At last, it looks as if the final part of this great jigsaw is about to fall into place. Stowe was a garden that always irritated and disappointed me. Undoubtedly it has the finest collection of 18th century temples, follies, … Continue reading
Lawrence Johnston is famed for creating his great and influential garden at Hidcote, but I have always been curious to visit his other garden in the hills just outside Menton on the Cote d’Azur. How does it compare to Hidcote, … Continue reading
I have always found excuses not to go back to the Cote d’Azur; the conspicuous show of wealth, the hordes wishing to associate themselves with celebrity glamour, the endless camper vans and caravans clogging up the mountain roads, and a … Continue reading
Come with me to the weird and wonderful world of Snozzle, or at least that’s what I was reliably informed the locals called this sleepy little village before it, along with most of the rest of the Cotswolds, was annexed … Continue reading
Of all the garden visits of my recent Dutch trip, this was the biggest surprise. Few Amsterdamers have ever heard of Jac P Thijssepark, but for me this was a delightful and mind-changing experience, although poorly signed and difficult to … Continue reading
Light hearted and flamboyant or frivolous and vulgar? Rococo seemed a fitting description for many of the smaller English gardens of the middle part of the 18th century now long since gone. A commentator at the time sneered: ‘You are … Continue reading