Landscape_Mini

Contents
August 2022
48
96
In the garden
In the kitchen
26
Craft
12 Harmonious lochside croft garden
22 The garden in August
26 Intricate detail of exotic climbers
38 Silver foliage for summer shimmer
48 Botanical bakes with delicate flavour
56 Golden parcel of succulent flakes
60 Sweet bell peppers for bold dishes
66 Regional & Seasonal:
Gilchesters Organics,
Northumberland
42 Rainbow displays of gladioli spears
82 Nutritious soap crafted from nature
94 Stationery with a colourful twist
96 Comfort in a carry cushion
100 Preserving pretty petals
124 Readers share their creative talents
4

104 82 42
70
Countryside
History and heritage
Regulars
114 The countryside in August
116 Hidden world revealed along the
rocky shoreline
70 On the trail of Wiltshire’s
mysterious white horses
104 Strength and beauty in an ancient
building skill
6 Readers’ letters
8 Our LandScape
35 In the garden
40 Subscription offer
58 In the kitchen
92 In the home
5

LOCHSIDE GEMS IN
A CROFT GARDEN
The owners of a traditional Highland home have made the most of
its far-reaching views with softly hued plantings from exotic climes,
which meld with the stunning landscape

48

SPRINKLED WITH THE
TASTE OF SUMMER
Petals and herbs provide pretty, colourful garnishes as well as delicate
flavour to botanical bakes, which are perfect for a sunny day
FOR A SEASONAL touch, botanicals, such as
edible flowers and summer herbs, not only add
decoration and colour to a variety of sweet treats,
but also texture and flavour.
There is a host of flowers to choose from, such as
dianthus, daisy, elderflower, nasturtium, viola and rose,
but it is important they are identified properly before
eating. Faded, dusty roadside flowers should be avoided
as well as those growing in areas frequented by livestock
or dog walkers, and they should always be free from
pesticides. Care should be taken if bees are about, and
the blooms checked and cleaned for small insects.
Picking young flowers in the morning before the sun
warms up ensures an intensity of colour and flavour.
Herb flowers, including basil, chives, lavender, mint,
rosemary and thyme, impart a more subtle flavour to
food than their leaves.
For best results, flowers should be used immediately
or refrigerated in a plastic bag for 2-3 days. Dried or
frozen flowers can also be bought for culinary purposes.
Flower ring biscuits
Makes 20
10g mixed edible flowers, such
as pansies, violas, daisies and
rose petals, torn or pulled apart
into small pieces
1 tsp dried lavender
2 tbsp rose water
230g cold unsalted butter, cubed
200g caster sugar
1 egg
450g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
115g icing sugar
30ml double cream
2 drops yellow food colouring
large, flat oven tray
baking paper
7cm round cookie cutter and
2cm round cookie cutter
Line the oven tray with baking paper. In a food processor, whisk together the
butter and caster sugar for 2-3 mins until thick and creamy. Beat in the egg
and 1 tbsp of rose water, then mix in the flour and baking powder.
Cut 2 large sheets of baking paper and place one on a clean kitchen
surface. Place the mixture onto the baking paper on the kitchen surface and
top with the other piece of baking paper. Roll the mixture with a rolling pin,
keeping the top piece of baking paper in place, until the mixture forms a
1cm-thick rectangle. Cut out as many large circles as possible, using the
larger cutter, and transfer them to the prepared tray, spacing them out from
each other 1cm apart. Use the smaller cutter to remove a circle of dough
within each biscuit and discard or add to the remaining dough to re-roll so
there are 20 biscuits. Place the tray in the fridge for 30 mins until the
biscuits are firm.
Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas mark 4. Bake the biscuits for
15-20 mins until golden and firm. Allow to cool slightly, then transfer to a
wire rack to cool completely.
To make the icing, combine the icing sugar, remaining rose water, double
cream and yellow food colouring in a large, shallow dish. Stir the icing until
very smooth, then dip the biscuits in the icing horizontally so that the tops
are covered. Place on the wire rack, then top with the edible flowers and
dried lavender. Allow to dry completely before serving.
49

MYSTERIOUS PAST OF
THE HILLSIDE HORSES

Carved into the rolling, chalky landscape, Wiltshire’s
giant white equines are a fascinating draw to this
rural county and an enduring presence watching
over communities through the centuries
The white horse at Alton Barnes
in Wiltshire appears to be
moving across the slopes behind
golden pyramids of neatly
stacked hay bales; their shape
mirroring the rolling hills.

LIFE ALONG THE
ROCKY SHORE
With the ebbing of the tide, a hidden world is revealed
in pools and fissures, populated by fascinating creatures
adapted to surviving where land meets sea
THE TIDE IS going out at
Wembury Beach in Devon, and
the sea is a surge of white and blue
as it rolls and swells against the
rocks, spilling up gullies and clefts as it is
pulled slowly, inexorably, away. A new
world emerges in its wake; sunlight
trickling across the flat, wet sand; seaweed
piled in ragged lines along the shore.
Mounds of black rock that once lay
beneath the waves are now exposed in the
briny wind that glances round the cove,
their reflections glimmering in the pools of
water that ring their feet.
The sea lingers too, in the ridges and
channels that ruck the cliffs, in cracks and
crevices, and in the dips of soft sand
around sea-scoured boulders. Here remain
secret, sunken worlds of spiky, leggy
animals, of stalked mouths, goggling eyes
and beaked and rippled shells. Rock pools
are endlessly fascinating; at first sight,
seemingly empty, but patience is rewarded
as a sudden flurry of sand or a twitch of
weed hints at the marvels within.
Ben Holt, of the
Cornwall- and
Devon-based
wildlife group
The Rock Pool
Project.
Shifting sands
The animals of the rugged shoreline are
not here by chance, as strays abandoned by
the ocean, but are part of a highly
specialised community primed to survive a
world in flux. The beach is an environment
of constant change, with its inhabitants
buffeted by the waves at every tide as they
swing between the relatively constant
conditions of the sea and the fickle world
of the sands.
“The rock pool environment is harsh,”
says Ben Holt, of community wildlife
group The Rock Pool Project. “In summer,
the water in a pool could be as high as
30°C, but in winter, it can be close to
freezing. At higher temperatures, all the
oxygen in the water will be quickly used
up, and when the sun shines, the UV
exposure will be high. On a hot day,
evaporation will make the water more
saline, but if it rains or an inland creek fills
and flows onto the beach, salty seawater
can become fresh.”
The ability to cope with these
challenges leads to a natural sorting: a
gradient of species stretching from the top
of the shore to the low tide mark. “The top
of the beach is exposed to the air most of
the time, perhaps only becoming
submerged at very high tide,” explains
Ben. “This is very different from further
down, which might be underwater for ❯
Microhabitats are formed among the rocks as the tide
recedes on Wembury Beach. The Great Mewstone, now a
nature reserve, can be seen in the distance.
116

The distinctive blister-like air
sacs of bladder wrack, Fucus
vesiculosus, allow it to float
upright when submerged.
The bright blue beads of the Beadlet anemone,
Actinia equina, are packed with stinging cells.
Young fish, such as these herring fry, may
also become trapped in rock pools.
Dead man’s fingers corals, Alcyonium digitatum
surround an aggregation of the instantly
recognisable Common starfish, Asterias rubens.

Glinting in the summer sunshine,
flint-covered cottages, with
their windows picked out in
contrasting red brick, line the
village centre at Burnham
Market in North Norfolk.
TEXTURED WALLS
IN ANCIENT STONE

PINK AND YELLOW roses scramble over the
bumpy, textured walls of a row of flint cottages in
Burnham Market, Norfolk. With egg shapes and
amorphous circles of blue-black, tawny brown, milky
grey and flecked rust, the protruding flints contrast with neat
flat-brick lintels around the windows and doorways, and the
evenly scalloped edges of warm terracotta clay roof tiles.
Fronted by a misty purple lavender hedge and tall hollyhocks
nodding in the summer breeze, these highly distinctive
cottages have not changed significantly since they were built
in the 17th and 18th centuries. “England has perhaps no
more curious material than flint: a stone of obscure origin,
quite unlike any other in colour and texture, and not used for
building in any other country on so extensive a scale,” writes
Alec Clifton-Taylor in The Pattern of English Building.
Flint is one of the most common, naturally occurring
stones in southern Britain. It is a type of quartz, or crystalline
silica, with a cryptocrystalline structure, which means the
crystals are so tiny that they are difficult to see, even when
viewed under a microscope.
Traditional flintwork can add shine,
colour and a rugged appeal to
buildings and ornamental features,
and is a skilled craft that has
endured through the centuries
Early uses
Flint was used by prehistoric man, initially for rudimentary
tools and weapons, and there is a 93-acre, 5,000-year-old flint
mine at Grime’s Graves in Norfolk as evidence of its early
importance. The Romans spotted its durable properties and
used it to strengthen the walls of their forts, such as
Anderida, on the site of Pevensey Castle in East Sussex. The
availability and resilience of flint meant that it continued to
be popular in the Middle Ages, when brickmaking was
uncommon, and other stone was hard to find or difficult to ❯
105

Subscribe to LandScape
Every issue of LandScape is filled with the very best that Britain has to offer, including delicious
recipes, inspirational gardens, step-by-step craft projects and much more.
In addition to having this beautiful magazine delivered directly to their door for free, subscribers
this month can take advantage of the special price of just £4.30 a month.
Call our order hotline on 01858 438884 and quote offer code CIAA
Lines open Mon-Fri 8am-9.30pm, Sat 8am-4pm
Terms & Conditions: Subscriptions will start with the next available issue. The minimum term is 12 months (12 issues). You will not receive a renewal reminder when paying by Direct Debit, and payments will continue
to be taken unless you tell us otherwise or cancel this at your own bank. This offer closes on 30 September 2022. This offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer. This offer is only available when you subscribe
directly with the publisher (Bauer Media) by phone or on our website (Great Magazines). Cost from landlines for 01 numbers per minute are (approximate) 2p to 10p. Cost from mobiles per minute (approximate) 10p to
40p. Costs vary depending on the geographical location in the UK. You may get free calls to some numbers as part of your call package – please check with your phone provider. Order lines open 8am-9.30pm (Mon-Fri),
8am-4pm (Sat). UK orders only. Overseas? Phone +44 1858 438828. Calls may be monitored or recorded for training purposes. For full terms and conditions, please visit: www.greatmagazines.co.uk/offer-terms-and-conditions.

for just £4.30 a month
Dear reader...
I
HOPE YOU ARE
enjoying this issue of
LandScape magazine.
If you are, and you
would like to take out a
subscription, you can do so
for only £4.30 a month.
There is so much to
celebrate in the British
countryside, from seasonal cookery to beautiful
gardens. Every issue, we bring you people who
follow in the footsteps of generations to create
inspiring traditional crafts. We focus on the
wonder of Britain’s landscape and its plants
and animals.
Subscribing is easy. If you sign up today, you
can take advantage of this special offer, and you
will never miss an issue. A subscription to
LandScape would also make a perfect gift.
* Pay £4.30 by monthly recurring Direct Debit
Rachel Hawkins
Editor
TWO GREAT PACKAGES
Print
Pay £4.30 by monthly
recurring Direct Debit*
12 issues for £48 when you
pay by annual Direct Debit
Digital
Pay £2.30 by monthly
recurring Direct Debit
12 issues for £24 when you
pay by annual Direct Debit
12
issues
a year
Subscribe today and enjoy these benefits:
• Save money on shop prices
• Access anywhere, anytime on your smartphone or tablet with a digital subscription
• Never miss an issue
Subscribe securely online: www.greatmagazines.co.uk/ls
41