Innholdsfortegnelse for 01-Jan-2020 i Country Life

575, WANDSWORTH ROAD,SW8 Is this London’s quirkiest address? It’s what’s on the inside that counts: 575, Wandsworth Road, might look like a modest terraced house from the street, but inside, every available surface has been embellished with hand-carved fretwork patterns and motifs. The artist? Kenyan-born poet, novelist, mathematical philosopher and British civil servant, Khadambi Asalache. He purchased the house in 1981, when working at the Treasury—slowly turning it into a work of art over 20 years. The property was acquired by the National Trust in 2010. Tours are intimate and limited to protect the delicate interiors; to book, telephone 0344 249 1895 www.countrylife.co.uk…

Gentlewench A huge lamp resembling the Moon sets the tone at Gentlewench, which specialises in unconventional fashion and homeware (16, Chance St, E2) Batty Langley’s Step into a Georgian time warp of four-poster beds, roll-top bath tubs and fine fireplaces at this small, eccentric hotel by Spitalfields Market (12, Folgate Street, E1) The Royal Drawing School Take an art course, enjoy a talk and discover new talent at this London institution, founded by The Prince of Wales in 2000 (19–22, Charlotte Rd, EC2)…

Hell, as any student of Sartre knows, is other people. Specifically, it’s the other people who descend on Westfield Stratford in early January for the sales, stripping the stores like a million locusts. A trip to the eastern end of the Jubilee line at this time of year is about as relaxing as having a dislocated shoulder popped back in. But, courage! Walk on with hope in your heart—on the far side of the shopping centre, across an unpromising expanse of concrete, rises a mirage-like tower. This is where you should have dinner. Allegra, the restaurant on The Stratford hotel’s seventh floor, is a starry collaboration: Patrick Powell, former head chef at A-list honeypot Chiltern Firehouse, is overseeing a space designed by the team behind Noma in Copenhagen. There’s lots…

THE days are getting longer, albeit agonisingly slowly. We’re now enjoying almost 5½ more minutes of daylight compared with Christmas Day. However, for two-thirds of the time, it’s still dark and a dreadful time for commuters. The countryside is almost trapped in slumber, but not quite. Beneath our feet, the golden aconites and nodding snowdrops are beginning to stir. Many will already be out, the aconites needing temperatures of exceeding 10°C to flower—the leaves follow later. However, as our climate warms, their flowering occurs earlier each year. Together, these two delicate flowers offer a sense of resurrection, a beginning of hope and a precursor to spring. They are a most welcome addition to the long dark nights and smudge-grey days. At this time of year, I do not go in…

What would you do? Q As the resident agony uncle, my constant quest is to heal, stroke and murmur. Therefore, on meeting strangers, I invariably ask them whether they have a problem that may need solving. (I know, I know: my selflessness is fathomless and amazes even me, but, since the column went weekly, Lord knows it gobbles copy.) Imagine my surprise when, at a recent COUNTRY LIFE do, I met a decent chap who replied that he ‘really didn’t have any problems at all’. Dear reader, I was, for the first time, confounded —that was the most intractable problem that I had ever encountered. ‘No problems at all’ means that you are nobody. In this age of Twitter-mobs and compensation claims, your personal identity is entirely defined by what…

The art of starting over IT’S nearly a year since Athena referred to the planned closure of the Art Fund volunteers’ network (January 16, 2019), but there is good news. Encouraged by disappointed Warwickshire members, we have set up a new organisation, Art Friends Warwickshire, to resume our programme of money-raising events. Now independent, we shall donate our funds to a wider range of institutions. We shall continue to offer stimulating talks by top art historians and events that not only nourish our understanding of art, but also provide a valuable focus for friendship among like-minded people. This month, Dr Victoria Avery is our first speaker on the Fitzwilliam’s exhibition, ‘Feast and Fast’ (Exhibition, December 25). What a great start. Dianne Page, Warwickshire In with the old AGROMENES writes…

The National Trust is the UK’s largest countryside charity and a major landowner with 500-plus properties, 1,000 square miles of land and some five million members (www.nationaltrust.org.uk) Where is your favourite place? Crom, on Lough Erne in Co Fermanagh—it’s my go-to happy place What is your favourite building? Westminster Abbey. It makes my heart sing Book? The Return of the Native (Thomas Hardy) Music? Van Morrison Day off? Up a mountain with my family—I’m a mountain person Who is your hero? Mo Mowlam, who was Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and the most amazing woman…

Now that the new year has arrived, berry supplies are beginning to run low and the ground conditions often make it impossible for insect pupae to be fished out of the soil. There is a good reason why the robin follows the spade in the kitchen garden. Keep the bird-table supplies replenished, both with seeds and with something for the grub-munchers. Nut-hangers will ensure the titmice get a look in, as well as attracting the occasional woodpecker. Those who sit still looking out of the window may also see the sudden swoop of the sparrowhawk. They need to live, too.…

OUR closest neighbours live in a house called Top Parts, up the hill through the woods. It’s about 500 yards as the crow flies, but quite steep and there’s no particular path. The lower part of the wood lies in the bowl of the hill, a tangle of ash saplings, holly, hazel and bracken, very popular with deer. Higher up, the wood thins out, the trees grow broader and higher and there are slender animal tracks between the anemones. The garden of Top Parts backs onto this wood, like a house in a fairy tale. Because on a map we seem to be so close, we share the same postcode, although to drive from our house to theirs is actually a 10-minute journey. They have an inordinately long drive, which…

• Residents love the choice of bars and restaurants: from ‘larger-than-life’ Italian trattoria Gloria, recommended by Charlie Smith of London Real Estate Advisors, to The Frog Hoxton’s modern British cuisine and Michelin-starred The Clove Club. As for pubs and bars, Miss Nowicka suggests trying the Old Blue Last, table-football-themed Bar Kick and The Golden Heart • Residents like the independent galleries. Kate MacGarry, Studio Leigh and Victoria Miro represent a wide range of contemporary artists. For street art, Mr Stuart points to Nelly Duff and Pure Evil • Residents could do without the lack of green space—few properties come with a garden, although Shoreditch Park and the nearby St Mary’s Secret Garden are good hideaways…

ON January 12, 1895, The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest and Natural Beauty was registered with the Board of Trade. It was constituted to ‘promote the permanent preservation for the benefit of the Nation of lands and tenements (including buildings) of beauty or historic interest’. Today, that organisation, now familiar simply as the National Trust, celebrates its 125th birthday as one of the UK’s largest single landowners, with the care of 780 miles of coastline, some 620,000 acres of land, 300-plus country houses open to the public and a membership of 5.6 million people. Such stature would surely have astonished its leading trinity of founders, all idealists actively involved in conservation and social reform. Perhaps the most familiar today is Octavia Hill, a housing campaigner concerned by the…

IN 1995, when Chris and the late Mike Roberts decided to explore their passion for wine by establishing a vineyard at the base of the chalky South Downs, they could little have imagined that, 25 years later, their award-winning sparkling wines would be exported to America, Japan and Scandinavia, as well as being served at No 10 Downing Street and Buckingham Palace State banquets. ‘Our philosophy is to offer as little interference as possible and make the wine as pure as possible,’ explained Mike, who received an MBE in 2011 for his sterling service to the English wine industry, and who died in 2014. ‘We think of it very much as a Ridgeview effort... something that everybody has contributed to.’ Focusing on Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, Ridgeviewnamed for…

SOME years ago, I was given a huge pair of headphones as a Christmas present. I hardly ever use them because they are so bulky and, as they are buried deep in my desk, I had more or less forgotten about their existence. Last week, however, they suddenly made an unexpected reappearance: one of the children has started to wear them. I use the verb advisedly, because they are not actually being used to listen to anything (indeed, the cable that makes them function remains in my desk). Rather, they have been adopted—I am informed—as ear protection against annoying parents. That is to say, as a means of blocking out sound and a visible sign that the child in question cannot be contacted. By no coincidence whatsoever, therefore, they appear…

THE illustration shows a very useful appliance. Some double steps were bought at a country sale. With the help of a handy carpenter we had one side cut away and back legs put instead, ending in a pair of wheels. Handles like those of a wheelbarrow formed strong braces and a means of trundling it along. It enables a man to do the trimming of the big cypress hedge in comfort. G.J. 1) Trojan War 2) Florence 3) Madonna 4) Sir Francis Drake 5) Primates Riddle me this: A map…

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THE National Trust has undertaken an extraordinary journey over the past 125 years. It’s impossible now to quantify accurately the sheer scale of its collections. Among the 200 major houses in its care, there are estimated to be about a million objects, including 55,000 pieces of furniture, 650 tapestries, more than 6,000 works of sculpture, 80,000 ceramic objects and 13,000 oil paintings. Some sense of the variety besides is conveyed by the curators’ quiz (‘A blast from the past’, page 138). The good news is that, in many respects, this astonishing collection is arguably better understood and looked after than ever before. It’s also being publicised both through the online catalogue and an impressive series of publications, including such monographs as Hardwick Hall (2016) and Annabel Westman’s pioneering study of…

THE Veronese painter Giambettino Cignaroli (1706–70) was a remarkably quick worker. On January 6, 1770 he started work on a portrait of a young celebrity who was visiting the city with his father, intending to have a good session on the morrow. However, thanks to a local bishop, who was intent on monopolising Leopold Mozart and his 13-year-old son, Wolfgang, the artist had only two hours to work on the boy’s likeness before they sat down to lunch with the patron who had commissioned the portrait. After that, the Mozarts were off on their travels. In a letter to his wife, Leopold described the circumstances of the commission. He mentioned the patron, ‘a tax collector in Venice’, but, strangely, not the name of the artist. It is fairly certain that…

A GHOST haunts the streets of Shoreditch. It’s Jane Shore, beloved mistress of Edward IV and one of the brightest stars of his Court —until Richard III ascended to power and threw her into Ludgate prison. Old, destitute and wretched, she went on to roam the East London parish, where she died tragically in a ditch, bequeathing the place its name: Shoreditch. There is no substance to this tale—after her stint in jail, Mistress Shore married and led a comfortable life—and, far more prosaically, Shoreditch appears to owe its name to an unidentified ditch by a riverbank. But the heart-wrenching story is a much better fit for the artistic nature of an area that, over the centuries, has nurtured Shakespeare, Charlie Chaplin and dozens of more contemporary artists. ‘Shoreditch became…

1 Riverside pub The Dove, W6 The River Thames is one of London’s most beautiful landmarks and, as such, it is quite nice to look at it when you drink. Most pubs by the river are a delight and more than one features on this list, but The Dove in Hammersmith is worth travelling for. Pretty views, good beer, good food and, unlike those in Putney on the other side, it isn’t full of drones in ties who talk about rowing (www.dove hammersmith.co.uk). 2 Cheapest pub Literally any Wetherspoon or Sam Smith’s The best thing about going to a Wetherspoon is that, when you order a pint of Heineken and they only ask for about three of your Great British Pounds, you will always say ‘that’s…

THE South Downs National Park Trust is thrilled to be edging towards the halfway point in its campaign to raise £75,000 for the creation of new wildlife corridors—Bee Lines, launched in April—which will benefit bees and butterflies that have declined due to habitat fragmentation and foraging-ground reduction. The latest donation of £9,400 came from Forest Holidays, bringing the current total to £29,000. ‘Through this campaign, we plan to work with farmers and landowners to create new wildflower corridors to link up these fragmented habitats,’ explains chair Julie Fawcett. ‘This will allow the insects to travel along these paths. It’s a double benefit, because creating this network will not only allow populations to thrive and support other wildlife, but it will also encourage pollination that will help our farmers.’ To support…

Harry Eyres You know this column’s view (or, if you don’t, you can guess) when it comes to the notion of ‘dry January’. Extreme measures are to be avoided, where possible, in all spheres. January calls not for total abstinence, but for a certain delicacy and lightness of touch after the full-throttle, Falstaffian indulgence of the year’s finale. This is where Riesling and certain other white grapes of pristine purity and exhilarating crispness come into their own. Why you should be drinking them Riesling’s diamantine clarity seems to cut through impurities and refresh the soul, as well as the palate. Two other great advantages are relatively low alcohol, in many cases, and great value for money. Some Rieslings are dry, some off-dry, but both styles go especially well with…

THIS is an organisation people turn to in times of trouble,’ says Hilary McGrady of the 125-year-old National Trust’s steadiness in periods of political turmoil and financial stalemate. ‘Our numbers tend to go up. Brexit may be slowing everything down, but ours is the sort of brand that identifies what is good about Britain.’ Mrs McGrady gave the ‘brand’ something of a reboot herself when she became director-general two years ago. ‘The previous three directors had all been English and Oxbridge-educated. I didn’t really fit the bill, but I felt I’d kick myself if I didn’t have a go,’ she says in a gentle Northern Irish accent, which becomes noticeably stronger when she’s fired up about something. Her background was graphic design and marketing, but then she became the Trust’s…

Great Chalfield Manor, Wiltshire, was given to the National Trust in 1943 by Robert and Mabel Fuller. Their grandson and his wife, Robert and Patsy Floyd, manage this beautiful 15th-century manor house, its garden and its home farm The vast majority of visitors who come to Great Chalfield love the fact that they’re coming to a home and not only a museum. We really enjoy welcoming visitors here, as well as the excitements of filming—The Other Boleyn Girl and Poldark were shot here. The garden is a particular care of Patsy and large numbers of visitors come simply to see its development and changing face season by season. We have established a local Friends Association, too, which supports the Arts-and-Crafts gardens with events such as a Plant Fair in May…

Brown sugar and cinnamon-roasted chestnuts I find roasted chestnuts a little softer and easier to handle if they are parboiled before roasting, so drop 250g of chestnuts into a bowl of boiling water and leave for five minutes, drain, then score the skin with a cross (as you would Brussels sprouts). Spread the chestnuts out on a baking sheet and roast for about 25 minutes in a hot oven. Meanwhile, place 100g of brown sugar in a saucepan with a splash of water. Heat, not stirring, until bubbling and then whisk in 25g of butter, followed by 30ml of double cream and two teaspoons of cinnamon. Pour this over the chestnuts while hot and serve with an extra sprinkling of brown sugar on top, when cool enough to handle. Chestnut…