Five French Gardens

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I was looking at Greg Becker’s Pinterest page, The Wild Allotment, a lovely collection of green-fingered imagery and a great escape from our endless winter. It got me thinking about visits to other, slightly more manicured gardens, but most importantly gardens filled with sunshine. Indulge me while I recall warmer days. This is Le Prieuré d’Orsan where we stayed for one memorable night in 2006. Continue reading “Five French Gardens”

Frames of reference

The Posh Painting Shed

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Most of my working life has been combining making paintings and prints and teaching, some of the time in Art Colleges, but mostly as a schoolteacher. A while back I read David Wiseman’s lovely post, Garden Studio. When I finished full time teaching last summer, I decided to have a posh shed built, which would enable me to work at the end of my garden in suburban London. Continue reading “The Posh Painting Shed”

Frames of reference

Notting Hill Books

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Many of the books on my shelves were discovered in this wonderful wooden shed on Palace Gardens Terrace. On fine days there would be a table outside laid with small appetisers to tempt me inside, where I would be greeted with a friendly smile and an eclectic selection of books. It was always a welcome antidote to the prescribed choice found at Waterstones. But it’s been closed since the end of last summer. Continue reading “Notting Hill Books”

Frames of reference

The Trees Of Aldgate

They seem to be mostly larch. This intricate timber frame construction is made from 17 cubic metres of larch. It stands on a traffic island by St Botolph’s church at the start of the A11, the road from London to Norwich, and it marks the place where the Aldgate once stood. Continue reading “The Trees Of Aldgate”

Frames of reference

Utopia

Christopher Corr sent us these photographs from America. They show a wonderful collection of mostly wooden vernacular buildings at the Hancock Shaker Village in Massachusetts. The Shakers began building a community here in the 1780s and continued up until the 1960s. They considered this their utopia and named it The City of Peace. Many of their buildings are still preserved here. Some have been lost and some have been re-erected here from other Shaker settlements. Continue reading “Utopia”

Frames of reference

Vale Of Yew

We arrived at the village of Stoughton in a remote valley of the South Downs via a single track road from the north. It felt like we were coming to the back of beyond. We left the car by the Hare & Hounds and began the long slow climb along this farm track up to Stoughton Down. Continue reading “Vale Of Yew”

Frames of reference

Weeds Of The Imagination

On seeing my book An Illustrated Allotment Alphabet people often ask ‘do you actually have an allotment?’ to which, slightly offended, I reply ‘Yes!’

But really, there is no reason why I should feel disappointed, particularly as plot 52, my allotment blog on which the book is based, has now largely become a work of fiction. Continue reading “Weeds Of The Imagination”

Frames of reference