Favourite Gardens - Bere Mill

Bere Mill

For more photos of this lovely garden beside the Test, click here

Favourite Gardens - Mottisfont

Mottisfont

For more photos of this lovely garden and the rose garden in particular, click here

Mottisfont Abbey June 2013

Mottisfont Abbey

A visit to the magnificent rose garden at Mottisfont Abbey in June 2013. Click here for more photos 

Destruction of the Winchester College Wingnuts

One of the mature wingnuts

The base of one of the smaller wingnuts before felling

I love to walk in Winchester College water meadows and over the playing fields beside the Itchen Navigation Canal in the area where Keats is supposed to have composed the 'Ode To Autumn'. In one part alongside Brandy Stream that borders the Falloden Nature Reserve, there is a line of magnificent trees, Wingnuts, that I have seen nowhere else. They were apparently planted by Graham Drew, the art master at Winchester in the 1960s; one of the school's iconic dons.

In the past few days most of them have been felled, apparently as part of an attempt to return the area to cattle grazing, a humdrum activity of little interest and originality, and certainly insufficient justification for cutting down such magnificent rare and beautiful specimens. Why could they not have been left? Cattle could shelter under their huge branches. They will apparently be replaced with willows - in which the area already abounds.

Click here for an excellent piece on the destructive work of Natural England and the Hampshire Wildlife Trust in this area by Mark Fisher in September 2009

Click here for some more photos

After writing this piece in June 2013, I discovered Chris Calidcott's beautiful book on Winchester* in which this photo and the lines attached appear as the final end piece.

Chris Caldecott writes: There is an avenue of huge old Wingnut trees along a small brook between the Itchen and the canal that I think is the most perfect place on earth, where I want my ashes scattered. 

* Published by Frances Lincoln Ltd in 2012

  

Chelsea Flower Show 2013

The Arthritis UK Garden

The M&G Garden

The figure from the Arthritis UK Garden - Anna Gillespie - 'To The Limit'.

Click here for some more photos from the centenary show

Farewell Tempo

Tempo, the stylish Italian restaurant owned by Henry Togna in Curzon St, has sadly been sold. Inspired by the restaurant he admired most, the River Cafe, and with a Japanese chef, (Yoshi Yamada, who won the Barilla Pasta Championships in 2012), Tempo became a haven for those who enjoyed its inventive and relatively inexpensive food, its beautiful Rococo upstairs bar and the invariable presence of the owner whose genuine charm and patent good nature (in an industry somewhat lacking in both), made one want to return time after time.

A delicious salad tiede made for a vegetarian friend

The staff were very good too - elegant and friendly (and that includes my daughter; Kei, who worked there for six months and loved it).  Although Yoshi last year returned to Japan, his successor carried on his stylish cooking while the waiting staff continued to perfect their art so that the experience got only better and better.

It's a great pity that it has been sold, and we can only hope that Henry decide to will spread his magic elsewhere.

Ananda Ledoux and Angela Altini

Click here for some a selection of photos taken at Tempo over the years     

Glorious Spring At Last

Cherries in bloom against a blue sky

Edward Lawford 1782 - 1844

Edward Lawford of Eden Park

My ancestor, Edward Lawford, was an interesting cove. Solicitor to the East India Company and sometime Clerk to the Drapers' Livery Company, he made a substantial fortune and had a large family at his estate at Eden Park, in Kent.

Having acquired a rare portrait of him badly damaged, I asked Christian Duke (Kiki) to try and restore it to a reasonably viewable state, but she did such a beautiful job of repair that the damage is undetectable and it can now hang in its rightful place. Not only that, but the cleaning has revealed a much finer background landscape than before. I can't endorse her work and delightful personal service more highly. Herry Lawford - Stockbridge, Hampshire.   

A Prayer on Growing Old

Oh Lord, Thou knowest better than I know myself that I am growing old. Keep me from the fatal habit of thinking I must say something on every subject and on every occasion. Release me from craving to straighten out somebody's affairs. Make me thoughtful but not moody; helpful; but not bossy. With my vast store of wisdom, it seems a pity not to use it all. but Thou knowest Lord, that I want a few friends at the end.

Keep my mind free from the recital of endless details; give me wings to get to the point. Seal my lips upon my aches and pains. They are increasing and the love of rehearsing them is becoming sweeter as the years go by. I dare not ask for grace enough to enjoy the tales of others pains, but help me to endure them with patience. I dare not ask for improved memory but for a growing humility and not a lessening cocksureness when my memory seems to clash with the memories of others. Teach me the glorious lesson that occasionally I may be mistaken. 

Keep me reasonably sweet; I do not want to be a saint - some of them are so hard to live with - but a sour old person is the crowning work of the devil. Give me the ability to see good things in unexpected places and talents in unexpected people. And give me, Lord, the grace to tell them so. 

                                                                                                   A Nun's Prayer C17th

Early Spring Sunshine

St Cross Mill on the Itchen

The weather has been cold and grey for days, but here the sun came out briefly and transformed the landscape