What is an urban park for? Is it somewhere you go to escape the pressures of city living, or should it be an abomination of minority needs – all-weather pitches, athletics tracks and changing facilities, tennis courts, basket-ball courts, car … Continue reading
I would imagine that visiting gardens between the wars was much more of an adventure than it is today; no road signs, no gift shops, glossy brochures, plant sales, restaurants and cafes, no children’s play areas, farmers’ markets, no pay … Continue reading
I do like a good party, and my visit to Marrakech was nothing to do with gardens. Things got off to an inauspicious start – a flurry of rumours, and then the pilot announced that a bomb had gone off … Continue reading
The Western Cape, in November, when the fynbos is in flower is astonishing. There is a profusion and natural exuberance in this unpromising shrubby landscape that is unique – the giant silvery-pink proteas, the orange pin-cushion proteas, the magenta-coloured pelargoniums, … Continue reading
Coleton Fishacre has the feel of a family home, and on my most recent visit a competent amateur pianist had commandeered the grand piano in the salon (something surprisingly encouraged by a new touchy/feely approach of the National Trust), … Continue reading
As a small boy, I was a caddy to my father, a keen golfer who was recovering from heart problems. Most of the time, he played at Belton Park, in Lincolnshire; a landscape laid out by Emes, a successor to … Continue reading