This was my first visit to RHS Chelsea Flower Show. I have always wanted to go, but for various reasons, I’d never managed it, so I was very pleased to finally walk through the hallowed gates, which were suitably festooned with seasonal flowers and foliage. This year’s show was always going to be a bit… Read More »
city breaks
Exploring Spitalfields
I was in need of a break and some fresh ideas this week, so on Monday I set off to visit Decorex, the international interior design fair at Olympia, followed by a trip to a gallery that I’d been wanting to see for a very long time: Town House in Spitalfields. I’ll write a separate… Read More »
Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival 2019
The reason that I love Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival so much is that I think it encourages a lot of people to get into the garden. Chelsea Flower Show is amazing, aspirational, inspirational etc etc, but I am always left feeling a bit over-awed. By contrast, when I come away from this show, I… Read More »
Glasshouse glory at Kew Gardens
The greatest glasshouse in the world? It’s the world’s largest surviving Victorian glasshouse and I was very lucky to go along to the reopening earlier in May at Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. It’s not often that I’d say I felt awe struck, but walking into this beautiful building, that’s exactly what it was like. At… Read More »
Urban gardening at Mercato Metropolitano
Last week I got the chance to visit Mercato Metropolitano, which is a sustainable community market in the heart of south London. Elephant & Castle is the location for this pioneering project which brings together community events such as simple cooking classes, music, hydroponic farming, pop up accommodation and street foods from all over the… Read More »
Exploring Ely
Almost where ever you walk in Ely, you can see the Cathedral. It is located in the centre of the city, and as you walk through the surrounding streets and parkland, you’ll catch glimpses of the dreamy spires. The West Tower is 65.5m tall, so it rises up dramatically from the flat Fenland landscape, it’s… Read More »