips on Instagram
@sarahmaxwelllifestyle
Exercise of
the month:
Core strength
and balance
It’s well known
that working on
single leg balance or
simply standing on
one leg can help you
with foot and knee
stability, but did
you know that this
simple exercise engages
your core muscles too?
Stand straight (maintain
a good posture) raise
one leg off the floor and
balance with the other.
Aim to maintain this
position for a minimum
of 20 seconds. If you
can do it for longer
than 60 seconds, try it
with your eyes closed!
wealdentimes.co.uk
110
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and tranquillity of Green Farm:
• Fabulous private ESPA spa
• Relaxing weekend
& day retreats
• Weekly yoga, pilates
& art classes
• Holiday Barn
All in a natural farm and
ancient woodland setting
Please mention
Wealden Times Summer 19
when making booking, for a
complimentary glass of wine
Green Farm Spa & Retreats
Green Farm, Duck Lane,
Shadoxhurst, TN26 1LT
www.greenfarmkent.co.uk
team@greenfarmkent.co.uk
01233 733997
FITNESS CONSULTANT
Corporate Fitness Service
Gym Design & Management
Group Training Sessions
Private Personal Training
Distance Training Planning
Peter Foster
Mobile: 07931 515290
E-mail: fi tnessadviser@aol.com
GreenFarmKentLtdWT209.indd 1 19/06/2019 PeterFosterWT208.indd 14:29
1 22/05/2019 11:30
New
patients
welcome
Stunning smiles at
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Everyone’s welcome at Bupa Dental Care Cranbrook -
you don’t need to be a member or have insurance.
So why not register and experience quality dentistry today.
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DUK02662 | Jun19
111 wealdentimes.co.uk
BupaUkWT209.indd 1 07/06/2019 11:50
Baked to
Perfection
Recipes: Ilgin Beaton from Just Sourdough by Ilgin
Photographs: David Merewether
Styling: Lucy Fleming
Tangy, flavourful and satisfyingly chewy, sourdough’s
addictive appeal as an easier-to-digest alternative to regular
bread means that it has amassed quite the fanbase. Here,
Sevenoaks-based sourdough expert Ilgin Beaton – who, as
her company name Just Sourdough by Ilgin suggests, solely
focuses on crafting unadulterated sourdough loaves – shares
three recipes for you to try at home
You’ll need:
Sourdough Starter
There are a wide range of sourdough starter recipes
online if you wish to make your own from scratch. This
usually takes around 10-12 days. On Ilgin’s website,
justsourdough.com you can buy ready-made Organic
White Sourdough Starter and Organic Wholemeal Rye
Starter. Alternatively, book onto one of Just Sourdough
by Ilgin’s ‘Introduction to Sourdough Baking’ workshops
and you’ll go home with a jar of Ilgin’s own starter to
jumpstart the process and get baking straight away.
wealdentimes.co.uk
BE WISE
WHEN YOU ADVERTISE
St CLement’S
St Clement’s is a small, independent restaurant tucked
away in the artist quarter of St Leonards-on-Sea.
Everyone wants to get what they paid for. Wealden Times is independently
verified by ABC, because we want our advertisers to know they’re getting the
exposure they’ve been promised.
ABC. See it. Believe it. Trust it.
Our fish is delivered daily from the local fishing boats
and we pride ourselves on making everything from
scratch, from the bread at the start of your meal to
the desserts and ice creams at the end. Our Sunday
roast is also a special occasion at St Clement’s – why
not come and join us for a roast to remember!
Wednesday – Sunday 12-2.30pm
Wednesday – Saturday 6-9pm
www.stclementsrestaurant.co.uk
www.abc.org.uk
2018_be wise when you advertise_full A4.indd 2 08/11/2018 11:31:31
ABC.indd 1 12/12/2018 StClementsWT208.indd 17:15
1 08/05/2019 14:08
Formerly known as Hartley Dyke Farm Shop
Fresh Fruit & Vegetables · Flowers · Plants
· Shrubs · Hot & Cold Food · Drinks
· Groceries & Delicatessen
Charity Farm, Swattenden Lane,
Cranbrook, Kent, TN17 3PS
Tel: 01580 712546
www.cranbrookfarmshop.co.uk
wealdentimes.co.uk
114
CranbrookFarmshop&NurseryWT209.indd 1 04/06/2019 KentishHareWT208.indd 16:29
1 16/05/2019 14:31
Recipe One
Makes 1 loaf Prep time: Up to 24 hours
Cooking time: Around 50 mins
You will need: A Dutch Oven or
baking stone, a bread scoring knife/
blade, a round banneton or colander
• 100g active starter (you can
make your own or buy online
at justsourdough.com)
• 330-350g water (filtered or
mineral water), lukewarm
• 400g organic unbleached
strong white flour
• 100g of stoneground organic
wholemeal flour (or 50g
wholemeal, 50g spelt)
• 9g fine sea salt, dissolved in 9g water
• rice flour, for dusting the banneton
1In a large bowl mix the
starter and water and stir
until the starter is dissolved.
2Add all the flour and mix until the
ingredients come together into a
large ball. (At this stage we are only
mixing the water, starter and flour.)
3Cover and let the dough rest
on the side in the kitchen for
between 30 mins and 2 hours ‒ this
is what bakers call ‘autolyse’.
4Add the dissolved salt mixture to the
dough. Make sure the salt is distributed
evenly throughout the dough using a ‘Slap
& Fold’ technique (you repeatedly slap
the dough down onto the work surface
and fold it over on itself). This traps
some air whilst developing the gluten.
Continue for around 6-8 minutes, then
set aside in a bowl for 10-15 mins.
5The next stage is to ‘Stretch &
Fold’. Lift and fold your dough in
half over on itself, do a quarter turn
of your dough and repeat three more
times. Place back in the bowl ‘seam’
side down. Repeat this process three
times at 30-60 minute intervals with a
final 15-30 minute rest at the end.
6Shape the dough lightly into a ball then
place into a round banneton dusted
with rice flour (with a handful of mixed
seeds at the bottom, if desired). If you don’t
have a banneton, use a clean tea-towel
dusted with rice flour inside a colander.
Dust the top with rice flour, then cover.
7Prove. Leave your dough to
one side until it is 50% bigger,
then transfer to the fridge and leave
to prove there for 8-12 hours.
8The next morning, preheat your oven
to 250°C, pop in your Dutch Oven
or baking stone with a large pan of ice or
boiling water underneath, and heat for at
least 30 mins before you are ready to bake.
The hydration helps form a beautiful crust.
9Once the oven is up to full heat,
carefully remove the Dutch Oven,
then tip your dough inside carefully and
score the top with your scoring knife/
blade. This determines where the bread
will tear as it rises. Spray with water and
bake for 30-35 mins with the lid on.
Towards the end turn the heat down to
180-200°C, remove the lid and bake for
another 15 mins, or until you achieve
the colour of crust that you prefer. Take
it out of the Dutch Oven and leave to
cool down for up to 2 hours. Enjoy!
115
The following are more complex recipes with a mixture of flours, but the
taste is divine and the loaves are even more wholesome as they contain
ancient, unmodified grains. They use the same method as previously.
Recipe Two
• 350g water
• 100g active starter
• 250g unbleached strong white flour
• 100g einkorn (an ancient grain)
• 50g khorasan (also known as
kamut – an ancient grain)
• 100g Organic Light Malthouse
Flour from Shipton Mill
• 9g fine sea salt, dissolved
in 9g water
Recipe Three
• 330-335g water
• 180g active white starter
• 300g unbleached strong
white flour
• 100g wholemeal spelt flour
• 50g wholemeal flour
• 50g khorasan (also known as
kamut – an ancient grain)
• 9g fine sea salt, dissolved
in 9g water
Find out more about Ilgin’s sourdough workshops at justsourdough.com
wealdentimes.co.uk
116
When it comes to the menu, everything is
carefully picked to create dishes that are
delicious, beautiful on the eye and change
regularly to ensure you never get bored.
Following a very extensive career in this wonderful industry,
including working with the athletes at the 2012 Olympics
and in a top London events venue, Jemma has recently taken
over this wonderful boutique restaurant, formally known as
‘Hythe Brasserie’ and has great plans to move it forward.
Expressing fresh and seasonal ingredients, the team
work with a list of handpicked trusted suppliers who
are expected to meet their high standards.
Twenty Four is very family run, with both Mum and Dad
helping out, the team strives together to create a truly
special dining experience for all their guests.
Twenty Four is now open from:
Tuesday through to Saturday
Serving food from 10am – 3pm or 6pm – 9pm.
You can even enjoy a Midweek treat, with a complimentary bottle
of wine when you book a table on a Wednesday evening.
Bookings advised to avoid disappointment!!
01303 267 912
Twenty Four, CT21 5JT
restauranttwentyfour.com
HytheBrasserieWT209.indd 1 19/06/2019 17:11
THE CURIOUS BREWERY ◆ NOW OPEN
IN THE HEART OF ASHFORD, KENT, WE HAVE CRAFTED A BOLD AND POSITIVE STATEMENT ABOUT
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117 wealdentimes.co.uk
ChapelDownWT209.indd 1 11/06/2019 12:57
Don’t miss Wealden Times
August Issue
RESTORATION &
NEW BUILD SUPPLEMENT
Restoration
& New Build
A Wealden Times Supplement
t wealdentimes.co.uk
04WT183Supplement.indd 1 19/06/2019 16:40
Your go-to guide for renovation, inspiration, new build showcases,
planning advice & finishing touches
Available 29th July
Garden
Water retention
Get water-saving savvy
with Sue Whigham’s
tips for keeping your
pots’ occupants happy,
healthy and hydrated
this summer
in Pots
The weather is like a yo-yo. Temperatures soar, then
the following day it is overcast and drab – now, as
we speak, it is tipping it down. My rain gauge tells
me that we have had 30mm since yesterday
but yes, farmers need it for their crops and
we all need it for our gardens. Last year’s heat
and lack of rain was a disaster here when the
low oxygen levels in the pond meant that the
ghost carp, grown from tiddlers over the past
15 years or so, just didn’t make it. And that was
despite all our valiant efforts to re-oxygenate
the pond using a hose. I was glad to hear
that my bed and breakfast guest was a keen
fisherman and so was seen in a tangle of willows
at the side of the pond stretched out on his
stomach retrieving a very large and beautiful
fish. It was all very traumatic, like losing an
old friend, but thank goodness he was here to help.
Whether we do have a dry summer again or not, it is worth
thinking about water retention, bearing in mind that water is
“Try to avoid
watering in
the evening as
moisture can
get trapped in
the pot as the
temperature drops
leading to mildew
and fungus”
such a valuable resource and, if you have a pot garden rather
than flower beds – maybe due to lack of space or just by
preference – it is worth thinking of ways to retain moisture
in them so that you don’t have to spend hours
watering, especially if you are on a meter.
I was reading about ollas, clay pots used
for thousands of years to irrigate plants.
These are pots with a round base and a
bottleneck opening that you bury into your
pots or borders having filled them with
water. As they are porous, water seeps into
the adjoining plants’ roots via a suction effect
and the roots grow round the olla and take
water in when its needed. But maybe a few
ideas work just as well but less interestingly.
One major thing to think of is mulch and
a healthy compost heap will give you all
the humus-rich compost you would need for pots. It’s an
idea to use large pots if possible as whilst they need filling
with a good deal of compost, they will not dry out in
119 wealdentimes.co.uk
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120
HomeleighWT209DRAFT.indd 1 06/06/2019 MonarchOakWT147.indd 15:31
1 26/07/2018 12:30
Garden
the same way as small containers do. Add the mulch,
whatever it is that you use, in the spring and you could
also use moisture retentive Perlite in the soil. Avoid peat
based multi-purpose composts, which dry out quickly,
and instead go for the loam based John Innes mixes.
Try to avoid watering in the evening as moisture
can get trapped in the pot as the temperature drops
leading to mildew and fungus. Shame really as
the evening ritual of watering and having a glass
of wine is usually not too much of a chore!
Other mulches that help retain moisture would include
bark and leaf mould. Actually, the latter is ideal for
acid loving plants as it is low in nutrients and humus.
If you have a seaside garden, a mulch of shells and
gravel look good, but oddly they don’t quite work in
gardens away from the coast – I don’t really know why.
Straw, grass cuttings, mushroom compost. They can
all work. And have a think about grouping your pots
together in one place, rather than having isolated pots
around the garden. One seems to protect the other.
Wind is a cause of pots drying out and their contents
become rather desiccated, so, if possible, protect them
from prevailing winds by planting a native hedge or
purely a hawthorn hedge. The birds will thank you, too.
We have a proliferation of recently planted leylandii
down the lane. No use to man nor beast. Go native.
Otherwise use something like a hazel or willow fence
which lets in some air and light. Or try those fairly
Cranbrook Iron Makers Fair 2019
Sat 6th & Sun 7th July, 10am–5pm
at King John’s Nursery, Sheepstreet Lane,
Etchingham TN19 7AZ
Demonstrations of traditional crafts
Admission free
www.cranbrookiron.com
CranbrookIronWT208.indd 1 15/05/2019 12:37
Garden Perfection
City Escapes provide domestic & commercial garden solutions
Previous page: Sue groups her pots together to
slow their water loss Above: Weston Mill Pottery’s
large olla irrigation pots are ideal for use in larger
patio containers and greenhouses wmpot.co.uk
■
■
■
■
■
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
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121 wealdentimes.co.uk
CityEscapesWT204.indd 1 24/01/2019 10:40
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wealdentimes.co.uk
122
WCLandcraftWT209.indd 1 17/06/2019 14:46
Garden
merriments gardens
Some other tips to try…
• Avoid planting in dark-coloured pots. They
retain heat and accelerate moisture evaporation.
• Recycle plastic bottles. Pierce small
holes in them, put the top back on and
put in one of your pots upside down.
• Worth a try is drip irrigation using strips of
old fabric, with one end in your chosen pot and
the other in a reservoir of water. Good for a
group of pots if you are going away for a while.
• Try any number of the plant gels that are
on the market. Garden centres and dare I say
it, Amazon, have any number to buy. I was
reading about Plant Gel, a polymer, which has
been used by the US Forestry Service for years,
especially when they are trying to establish
trees and plants in desert areas. This particular
one contains water retaining properties as
well as nutrients. An ideal combination.
• Another cheap idea is to use old
household sponges in your pot’s compost.
I think I’m going to try that one.
Things are hotting up here at Merriments
in our RHS Partner Garden, Plant Area,
Shop & licensed Restaurant . . .
inexpensive rolls of split bamboo or reeds attached
to vertical stakes. They’ll do the trick.
And then there are the plants you choose themselves.
Bear in mind where they come from and what conditions
they are used to and then you can’t go wrong. Just try to
emulate what they have come to expect! Mediterranean
plants are used to very high midday temperatures, often
in excess of 38°C, and they have adapted to drought and
to retaining their water reserves during the hot season.
Their leaves are often silvery, small, leathery or hairy –
all adaptations to the conditions ‘they grew up in’.
These plants are often easy to grow in pots as long as you
don’t water too much and have some winter protection.
Oh, and ignore the idea of a spring mulch, they just need
minimal watering and well-drained soil. If you are tucking
them away into a well-lit shed or porch in the winter
months, don’t do it too soon. They need time to ‘harden
off’ so they are prepared for the vagaries of the UK’s winter.
Sub-tropical plants, too, can be great candidates for
pots as their large, lush leaves adapted to high humidity
can regulate their own temperature through transpiration,
meaning that they rarely dry out. Just what you want. It’s
simply working out which works best for them and for you.
Sue Whigham can be contacted on 07810 457948
for gardening advice and help in the sourcing
and supply of interesting garden plants.
Help and advice
For all your gardening needs
wealdentimes.co.uk/gardens
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
GARDEN · PLANTS · RESTAURANT · SHOP
Merriments Gardens | Hawkhurst Road
Hurst Green | East Sussex | TN19 7RA
01580-860666 | www.merriments.co.uk
123 wealdentimes.co.uk
MerrimentsWT209.indd 1 13/06/2019 10:01
Mad about
the BEES
Jo Arnell explains why, in a world full of pesticides,
making your garden a destination for bees provides them
with the ecological haven they’re crying out for
wealdentimes.co.uk
124
Insects are in crisis at the moment, their numbers
declining at a frightening rate, so anything we can do
to attract them into our gardens will be of benefit. In
fact, our gardens are proving to be bastions of hope and
protection in an inhospitable environment. The attention
is on bees, because they are such vital pollinators for crops
and without them our own existence would be under
threat too. Our gardens are fast becoming a vital resource
for them, providing food and shelter and hopefully safety
from pesticides. The sight and sound of bees buzzing brings
a garden truly to life and reminds us that a flower’s job
is to attract pollinators, that their beauty has a profound
purpose, intricately linked to the existence of the insects.
Honey bees, bumble bees and stingless bees are in the
Apidae family. There is just one honey bee, but there are 24
different species of bumble bee; some are social and live in
colonies, some are solitary, some are tiny, some huge and
furry – and easy to spot as they noisily bumble around the
flower borders. Added to these are the leaf cutters, mason,
mining and carder bees – and more besides. All bees do a vital
job transferring pollen from one flower to another as they go
about collecting nectar and pollen for their own purposes.
With a little thought, and a little less tidiness, your garden
can easily be made more insect friendly. They just need
places to build nests, shelter for overwintering and a reliable
source of food and water. Food comes in the form of nectar
and pollen and a plentiful supply all year round is really
beneficial. Most flowers die back in the winter, but there are
quite a few trees and shrubs that will produce winter flowers.
Water
Bees and other beneficial insects need to be able to
access water, preferably fairly shallow, so that they
won’t drown. Bees use water to drink, but also to cool
the hive when the weather gets really hot. If you don’t
have a pond, then a shallow dish of water, containing
pebbles or stones for climbing onto, will provide them
with a place to drink and collect water for the hive.
Shelter
Bees live in different kinds of habitats, depending on the
species, but all pollinating insects need overwintering
places where they can hibernate as adults or pupae. You
can easily help them by leaving log piles, leaves and
hollow perennial stems and seed heads for them to hide
in. You could also build a bee hotel; make your guests
feel at home using cut off sections of bamboo cane,
pinecones and bundles of sticks inserted into a frame and
positioned out of the prevailing wind and weather.
Providing nectar all year round
Most pollinating insects and bees will disappear when
the weather starts to get cold, but on warmer winter days
they occasionally wake up, or wake from hibernation
much earlier. This is happening increasingly as a result
of climate change, especially in the warmer south of
England where some species have stopped hibernating
altogether. It is vital to provide the winter insects
Opposite: Cirsium rivulare – bees love thistles This page top:
Foxgloves have spotted ‘landing strips’ designed to guide the bees
into the flowers Middle: A honey bee and a tiny pollen beetle
share a meal Left: Allium atropurpureum
125 wealdentimes.co.uk
and early emergers with food to help them get through
this period when resources may be scarce elsewhere.
Nectar from flowers may be in short supply in the
winter, but there are other sources: ivy flowers late in the
year, the winter cherry tree Prunus subhirtella autumnalis
flowers sporadically throughout the autumn and winter,
Clematis balearica is in flower from mid-winter and once
the worst of the January weather is over, there’s a host
of late winter flowering shrubs to choose from, with the
added bonus that many of them are scented. Early spring
brings the first of the bulbs, together with woodland
natives like primroses, aconites and wood anemones.
Flowers
Flowering plants have co-evolved with insects. Without
insect pollinators there would be no real flowers – the
plants would all have to rely on wind pollination, which
is a fairly haphazard and wasteful process. Much better to
pay someone to do the job properly. Nectar is the reward
for pollinators and it is only produced in the nectaries of
flowers as a lure – the plant has no need for it at all.
Some flowers hide the nectar in order to make doubly
sure that enough pollen is collected, the bees have to go
down deep into the flower to get to it, covering themselves
in pollen in the process. These blooms tend to be tubeshaped
and some even have landing strips to guide the bee
to the right part; look closely at a foxglove and you will see
the speckles inside are arranged in a specific way to help the
bee. Snapdragons have a hinged lip that opens only when a
heavy enough bee lands on the right spot, thereby ensuring
that the pollen will brush off when the bee squeezes inside.
Other flowers are more open about the process and go
to lengths to make things easy for their pollinators. Plants
in the daisy (Compositae) family make a wide and secure
platform for insects to land on; the centre is packed with
lots of individual tiny, nectar-filled flowers surrounded by
a fringe of sepals. This also means that once the bee has
Top: Echinops is a ‘bee magnet’ in late summer Middle left:
Flowers in the daisy family make great ‘landing pads’ for insects
Middle right: Chives and other alliums are nectar rich
Bottom: A honey bee collecting nectar from lavender
wealdentimes.co.uk
126
Traditional Craftsmanship
for Modern Applications
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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
The finest of British
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GodintonHouseWT209.indd 1 17/06/2019 ChartwellOakBuildingsWT195.indd 10:24
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Oak fronted Carriage Houses, Open Barns,
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Above: Our versatile range of Carriage Houses. Right: Traditional Double Garage, Open Barn.
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Passmores Est.1909, Kent’s best manufacturer, FSC certified, erecting service, tiling service
planning service available, nationwide delivery, large showground, full colour brochure.
127 wealdentimes.co.uk
PassmoresWT175.indd 1 11/04/2016 10:54
Bespoke design & build treehouses, playhouses
and elevated platforms.
Commercial & International commissions welcomed
Tel: 01403 262219
www.cheekymonkeytreehouses.co.uk
Kate Ball
Garden Design & Planting Plans
Individual and bespoke garden spaces
07870 627145
www.kateballgardendesign.co.uk
We’ve got designs
on your garden
CheekyMonkeyS40.indd 1 25/01/2018 KateBallWT194.indd 15:42
1 08/03/2018 16:53
Tradi'onal 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.
KEEP THE COLOUR
IN YOUR GARDEN ALL YEAR ROUND
Border Design Courses
Saturday 21st Sept
10am -4.30pm
Join Jo Arnell at her garden in Woodchurch and learn how to design and
plant a beautiful border from scratch, using border design principles.
Find the best plants to use and learn how to look after them.
If you are planning a new garden for 2019 then contact Tim Sykes
on 07725 173820, see us on Instagram, or google Gardenproud
Contact Jo 01233 861149 hornbrookmanor.co.uk
wealdentimes.co.uk
128
GardenproudWT208.indd 1 21/05/2019 HornbrookManorWT209.indd 10:14
1 19/06/2019 17:19
landed, it can spend more time collecting food from one
place, rather than wasting time flitting from bloom to bloom.
Colour sends a message
Plants use colour to send a signal, advertising to the insects
that the nectar bar is open for business. Brightly coloured
flowers are naturally found in sunny situations, but in the
shade the flowers tend to be pale, often white or cream, as this
shows up better in dim light. They lure in the insects with
scent rather than colour, pumping out their fragrance more
vigorously in the evening to attract in moths and beetles.
Although bees will collect nectar from different flowers,
they are very drawn to flowers at the blue end of the spectrum,
with herbs such as lavender, thyme and borage most favourite.
Plants to grow for the bees
Native species, but not necessarily our natives, are the most
valuable plants to pollinating insects, rather than highly bred
cultivars encouraged to give up on producing nectar and
pollen in favour of extra large or frilly petals instead. These
tend to be sterile too, so of no interest to hungry insects. Stick
to blooms that are open hearted with a single row of petals,
instead of the show-offs which always remind me of the huge,
puffy, Princess Diana-style wedding dresses of the 1980s.
Contact Jo for gardening courses and advice: 01233 861149
jo@hornbrookmanor.co.uk
Some useful nectar rich plants:
Early flowers
Lonicera fragrantissima – a shrubby,
winter flowering honeysuckle with
very fragrant, nectar rich flowers.
Hellebore – both the early Helleborus niger
(Christmas rose), the slightly later Helleborus
orientalis (Lenten rose) and the shrubbier Helleborus
argutifolius will provide a vital source of nectar for
early emerging bumble bees and other insects.
Early spring bulbs, such as winter
aconites, crocuses, Scillas and Muscari
will carpet under trees and shrubs.
Mid-season
Aquilegias – these appear at the end of spring
and will self-seed in favourable conditions
Herbs, such as Thyme and Marjoram, are
very pretty when they flower – just cut
them back as you would lavender once
they’ve finished to keep them tidy.
Scabious – a mound forming perennial for the
front of the border with long lasting ‘pin cushion’
flowers in shades of pale blue, pink or white.
Late summer and autumn
Buddleia – our beloved butterfly bush that flowers
in late summer and attracts a mass of pollinating
insects. Prune hard in spring so that you will be
able to appreciate the flowers at eye level – left
unpruned buddleias grow too tall and unruly – and
the flowers will appear right at the top of the plant.
Hebe – these mainly evergreen shrubs come
in many sizes, but all produce nectar rich
flowers at around the same time as buddleias
Verbena bonariensis – a tall, wiry, but elegant
meadow plant from Argentina. If it likes you, it will
set seed literally everywhere…
Asters – with their late flowering daisy flower
heads will flower into October and beyond.
Abelia grandiflora – an autumn flowering shrub
with small, pale pink flowers and long lasting
darker, rusty pink bracts
Above: A lavender hedge will keep the bees happy for weeks
Right: Hellebores are a great source of early nectar.
129 wealdentimes.co.uk
Time for a Change
Considering downsizing? Here’s what you need to think about...
You might consider downsizing
as you enter retirement for a
variety of reasons. Perhaps you
are looking to save money and time on
property upkeep, find somewhere more
suitable for your needs, move nearer
to family or friends, want to release
capital for yourself, or to help family
members. Whatever the reason, when
deciding to leave the family home
you must consider many emotive and
practical issues. While you are likely to
have considered the potential impact
on your lifestyle and bank balance,
you may not have thought about the
impact downsizing may have on your
wider affairs. Francesca Sassoli, of law
firm Cripps, incorporating Pemberton
Greenish, outlines some legal
considerations you should be aware of.
Your will
When contemplating downsizing,
you should review your will. It may
need updating to reflect the change of
property to avoid an unwanted outcome.
For example, you may give the
property to your partner and the rest
of your estate to your children. If you
do not amend your will to refer to
your new property, the gift to your
partner may fail, so your new property
unintentionally passes to your children.
property ownership
If you are buying with another person,
you should take advice as to whether to
hold it as “joint tenants” or “tenants in
common”. Various factors, including
your will, may impact your decision.
Properties owned as joint tenants pass
automatically to the survivor on the
death of a co-owner. But if you intend
to give your share of the property to
another person, or to a trust, in your
will, the new property should be
purchased as tenants in common so
that your share passes under your will
and not to the co-owner automatically.
When preparing to sell your existing
property, you should check your
records and at the Land Registry to
see if any other parties have an interest
in your property. It is not uncommon
for couples to give a share of the
family home to a trust or to their
children during lifetime or on the
first death, which will have an impact
when downsizing. This is sometimes
recorded by a charge or restriction
registered against the property. Legal
advice should be taken regarding these
arrangements before downsizing.
residence nil rate band
This is a tax-free allowance (£125,000 at
the time of writing, but set to increase
to £150,000 from 5 April 2019)
available in addition to the ordinary nil
rate band (currently £325,000) for those
passing their home to descendants on
death. The allowance was introduced
in April 2017 and is set to increase by
£25,000 every tax year until it reaches
£175,000 in the tax year 2020/21. The
allowance can be transferred between
married couples or civil partners if
it is not used on the first death.
When downsizing, you should
consider whether your share of your
new property is worth enough to fully
utilise the allowance available, to avoid
wasting some of it. If your share of the
new property is less than the available
allowance (£250,000 for a couple at
the time of writing but set to increase
to £300,000 from 5 April 2019), a
special “downsizing relief” may be
available so your estate can still benefit
from a percentage of the allowance.
You should keep the completion
statement from your sale and purchase,
and take legal advice to check how the
provisions apply in your circumstances.
Lasting Powers
of Attorney
Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs) are
documents nominating attorneys to
manage your affairs on your behalf if
Downsizing –
key things to consider
• Are you ready for the
emotional impact of leaving
your current home?
• Is your home listed in your
will? It’s highly likely this will
need updating as a result of
a property sale.
• Have you considered the
different ownership options
available and their implications
to your inheritors?
• Will downsizing affect the
tax-free allowance in your
inheritance tax planning?
• Are you prepared for the risk
you may not be well enough to
complete the sale and purchase?
• Have you considered the
alternatives?
• What will you be doing with
any surplus cash as a result
of downsizing?
wealdentimes.co.uk
130
VOICE TRIALS
for boys aged 7 & 8
9 th November 2019
Enquiries are welcome
at any time
you cannot do so, perhaps due to an accident or illness. LPAs
can be put in place for both financial and health decisions.
If you lose capacity without an LPA, an application to the
Court of Protection is necessary, but this is a costly process
which can take months. If you do decide to downsize, you
may wish to put a financial LPA in place to ensure the sale
and purchase can continue if you become incapacitated
or are unable to sign documents for any other reason.
Other options
You may wish to consider alternatives to downsizing.
Despite some bad press in the early 2000s, equity
release schemes or lifetime mortgages for over 55s
are an increasingly popular way to release capital tied
up in the family home without having to move.
Equity release should not be entered into lightly. Even
though most providers now offer a “no negative equity
guarantee” (meaning you will never have to pay back
more than the value of the property), high interest rates
and early repayment charges can reduce the value of your
estate. If you are considering equity release you should seek
advice from an independent financial advisor and meet
with a solicitor before entering into any arrangement.
Tax planning
Downsizing can provide the opportunity for inheritance
tax (IHT) planning, although you should be careful not to
allow the potential to save tax to be your sole motivation.
You must be comfortable with the lifestyle changes
too, otherwise you may live to regret your decision.
If you do not need the cash you release by downsizing
and your estate is over the IHT threshold, you could give
away funds to reduce your estate for IHT purposes. You
can make outright gifts to anyone over 18. However, if
you would prefer to delay the age at which they receive
the funds, provide for minor beneficiaries or protect the
funds for any other reason (such as from a divorcing
beneficiary), you may prefer to gift the funds to a trust. You
will need to survive seven years from either type of gift.
For further advice on downsizing please contact
Francesca Sassoli on 01892 506354, email
francesca.sassoli@crippspg.co.uk or visit cripps.co.uk.
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
CanterburyCathedralChoirWT207.indd 1 02/04/2019 15:04
Just living is
not enough.
One must
have sunshine,
freedom and
a little flower
Hans Christian Andersen
NLP is a positive and proactive psychology, known for helping
people make powerful and effective change. It can help with:
• Life Changes • Confidence • Relationships
• Managing Life • Anxiety Stress & Depression
• Health & Wellbeing • Self-Esteem • Career
• Changing Negative Patterns • Communication
Yvonne Fernando
NLP Master Practitioner & Life Coach
Please call for an appointment
T : 01233 878474 M: 07968 785714
www.yvonnefernandonlp.co.uk
Professional
Member of ANLP
131
YvonneFernandoWT205.indd 2 13/02/2019 11:33
‘An exceptionally friendly school
where everyone is quickly made
to feel part of the community’
Good Schools Guide
MHS Colour Run 2019
Why not come and visit us? Contact Emma Houchin on 01580 753555
or registrar@marlboroughhouseschool.co.uk
Valuing self and others
Boys and Girls, Nursery-13 years. Founded 1874, Day and Flexi Boarding
Hawkhurst, Cranbrook, Kent, TN18 4PY marlboroughhouseschool.co.uk
Education
School’s out for summer
But what if the lengthy summer holiday ceased to exist? Hilary Wilce spells out the advantages
Quite soon schools will be closing down for
the holidays. Some boarding schools will
be quickly opening up again to reap useful
income from hosting residential music schools
or tennis camps or foreign language courses. Others will
be hosting day holiday clubs and activity camps, but far
too many school buildings up and down the country
will stay shuttered and locked until September.
Meanwhile, social splits will widen. Some lucky children
will enjoy a busy summer of friends, activities and holidays,
but many more will spend weeks in their bedrooms
staring at a screen, or will roam the streets with friends
trying to fill up the days. In the summer, a surprising
number of school-age children in the UK are less well fed
than they are during their term times of breakfast clubs
and school lunches. A great many, lacking stimulation,
forget much of what they learned in the previous school
year and start in September having dropped up to five
weeks behind in both knowledge and learning skills.
At the same time, parents will spend their summers
juggling holiday leave, paying out for holiday
programmes of dance, football or archery classes
that they can often ill afford, or turning to longsuffering
grandparents to help out with childcare.
None of this adds up, so it would make excellent sense
to keep schools open over the summer and offer free
holiday programmes of sports, creative and community
activities to all children who want to join in.
Of course it would cost money. Quite a lot of money.
Organisers and helpers would have to be employed, there’d
be significant management costs, and equipment and food
would need to be provided. But set that against all the other
costs that the summer holidays give rise to – more mental
and physical health problems among children, more street
violence, growing obesity, family struggles, workplace stress,
and widening inequality – and the balance sheet would
tip strongly in the direction of using our well-equipped
and expensive school facilities to the maximum. Plus, of
course, a national, and hopefully high-quality holiday
scheme, would be able to offer much more consistency
of care, and a much more balanced programme, than the
postcode lottery of holiday provision than we have now.
What this would take, though, would be
a profound revolution in thinking.
My own family had a personal crash course in this when we
moved to America and our children joined the local elementary
school. Almost immediately, they were casually cycling up to
school in the evenings and at weekends to pick up forgotten
homework, look things up in the library, or play on the sports
field or in the playground. To us, it seemed extraordinary.
To our suburban American neighbours it was completely
normal. It was the children’s school, it was open, there were
adults about – why shouldn’t pupils use it as their own?
So why can’t that happen here? Why can’t schools
be safe havens and exciting learning spaces in the
summer, just as they are in term-time? There are lots
of practical and financial reasons why not. But with
the desire to do right by all our children, and the will
to make it happen, those could be countered.
Or we could have something completely different and
scrap the long summer holiday altogether. Children are
no longer needed to help with the harvest, which is why
the holiday was created in the first place. Modern life
hurtles along without pause through the months of July
and August, and it could well suit almost everyone to
have more school terms and shorter holidays. For me,
this would be the ultimate sensible solution, and would
solve the great summer holiday problem at a stroke.
133 wealdentimes.co.uk
SissinghurstCastleWT208.indd 1 20/05/2019 10:08
KITCHEN
GARDEN WEEK
2nd every day to 7th July
Kitchen Gardener on hand to
answer questions; menu in
the café celebrating produce
from the garden
Gardens; Café with Terrace; Gift Shop; Art and
Sculpture Exhibitions - all open until 28th Sept.
Open Tuesday to Saturday and Special Event Days
Ticehurst, TN5 7HE 01580 200888
pashleymanorgardens.com
Art
What’s On in July
Fri 14 Jul - Fri 6 Sep
Beauport House at Bannatyne
Hotel & Spa, The Ridge,
Hastings TN38 8EA
ENLIGHTENED
PURE Arts Group’s latest
exhibition will show the work of
respected painter, collage artist
and printmaker Brenda Hartill RE
at their new gallery with Beauport
House at Bannatyne Hotel & Spa.
pureartsgroup.co.uk
Wed 24 Jul – Wed 7 Aug
(Mon-Wed & Fri 9am-6pm,
Thu 9am-8pm, Sat
9am-6pm, Sun Closed)
Kaleidoscope Gallery &
Library, Buckhurst Lane,
Sevenoaks, Kent TN13 14Q
TEXTILE STUDIO
EXHIBITION
An exhibition of contemporary
textiles and mixed media by
artists based in Kent.
Entry: Free
01634 714477
Sat 27 July – Sun 18 Aug 1-6pm
Godinton House & Gardens,
Godinton Lane, Ashford,
Kent TN23 3BP
Sculpture in
the Garden
Godinton House shows the
work of twenty artists – some
familiar, local artists and some
exciting new faces – adding an
exciting element to the 13 acres
of beautiful and varied gardens.
godintonhouse.co.uk
Festivals & Fairs
Mon 1 – Sun 7 Jul
Hampton Court Palace, Molesey,
East Molesey KT8 9AU
RHS Hampton Court
Palace Garden Festival
Bringing a colourful festival
of flowers to the grounds of
Hampton Court Palace, this
event invites visitors to spend the
day amongst beautiful blooms,
enjoying a stellar line up of
gardens, spectacles, culinary
experiences and workshops.
rhs.org.uk
Thu 4 – Sun 14 July
Romney Marsh TN28 8AS
JAM on the Marsh
JAM on the Marsh returns. Join
the King’s Singers, be amazed by
Jon Foreman’s large-scale, dailychanging
beach art on the sands at
Dymchurch, come to Changeling
Theatre’s racy Nell Gwynn under
the copper beech tree in New
Romney, luxuriate in Tchaikovsky,
Finzi and Paul Mealor with the
London Mozart Players, or hear
Bach as you never have before with
Art of Moog’s Bach on Synths.
Children are welcome, free at all
events, and the Children’s Sunday
will be full of storytelling, clowning,
nature sculptures and steam trains.
jamconcert.org/events
Fri 12 – Sun 14 Jul
Dunorlan Park, Pembury Road,
Tunbridge Wells TN2 3QN
Pub in the Park
The ultimate pub garden. This
glorious three day feast will have
brilliant food, Michelin-starred
chefs and live music including
Rick Astley, Basement Jaxx,
Will Young, Gabrielle, Soul II
Soul Sound System and KT
Tunstall. There will be plenty
of bars serving drinks from
cocktails to cold ones, chef
demonstrations, masterclasses,
tastings and shopping from
artisans and lifestyle brands.
pubintheparkuk.com
Sun 21 Jul 10.30am
The Sports Ground, 100
The Street, Appledore,
Ashford, Kent TN26 2AE
Appledore
Vehicle Rally
A family day out in the beautiful
village of Appledore with trophies
and prizes for all categories of
vehicles on display, arena events,
country crafts stalls, an autojumble,
boot fair stalls, food
outlets, side show attractions, and
a raffle for a “Barrow-of-Booze”.
All proceeds go to charity and all
work is done by local volunteers.
Entry: £5, concessions: £3,
children: free, vehicle exhibition:
£8/car in advance / £10 on the
day (including occupants)
appledorevehiclerally.co.uk
wealdentimes.co.uk
134
PashleyManorWT209.indd 1 12/06/2019 11:36
Highest quality
Tennis surfaces
and all weather garden play areas
Martin Gurr Tennis Courts is a family business with over 35 years’
experience in building tennis courts and sport areas. The company
provides free surveys & quotations. All courts are constructed to
high specifications and are supported with a long guarantee.
Please contact us for further information:
The Whym, Manchester Rd, Ninfield, East Sussex TN33 9JX
01424 892265 07831 643835 mgsc@btconnect.com
www.martingurrtennissurfaces.co.uk
Martin Gurr Tennis Courts
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
Blackland Farm
Outdoor Activity Centre
MsgsportsWT204.indd 1 14/01/2019 KentShowgroundWT207.indd 16:45
1 03/04/2019 10:45
Kayaking
Canoeing
Bungee trampolining
Rock climbing
Archery
Crate challenge
Zip wire
Abseiling
Aeroball...
...and many more!
Come and join us for
fun-filled activity days.
Why not have your
birthday party here too?
01342 810493
blackland@girlguiding.org.uk
www.blacklandfarm.org.uk
Blackland Farm
wealdentimes.co.uk
136
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1 20/05/2019 12:53
What’s On in July
MUsic & Theatre
Tue 9 Jul 6.30-8.30pm
Benenden School, Benenden,
Cranbrook, Kent TN17 4AA
ABF The Soldier’s
Charity Musical
A Summer Party with music from
the Cranbrook Town Band, the
Old School Samba Band, the
Queen’s Own Royal West Kent
Regiment’s Quintet, and two
Pipers plus wine, canapés, and
other attractions. The party will
be on the terrace if the weather
is fine, or a marquee if wet.
Entry: (in advance only) adults:
£25, under 14s: £5+free ice cream,
abftscevents@gmail.com /
01474 853014
Sat 13 Jul
Leeds Castle, Maidstone,
Kent ME17 1PL
Leeds Castle Concert
With the Royal Philharmonic
Orchestra, The Band of Her
Majesty’s Royal Marines, and a
selection of sensational soloists plus
a Spitfire fly-over from the Aero
Legends stable, the Leeds Castle
Classical Concert is how to do an
open-air concert with real class. Take
a summer day to sip on prosecco,
feast on a Carluccio’s picnic hamper
filled with delicious Italian dishes
and enjoy the show, which just so
happens to be set in the grounds of
‘the loveliest castle in the world’.
Entry: From £47
leeds-castle.com /
leedscastleconcert.co.uk
Sat 27 Jul
Allington Castle, Maidstone, Kent
ME16 0NB
Allington Castle
Open Air Theatre
Heart of Kent Hospice presents
two open air theatre performances
with The Changeling Theatre
Company in the beautiful
grounds of the private residence of
Allington Castle. Jessica Swale’s Nell
Gwynn will be performed in the
afternoon, commencing at 2pm and
Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale will
be an evening performance 7.30pm
Entry: Adults: £30, children: £10
changeling-theatre.com /
hokh.org
Workshops
Fri 5 Jul 10.30-4pm
Godinton House, Godinton
Lane, Ashford, Kent TN23 3BP
CERAMIC Portrait
SCULPTURE WORKSHOP
FOR ALL ABILITIES
(with model)
Join Brenda Burgess for a fun,
friendly, and deeply informative
sculpture workshop for all
abilities. This workshop, set in
the glorious Godinton House,
takes a deep look at what makes
each of our faces so unique.
Entry: £70
brendaburgess@brendaburgessarts.co.uk
/ brendaburgessarts.co.uk
Wed 10 Jul 6.30-9pm
Blooming Green,
Loddington Farm, Linton,
Maidstone ME17 4AG
A Mindful Evening at
the Flower Plot
Yvonne Fernando, NLP Master
Practitioner & Life Coach teaches
mindfulness practices in the
magical ambience of Blooming
Green. This day of relaxation
is a great chance to take some
real me time, get some valuable
tips, try a private flower-picking
session and enjoy some cake too.
Entry: £45
01233 878474 /
yvonnefernandonlp.co.uk
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.
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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 August issue is 10 July 2019.
Rhythm of the Dance
Sun 7 July
King of Pop
Sat 13 July
Rick Wakeman: Piano Odyssey
Sun 21 July
Book online:
whiterocktheatre.org.uk
Ticket Office: 01424 462288
White Rock, Hastings TN34 1JX
WhiteRockTheatre
@The_White_Rock
@white_rock_theatre
137 wealdentimes.co.uk
WhiteRockTheatreWT209-V.indd 1 10/06/2019 14:13
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KitchenDoctorWT145.indd 1 28/01/2014 ElectricPalaceRecordsWT208.indd 10:12
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NoMoreDullWT207.indd 1 24/04/2019 10:46
138
Competition
Win A two-night stay, with breakfast,
for either a couple or a family of
four at molly dishwasher in sussex
Molly Dishwasher, along with
Skylark, are one of the most
established glamping destinations
in the South East. Situated in the heart of
the countryside, yet just five miles from
the vibrant town of Royal Tunbridge
Wells, it’s an hour from London on the
train and 45 minutes from the coast.
Founded in October 2010 by two
sisters, Issie and Mops, who wanted to
create “camping with a little luxury”, each
shepherds hut sleeps up to two adults and
two children, nestled in their own meadow
with uninterrupted views. There is a double
bed and two bunk beds that double up as
a sofa during the day. In the crisp of the
autumn and the chill of the winter, there
is a wood-burner to keep you warm and
cosy while playing traditional board games
or watching the native birds and wildlife.
Both huts come with their own fullyfitted
kitchen and bathroom located some
80 yards from their respective hut. Children
can explore the magical woodland, make
their own camps and spot the wildlife. They
can come and feed the animals, collect the
eggs and meet legendary Plum the dog!
A choice of cooked or continental
breakfast is included and will be delivered
to your hut. You can also order a barbecue
box provided by the award-winning
family butchers, Fullers, ready for you to
cook on your fire-pit beside the hut.
Whether you are a couple, a family of
four or a large party that would like to
celebrate a special family occasion or simply
a get together with friends, you can book
both the shepherds huts, the Bell Tent,
Nuthatch, and the holiday cottage, Snaffles.
Find out more at mollydishwasher.com
How to enter: For
your chance to win a twonight
stay, with breakfast,
for either a couple or a
family of four at Molly
Dishwasher, just answer the
following question: How
many miles from Royal
Tunbridge Wells is Molly
Dishwasher situated? Enter
your answer with your
contact details in the online
form at wealdentimes.
co.uk/competition
by 31 July 2019. The Prize
must be taken before 31
July 2020. Please note:
unfortunately the site
isn’t wheelchair friendly
as there are steps up
into the hut and an
80-yard walk from the
kitchen and bathroom
to the hut.
Congratulations to Josephine Frances Hickman who wins our May competition for a seven night boating holiday with Le Boat
139 wealdentimes.co.uk
Jane Howard’s
Fables from
the Farm
Jane explains the breeding cycle
of the Coopers Farm herd
If anyone ever asks us when we calve, I confidently
say we have a spring calving herd, which means
our 25 cows should all deliver their calves between
February and April. Three months is generally deemed
an acceptable period of time to be getting up every
night to check for new arrivals and for dealing with
all the management tasks that calving involves.
Truth is, however, we had two cows calve in June this
year and two of the old girls have still to deliver their
bundles of joy. Old being the key to this conundrum.
The natural life span of a cow is about 15 to 20 years,
although these are not all reproductive years and typically
a British beef cow will be kept in the herd for about 10
to 12 years. Typically, she will ‘see’ the bull for the first
time in the summer when she is two (I just love this coy
cow parlance) and nine months later will produce her first
spring calf. She then gets three months off before going
back to the bull for the whole process to start again.
All being well, this cycle of events should
produce a calf a year, every year. After 10, her
teeth may get a bit wobbly (or fall out) which
means her cudding (chewing) is less efficient
and she will find it harder to maximise the
goodness in the dry winter forage, usually
hay, so she won’t be in good condition to
see that bull again the following spring.
And of course, just like humans, her fertility
will also decline as she gets on in years.
If one had a crystal ball it would be easy
to decide when the middle-aged girls should come to the
end of their mothering careers and not be put back with
Typically, a
British beef cow
will be kept in
the herd for
about 10 to
12 years
the bull to spend a lazy summer of bovine canoodling. Ever
the optimist, all too often I give them the benefit of the
doubt, one more turn round the block I hear myself say and
then I’m surprised when things don’t go exactly to plan.
And we can’t blame it on the bull. Rather
like the cows he is at his best when he is
young and keen and Captain, our new three
year old bull, is just that. He will spend the
summer months vigilantly patrolling the
field passing from cow to cow just checking
whether any of them might be coming into
season and in need of his amorous advances. A
young chap will happily attend to two or three
cows in a day. For the more mature gentleman
it is an altogether more relaxed affair.
For starters there won’t be any patrolling, he will simply
wait for the cows to alert him to oestrus. When a cow
is coming into season, known as bulling, she will jump
on the back of the other cows until she ovulates, when
for a few hours she will stand still for the other cows to
jump on her. Seeing all this bouncing around the older
bull will obviously want a slice of the action but one at
a time is generally the order of the day and so some may
get missed and that calving pattern gets stretchy again!
So I’ve been very firm with myself this year and have
brought lots of new young heifers into the herd who – bing
– will (should) all conceive first time around, and next year
I shall be done and dusted with the calving business in the
tightest of tight patterns. By May I’ll be filing my nails and
wondering what to do with myself. Well that’s the plan.
Follow Jane Howard – and the farm – on Instagram @coopersfarm
wealdentimes.co.uk
140
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