Telegraph article Hestercombe Gardens

Having visited Hestercombe this week and spent four lovely hours with the dog on the bluebell walk, It was by sheer coincidence that, when clearing out a box in my vain quest to de-clutter (that’s never going to happen until someone else has to do it), I stumbled across this article I’d written for the Telegraph in 2015. We’re so lucky to have such a place on our doorstep, with Fyne Court not much further away, and amazing walks and views on the Quantock Hills where we live. We will need to downsize at some point not too far into the future – people tell us we must rattle around this big house, but in fact it’s full with people camping out on floors, too, whenever we have a family get-together. so a little one- or two-bedroomed place isn’t right for us as yet.  And you know you are of a certain age when you get a personal invitation for just the two of us to preview the new Platinum Heights accommodation in Taunton. (Very nice, by the way, and an interesting shared ownership business model.)

But reminding myself of how fortunate we are here, with acres of space (as I’m waxing lyrical about it today, I’ll not mention the flipping gardening that goes with it) reinforces for me that I don’t want a house in a city or in the middle of a big town. Rory likes the romanticised version of a cafe lifestyle, a stroll down to collect the papers, stopping en route for a coffee. I like to wake up to birdsong and not a person to be seen. (That includes Rory, if he’s been snoring!)

This could prove challenging for us when we’re ready – or forced – to move. And there’ll no doubt be a tale to tell at that point.