Country Life early property pages 1st Mar 23

Small, but mighty

The rise of the Jack Russell

Doing the maths: the farmer’s new dilemma

Building better: where to buy the right new house

Camellias, Clydesdales and Justin Webb’s London

Ahand-carvedand parcelgilt greatsofa. The boundreed carvedtop rail with high arms, with flutedcolumnand lapette carveduprights. The benchcushion seat and tight back with twobolsters and four throwcushions onabound reed carved and flowerhead seat rail with acanthus carvedand fluted taperinglegs.

Also available with 3seats and as achair

£11,485

Width: 90 inches (228.6cm)

Height:36inches(91 44cm)

Depth: 39 inches(99.06cm)

Little Barrington, Gloucestershire

4reception rooms |3bedrooms |3bathrooms |2bedroom annexe |Double garage |Home office|Approximately 0.2acres EPC E| Freehold |Council Taxband G

An immaculate recently refurbishedproperty with secondaryaccommodation situatedina popular Cotswoldvillage

Burford 4miles |Stow-on-the-Wold 9miles|Chipping Norton 14 miles

Guide price £2,250,000

Knight Frank London &Stow-on-the-Wold jamie.robson@knightfrank.com

020 4502 7203

knightfrank.co.uk

leigh.glazebrook@knightfrank.com 01451 888130

REF :C HO012178818 Your partners in property

ICKLEFORD, HERTFORDSHIRE

Guide price: £2,250,000

6 Bedrooms| 5 ReceptionRooms| 3 Bathrooms| N/A EPC

AGradeII*listed13thcenturyopenhallhousewithlater16th,17thand18thcenturyadditions.Thepropertyhasbeenrestoredand upgraded and has over 5,400 sq. ft. of light and airy accommodation. Gardens and grounds of 6.22 acres arebordered by open countryside and include part of the original moat. Over 1,300 sq. ft. of outbuildings include asummer house.

Michael Graham Hitchin

Philip Powell 01462 441700

Michael Graham London

Bob Bickersteth 0207 839 0888

michaelgraham.co.uk

michaelgraham_living

Rotherfield Greys, Oxfordshire

4bedrooms |2bathrooms |4reception rooms |Double garage with store room over| Mature gardens &grounds |Paddock Woodland |Approximately 9.99 acres|EPC E|Freehold |Council Taxband G

Awell-positionedcountry house with far-reaching views andplanning consent to substantially re-model and extend the existing house and garage building. Henley-on-Thames3miles|Reading 8miles(London Paddington from 25 minutes) |Marlow10miles

Guide price £2,950,000 Knight Frank London &Henley-on-Thames edward.welton@knightfrank.com 020 4502 7216 nick.warner@knightfrank.com 01491 815299

knightfrank.co.uk

Glorious Riverside Retreat

Stedham,WestSussex Midhurst:3miles,HaslemereStation:10miles (London Waterloo from 52 minutes)

Exquisitecountry house within theSouth DownsNationalParkwith elevated viewsofthe RiverRother. 3reception rooms, kitchen/breakfastroom, principalbedroom with 2dressingroomsand 2ensuites, 5further en suitebedrooms, dininghall, office,study,laundry room,cellar, separate2bedroom cottage, barn, stables, garage,woodland,gardens, paddocks andastretch of theRiver Rother with double bank fishing rights Freehold |Council TaxBand= H

About 24 acres|Guide £5.25million

GuidePrice

£3,000,000

Amagnificenttimberframedfarmhousetogetherwithtwo holiday cottages and agoodsecondary house,all setinbeautifully landscaped gardensand grounds

Ashford International station: 3miles (London St Pancras from 36 mins), M20 (J10): 4miles

Old Mumford Farm: 5Reception rooms |Kitchen/breakfastroom|7Bedrooms |2Bathrooms|2Offices |Garden |EPC Rating F|About 7.93 acres

Old Cider House: 2Reception rooms |Kitchen/breakfastroom |2Bedrooms |2Bathrooms |Courtyard |EPC Rating C

Coach House: Reception room |Kitchen |2Bedrooms |2Showerrooms |EPC Rating D

NewBarn: 2Reception rooms |Kitchen/breakfastroom |3Bedrooms |Bathroom|Showerroom |Courtyard |EPC Rating D

AliceLuxmoore-Styles

Country Department 02075912213

alice.luxmoore-styles@struttandparker.com

Joe Charlton

Canterbury Office 01227451 123

joe.charlton@struttandparker.com

Kent,Kingsnorth

Surrey,Ewhurst GuidePrice £2,500,000

Ewhurst:1.3 miles, Cranleigh: 2.5 miles, Shalfordstation: 8.6miles (London Waterloo 56 mins via Guildford), Guildford: 10 miles Entrancehall |Drawing room |Dining room |Snug |Games room |Kitchen |Cloakroom

Principal bedroom with ensuitebathroom |4Further bedrooms (1 with ensuite) |Annexe |Double garage with lowerand upper store| Shed |Garden and grounds |EPC Rating E About 2.45 acres

TomShuttleworth Country Department 02075912213

thomas.shuttleworth@struttandparker.com

/struttandparker@struttandparker

struttandparker.com

KenRoberts GuildfordOffice 01483 306 565

ken.roberts@struttandparker.com

SION HILL PLACE, BATH

PRICES FROM £1,475,000

Aluxurydevelopmentofjust five1,2and 3bedroom apartments in oneofthe most exclusive addresses in Bath.Ahiddengem of pure Georgian elegance,this Grade 1listedbuildinghas been carefullyand extensivelyrefurbishedtocreatetheseexquisite apartments Hamptons Bath 01225800657

SUNNINGDALEVILLAS, BERKSHIRE

PRICES FROM £895,000

Abeautiful boutiquedevelopment consisting of eight2-bedroom apartments locatedclose to thecentreofSunningdale,wellplacedfor access to theM3 andLondon.Eachapartment hasan exquisite interior andaspaciousprivategarden orroofterrace andplentifulparking.

Hamptons Sunningdale 01344627 555

Your indispensable guide to the capital

A FRESH FACE

DRIVERS and cyclists held at the lights at the south end of London Bridge as they wait to cross into Southwark from the City cannot help but notice a striking landmark. Immediately ahead, marooned amid bridges, viaducts and the vast developments subsidiary to The Shard, is a striking, singlestorey frontage from the 1890s covered in white glazed tiles, its pediment inset with

a large clock and the head of a stag. This commercial building was formerly occupied by the wine merchant Findlater Mackie Todd & Co, one of 50 shops once managed by the firm in London and south-east England. It latterly became an Oddbins shop.

Since 2018, Findlater’s Corner—as it is known—has stood empty. It has also looked increasingly down at heel with its boarded windows covered by posters and buddleia bushes springing from the balustraded parapets. Now, it is loved once more, having

been restored as part of a wider Project 1000. This work has been undertaken by the architect Benedict O’Looney for the Arch Company, which aims, with a £200 million investment, to bring 1,000 arches under railway viaducts into commercial use. The vast majority of a much larger portfolio of arches it bought from Network Rail in 2019 for £1.5 billion are in London. As part of the same project, a mosaic frontage to a neighbouring arch advertising the Express Dairy Company has also been revealed. JG

Coming full circle

RICHARD GROSVENOR, 2nd Marquess of Westminster, has been vindicated: this year sees the grand revival of a groundbreaking innovation he introduced to London more than 150 years ago. As the second half of the 19th century dawned, the peer commissioned architect Thomas Cundy III to build Belgrave Mansions (above), a palatial building overlooking what is now Grosvenor Gardens, SW1, with a view to turning it into the capital’s first serviced mansion block, inspired by Europe’s hôtel meublés. Cundy, too, drew from Continental tradition, shaping the architecture in French Renaissance style (Edward Walford, in his 1878 Old and New London calls the then newly built mansions ‘lofty and handsomely constructed houses’).

The Marquess’ idea proved a sensation. In 1868, the British Almanac and Companion noted the ‘peculiarities’ of ‘the immense pile named Belgrave Mansions’: shops on the ground floor, topped by ‘suites of furnished apartments… fitted up with every appliance for persons of luxurious habits’ and completed by ‘a hotel and first-class restaurant, in which will be provided handsome dining and coffee rooms for the special use of residents’; in 1875, Sir Henry Hunt, surveyor to the Great Exhibition Commissioners, looked at it as a possible inspiration to make use of land in South Kensington, writing that it was

‘a successful commercial speculation’. The development became home to British notables from all walks of life, including actor David Niven, and, earlier, the grandparents of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother—it might even have been her birthplace, although that was never proven. But times changed or perhaps appetite for serviced buildings declined for a while, and, in 1921, the former Belgrave Mansions became the Belgrave Hotel, before morphing into an office building called Grosvenor Gardens House.

Now, however, the Grade II-listed property is being returned to its original purpose: renamed 8, Eaton Lane and set to be completed in 2024, it will house 42 new homes behind the painstakingly restored Cundy façade, with its elegant pavilion roofs, stone dressing and beautiful cornicing. Architects PDP London will work with design studio Millier London to create exquisite apartments that combine original French-style details with timeless British elegance. Residents will have access not only to shopping and leisure facilities on the ground floor, but also a gym, cinema and pool—a 21st-century take on what the far-sighted Marquess first envisaged in the 1860s. CP

8, Eaton Lane (www.8eatonlane.com) is for sale through Knight Frank (020–3869 4758) and Savills (020–7409 8756)

36min 20sec

The average time it takes to drive 6.2 miles (10km) in the centre of the capital, making London the slowest city in the world to drive in, according to TomTom. Bengaluru in India came in second place with a time of 29 minutes and 10 seconds

Getty; Sam Lane; Matt Holyoak; Alamy

Grub’s up

THE British Library’s ‘Food Season’ is back for a sixth year, bringing together some of the biggest and most influential names in food, such as Henry Dimbleby and Nigella Lawson (right) , across 20 events. Topics up for discussion inside the l ibrary (above) , the UK’s official national library, which is home to more than 170 million items, include the food challenges shaping 2023 and British culinary culture.

The full programme and tickets are available to view and buy from March 7 (www.bl.uk)

A sheep in the works

THE City of London’s plans to move its markets to a new location in e ast London have hit a 775-year-old stumbling block. Not long ago, the City announced that it was going to unify Smithfield, Billingsgate and Spitalfield s (right) markets on a single plot of land next to Dagenham Docks ( ‘On the market’, page 26 ). Wholesale markets are governed by legislation, so the City was required, by law, to seek approval from Parliament, depositing a Private Bill with it in November 2022. Since then, an objection has been brought by Havering Council, citing a Royal Charter of 1247.

The Royal Charter does not apply to the City or to Dagenham, but to Romford and its eponymous market, which lies about four miles from the City’s proposed location. A clause in the charter—granted

Sheepish: a sheep-related clause in a Royal Charter of 1247 is stalling the City of London’s market plans

BROMLEY is the greenest borou gh in the capital, according to a study organised by Essential Living, a Londonbased property developer. The area of south-east London has more than 160 parks and green spaces, spread across more than 6,300 acres, seven of which boast Green Flag status (courtesy of a scheme set up and managed by Keep Britain Tidy). Richmond upon Thames came in second, followed by Havering.

LONDON LIFE

Editor Rosie Paterson

Editor-in-chief Mark Hedges

Sub-editors Octavia Pollock, Stuart Martel

Art Heather Clark, Emma Earnshaw, Ben Harris, Dean Usher

Pictures Lucy Ford, Emily Anderson

Advertising Katie Ruocco 07929 364909

Email firstname.surname@futurenet.com

by Henry III—states that a new market cannot be founded within a day’s sheep drive away. This is widely accepted to be a radius of six and two-thirds miles.

To protect Romford Market’s trading interests, Havering Council has requested that the City’s consolidated market is limited to wholesale trade. In their current locations, Smithfield, Billingsgate and Spitalfield s markets are considered to be wholesale markets, but they are also open to the general public. In their new, purposebuilt location—which is expected to generate nearly 3,000 new jobs—the City had planned to open public amenities and educational facilities. At the time of writing, a second reading of the bill was in progress at Parliament.

Green is the new gold

The Star and Garter,Richmond TW10

Buchanan Gardens, Kensal Rise NW10

5bedrooms |3bathrooms |2reception rooms |Garden |Approximately 2,477sqft

EPC C|Freehold |Council Taxband D

This magnificent Victorian house has been renovatedtoa high standard throughout. The openplan living areas,skylights and bi-folding doors that lead to the large patio garden,provide alight and spacious feel to the home

Guide price £2,000,000

Knight Frank Queen's Park

soroush.prado@knightfrank.com

+44 20 3993 6598

knightfrank.co.uk

Exceptional Family Home

Parkgate Road,Battersea SW11 BatterseaPark: 0.2miles,AlbertBridge: 0.3miles

BeautifulformerVictorianbakeryonParkgateRoad, developedbythe awardwinning Bandadevelopers Receptionroom,kitchen/diningroom,5bedrooms(3ensuites),family bathroom,cinemaroom,2gated and coveredparkingspaces and privateroofterrace.Share of Freehold (Lease Expiry3012) |Peppercorn

Ground Rent |Service Charge £23,726.14 per annum(reviewedannually)|Council TaxBand=H |EPC =B

3,412sqft|Guide £4.6 million

CamillaHeywood

SavillsBattersea Park 02034324648

camilla.heywood@savills.com

MayowShort

SavillsBatterseaPark 02036420791

mshort@savills.com

savills savills.co.uk

ViewsoverRegent’sPark

Regent’sParkNW1 Marylebone High Street: 0.4 miles

Rare opportunity to acquireone of thelargest lateralapartments with twelve windowsoverlookingthe Park.4reception rooms, kitchen/breakfast room,3ensuite bedrooms, dressing room,2underground parkingspaces and access to communal gardens. Leasehold (Lease Expiry 2161)|GroundRent£4,850per annum(reviewedannually)|Service Charge£16,000 per annum(reviewedannually)|Council TaxBand =H

2,889sqft|Guide £10.5million

Zach Madison SavillsStJohn’sWood 02030433600

zmadison@savills.com

savills

Another brick in the wall

In the first of a new monthly series looking back at the people who helped shape London, Carla Passino discovers that despite his ‘unruffled serenity’, not all of Sir Giles Gilbert Scott’s designs were met with rapt enthusiasm

DIGNIFIED, almost stately, the Battersea Power Station holds court on the south bank of the River Thames, the stocky panels of the nearby buildings deferring like a respectful retinue to the fluted chimneys that soar like columns of a long-lost Greek temple above the ziggurat of the Boiler House. The plump pig that flew against the station’s black smoke on the cover of the Pink Floyd’s 1977 album Animals may have given way to a crown of steel and glass, but the Grade II*-listed power station remains a much-loved symbol of London. Quite a feat for a place that had originally sparked protests for fear it would be an eyesore. The man behind this remarkable shift in perception was Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, who turned the building’s lumbering bulk into a functional take on a medieval cathedral. He had once said that he couldn’t understand the prejudice against electricity stations, as they could be made quite magnificent; it’s fair to say he was proven right, both at Battersea and at the other London station he designed—Bankside, which is now (with some conversion help from Herzog and de Meuron) Tate Modern.

‘His power stations must remain one of the more powerful reminders of his skills of design —transforming a utilitarian hulk of a building into an edifice with composition, finesse and a beguiling, timeless elegance,’ says Robbie

Kerr of ADAM Architecture. ‘His use of brickwork is brilliant. And now, both buildings are living examples of adaptive reuse in the most captivating ways.’

joint architect. The two had a tempestuous work relationship, which only ended when Bodley died in 1907. Free from shackles, Scott modified the cathedral’s design and it was a triumph: The Times in 1922 hailed it as a ‘magnificent example of Modern Gothic in which he… surpassed the tradition of style bequeathed him by his grandfather’.

Although he shaped the skyline of the Thames’s southern bank perhaps more than any other architect until Renzo Piano built The Shard, Scott had his breakthrough in Liverpool. The grandson of Gothic Revival master Sir George Gilbert Scott, he was articled to one of his grandfather’s former pupils, Temple Moore, when he entered a competition to design Liverpool’s new cathedral in 1902—and won. His age (early twenties) and his religion (Roman Catholic) caused disquiet among the cathedral committee members, who imposed another of Scott Snr’s former pupils, George Frederick Bodley, as

Liverpool Cathedral propelled him to fame, election to the Royal Academy (in 1922), a knighthood (in 1924) and even marriage— when staying at Liverpool’s Adelphi Hotel, he had met and fallen for receptionist Louise Hughes, whom he wed in 1914. But it also became a lifelong project: the cathedral was only completed in 1978, almost two decades after his death. Nonetheless, this did not prevent him taking commissions elsewhere. In London, in particular, Scott variously turned his hand to colleges (the University of Roehampton’s Whitelands College, in Putney, and, as an associated architect, the Salvation Army’s William Booth Memorial Training College in Camberwell, the tower of whichhints at the Bankside power station); infrastructure (Waterloo Bridge, as well as power

‘His power stations must remain one of the most powerful reminders of his skills of design’

stations); theatres (the unusually neoClassical Phoenix, on Charing Cross Road); breweries (the now demolished Guinness building in Park Royal, with its daring aerial bridges) and, of course, churches (Kensington’s Our Lady of Mount Carmel).

However, ‘the most distinctive addition to London’s architecture must be the red telephone box,’ notes Mr Kerr. ‘It so distinctively, definitively and strongly marks our streets. It is part of the London identity.’ Scott chose to top this most mundane of structures with a dome inspired by Sir John Soane’s mausoleum and it worked. First came ‘kiosk no. 2’, delightful, but expensive to construct, then the rare, ‘pale K3’ and, in 1935, a more streamlined version, the ‘no. 6’, which would festoon Britain with domed bursts of red.

Of homes, however, Scott only built a handful—at least until the Battersea Power Station conversion considerably, if posthumously, upped their number. Maida Vale has Cropthorne Court, a bold sequence of projecting angles and receding arches; Marylebone has the more restrained 22, Weymouth Street, which he designed with his brother Adrian,

and Paddington has Chester House, which Scott created for himself. It’s a model of elegant simplicity, an evolution of Georgian architecture, which forges its own identity rather than merely replicating a style of the past (he shunned slavish traditionalism and extreme modernism in equal measure). But, perhaps most remarkably, it was, as C. H. Reilly wrote in C OUNTRY L IFE in 1926, a home with ‘a general air… of great happiness’ (undoubtedly helped a great deal by the fact that ‘everything in the interior [seemed] faced with fine surfaces easy to keep clean’).

Not all of Scott’s work was universally acclaimed. Waterloo Bridge was mired in controversy—mostly over the demolition of the preceding structure and it is the one design of which Mr Kerr is not fond, dismissing it as ‘such a dull statement’ in the context of the South Bank on one side of the Thames and Somerset House on the other. Nor did Scott’s plans for Coventry Cathedral please the Royal Fine Arts Commission, so much that he eventually pulled out of the job. But this was nothing compared with the uproar caused by the proposal to build the Bankside power

Staying power: Battersea Power Station (top) and Sir Giles Gilbert Scott (above)

Founding fathers

station—an ironic turn of events for someone who had already rescued an almost identical project from public opprobrium. Complainants warned that the new building would obstruct views of St Paul’s, damage it with its fumes, and even, bizarrely, dwarf it—from the far bank of the Thames. It must have been a fortune, then, that Scott ‘bore life’s triumphs and life’s trials with an unruffled serenity,’ as Sir Hubert Worthington wrote in 1960. Or perhaps he had fathomed what would eventually happen: that, as The Times put it in 1960, ‘when the station was built, little dislike of it was expressed’.

A project in which Scott did not succeed, however, was the overhauling of London’s traffic—which he must have felt keenly, not least because, belying his unprepossessing nature, he had a penchant for fast motors. He advocated a ‘drastic surgical operation’, according to a 1943 story in The Times, arguing, with Shakespeare, that ‘all things are ready if our minds be so’. But even the man that had managed to change an entire city’s views over power stations—twice—failed to sway the planners and, as he predicted, London’s traffic remains ‘muddle and chaos’ to this day.

At home in Gilbert Scott’s London

Maida Vale, £950,000

Own a piece of Sir Giles Gilbert Scott architecture with this lateral flat in Cropthorne Court. It has four bedrooms and 1,331sq ft of living space, but needs some updating. Winkworth (020–7289 1692; www.winkworth.co.uk)

Battersea, from £8.5 million

If you ever fancied standing on top of the Battersea Power Station, now you can. The Sky Villas sit at the top of Boiler House, between the chimneys, and come with balconies, roof terraces and private gardens to soak up the views across the Thames. Battersea Power Station (020–7501 0678; www.batterseapowerstation.co.uk)

West Putney, £1.25 million

Set within Grade I-listed Roehampton House, close to Sir Giles Gilbert Scott’s Whitelands College, this 2,483sq ft, four-bedroom apartment features the work of another architectural giant, Sir Edwin Lutyens—an octagonal lantern light in the kitchen and dining room. Hamptons (020–3369 4387; www.hamptons.co.uk)

Brush with greatness: the soaring Battersea towers are given a fresh coat of paint in 1971

‘He advocated a “drastic operation” to overhaul London’s traffic, but he failed to sway planners’

ELLERBYSTREET, SW6

£5,300,000 FREEHOLD

[5 bedrooms ][4bathrooms] [goodsizedgarden]

Astunningend of terracefamilyhouse with fantastic space that hasbeen developed to averyhighstandard. To therearofthe ground floorisanexceptional kitchen/ dining/livingroomopeningout to thegarden. Thereisalsoaself-contained living area downstairsaswellasoffstreetparking.Council TaxbandH:EPC C 0207384 1001 FULHAMSALESOFFICE@HAMPTONS.CO.UK

The great and the good

Seasonal suggestions

In March, attentions turn to the River Thames. On March 18, up to 400 crews will take part in the Head of the River Race between Mortlake and Putney; on March 26, Cambridge will take on Oxford in the Boat Race. The impact that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has had on civilians is the subject of the Imperial War Museum’s ‘Ukraine: Photographs from the Frontline’ exhibition. Tickets are available until May 8 (www.iwm.org.uk/events/iwmlondon-ukraine-exhibition). On March 11, Melita Thomas will kick off a day of talks about Lady Jane Grey, the nine-day Queen (below), at Southwark Cathedral, with an in-depth look at her book The House of Grey: Friends and Foes of Kings (www.cathedral. southwark.anglican.org/whats-on). On March 22, Sir David Bell will chair a talk on Sir Christopher Wren at St Stephen Walbrook church, EC4 (www.wren300.org/events/ wren-conversations-building-cities).

Here’s looking at London’s lions

• Throughout the Middle Ages, Barbary lions (also known as the North African lion) were a common sight at the Tower of London’s menagerie (Here’s looking at, November 2, 2022), employed as fearsome gatekeepers. Incidentally, English rulers with a reputation for bravery often earned the title ‘the Lion’, most famous being Richard I or Richard the Lionheart. Although now extinct, the Barbary lion is still a symbol of bravery and a national animal of England. The skull of an animal likely alive between 1280 and 1385 can be viewed at the National History Museum, SW7

• The four lion statues that surround Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square (above) were famously sculpted by Edwin Landseer in 1858—but he wasn’t first choice. The commission was originally awarded to Thomas Milnes, but the statues he produced were deemed unworthy for the memorial, and a second commission was made. The animals are almost identical, save for tiny differences in the heads and manes—although no one knows if the discrepancies were deliberate or accidental. They are the largest lion statues in the UK • The statue of a dog called Lion stands proud in Highgate Cemetery, N6. The black mastiff was the pet of bare-knuckle boxer Tom Sayers, accompanying him to all of his fights. When Sayers died in 1865, aged only 39, 10,000 people attended his funeral, alongside ‘chief mourner’ Lion. The statue was installed on the grave in 1866, and was paid for by public subscription. AEW

Shop of the month

Birley Bakery

CALE STREET, SW3

Open Monday to Friday, 7am–6pm, and Saturday and Sunday, 8am–6pm (for orders and enquiries, email info@birleybakery.com)

BETWEEN 3am and 4am, seven days a week, a pack of bakers troops through Chelsea Green, that triangular stitch of lawn in SW3 known for its fruit and veg shop, butcher, fishmonger and, now, Birley Bakery. The shop opened recently, unwinding a yolk-yellow awning and letting steam from the oven obscure the windows. The feeling among locals, choosing iced madeleines from a basket on the counter, is that they can’t believe it wasn’t here before. Executive pastry chef Vincent Zanardi—in partnership with owner Robin Birley—estimates he’s selling more than 1,000 croissants per week. ‘We are surprised and delighted with how many of our neighbours visit us for coffee every day,’ says Mr Zanardi. Many of the breads on the shelves were formerly only available in Mr Birley’s members’ clubs, 5, Hertford Street and Oswald’s, where Mr Zanardi has been honing his recipes for over a decade. What does he reach for most often at the bakery? ‘The pork hot dog by far. Then the pain au chocolat and the white baguette.’ Jo Rodgers

Illustration by Polly Crossman; Alamy; David Humphries

A green space

AVENUE GARDENS, REGENT’S PARK, NW1

IN 1863, The Illustrated London News wrote in anticipation of the soon-to-be completed Avenue Gardens: ‘It will doubtless form one of the most delightful promenades in London.’ Happily, they still live up to such claims, particularly in spring, when cherry blossom frames the formal Italianate flower beds designed by William Andrews Nesfield

The great and the good

MY PLATE OF VIEW

The Ritz restaurant, 150, Piccadilly, W1

At the start of this year, I went out for a meal at a very high-profile new restaurant that was such jaw-droppingly bad value that I’m still upset about it now. To be clear, that meal isn’t the subject of this month’s column. I’m only mentioning it because at one point my companion, staring in horror at the prices of some of the main courses, muttered ‘you could get an entire lunch at The Ritz for that’ and I thought: now, there’s an idea.

London curiosities

BRANCH OUT

AFFECTIONATELY known as the Bandstand Oak, this rugged, war-torn specimen on sloping ground near the boundary of Hampstead’s West Heath is a blast from the area’s bucolic past. It even pre-dates the Golders Hill estate that preceded today’s much-loved public park (opened in 1899). If an estimated age of 450 years is correct, it was a young tree during the reign of Elizabeth I. Jack Watkins

(1793–1881)—clouds of shell-pink petals suspended above tulips and other bedding plants. Depending on the season, these could be pink begonias and orange thunbergia, darkleaved cannas and yellow calendula or, as in Nesfield’s day, ‘ribbons of scarlet geranium, lobelia, calceolaria, variegated and ivy geraniums’. The centrepiece, now as then, is the impressive Griffin Tazza, a large circular stone bowl supported by four winged lions. Natasha Goodfellow is the author of ‘A London Floral’ and ‘A Cotswold Garden Companion’ (www.finchpublishing.co.uk)

Psst... pass it on S

OHO gelateria Gelupo will be selling a limited number of hot-cross bun ice-cream sandwiches every day, between March 21 and April 10. The special Easter treat is partly inspired by the Sicilian breakfast brioche con gelato

When you step through the doors of 150, Piccadilly you enter a world of unabashed opulence: the chandeliers glitter, the ivories in the Palm Court tinkle and the floor-to-ceiling windows looking out over Green Park are symphonically elegant. Since 2004, the marble-columned restaurant has been the domain of executive chef John Williams, whose love of British seasonal bounty is twinned with an absolute mastery of classical French techniques. When I interviewed him for a feature on the hotel a couple of years ago, he was unapologetic in describing his cooking as haute cuisine. ‘If you’re talking about haute couture, you know straight away you’re getting the best of everything,’ he said. ‘That’s exactly what you get here, too.’

He’s right. And at £80 a head, a threecourse lunch (which includes amusebouches, freshly baked sourdough, and petit fours) is incredibly well-priced. Sweet, pearlescent pink Roscoff onions are transformed into an impossibly rich, impossibly light velouté with smoked almonds and Parmesan, then tender tranches of Suffolk lamb are paired with the smoothest smoked aubergine sauce and a miniature terrine of pressed potato. A plate of truffle gnocchi is a masterpiece of colours and textures and the gravity-defying apricot souffle is crowned with jewels of poached fruit and vanillaflecked Chantilly cream; the first mouthful was one of the purest, most perfect joys I’ve experienced in my career as a professional eater. From the moment you’re shown to the table, everything is the best possible version of itself—and however jaded the diner (or columnist), it’s impossible not to be wowed by each course.

Emma Hughes

Illustration by Polly Crossman; Alamy; David Humphries

On the market

London’s markets–selling all manner of goods from livestock in the east to lavender in the south-west–used to be ubiquitous. Patrick Galbraith visits the ones still soldiering on

DOWN at East Street Market, a lady on crutches stands by the fish stall in the Saturday-morning sun. ‘Harrington’s, that’s my local,’ she says to the trader in the white coat. ‘No,’ the lady standing next to her replies, ‘the pies there don’t taste as nice.’

‘Anyway, how you been, girl?’ the trader asks, as he hands over a pint of whelks. ‘Well it was my brother’s inquest last week,’ the lady on crutches replies, ‘they said he didn’t do it on purpose, so that’s something.’

By the time I get to the front of the queue, the shrimps are gone, so I ask for half a pint of prawns and, as Brian fills the pewter tankard—his name is printed on the street vendor’s licence, pinned above the weighing scales—I ask him why markets are so special. ‘Community, isn’t it?’ he replies with a shrug. ‘I’ve got customers who’ve been coming 40 years, and it’s locality.’

There’s been street trading in Walworth since the 16th century and the market on East Street—the same street where Charlie Chaplin was born—has been running since 1880. But, in that time, London has lost a great many markets and part of the city’s soul has gone with them.

In Islington, from 1852–1939, the Caledonian Market, which sat on a 75-acre site, was a riptide of rags and riches. In her 1989 book Up the Cally, Marjorie Edwards wrote that, initially, it was a livestock market, but

eventually, due to its success, ‘cockney costermongers came along as well’. The gates opened at 10am and traders would pour in to battle it out for the best pitches. When war broke out in 1939, the market closed and, after it ended, six bloody years later, the gates stayed shut. For 20 years, the site stood empty, until, in 1967, ‘the Market Estate’, consisting of 271 social-housing units, was built. Three of the estate blocks, Tamworth, Kerry, and Southdown, are named after breeds of pig, cattle, and sheep, which would have once been sold on the site where they now stand.

In some instances, it’s clear why markets have gone. From 1660 until the early 20th century, there was a bustling hay market in Whitechapel, so bustling in fact, that the authorities and the traders often found themselves at loggerheads. The untidy carts, according to the authorities, tended to ‘annoy, obstruct and endanger passengers in carriages and on horseback’. Eventually, the hay salesmen were taken to task for obstructing motor vehicles, which, of course, were the very things that ultimately ruined their trade. In 1928, according to the long-running Survey of London, the Whitechapel hay market ‘succumbed to the motor’. It is interesting to note the words of a local china merchant, William Stout, who was sorry to see it go. It was, he believed, ‘the last relic of old English life in the neighbourhood’. We can assume Stout would have been disappointed that in 2015,

Left: The ‘riptide of rags and riches’ at Caledonian Market in Islington, pictured in 1910. Above: The hay market in Whitechapel, painted in about 1835, dates back to the 1660s

‘The Whitechapel hay market was “the last relic of old English life in the neighbourhood”’

Whitechapel High Street, on account of the chicken shops and tanning salons, was voted the least healthy street in London.

That sense of markets providing a connection to the pastoral is a fascinating one. It’s hard to imagine it now, but, from 1721 until 1876, Oxford Market, which stood in Fitzrovia, sold fish, vegetables and meat. The vegetables came from market gardens, such as those in Deptford, which were famed for onions and asparagus.

fruit and veg stands right down the road,’ Toby, who runs the stall, tells me, as he gives me the last scallops. ‘When it used to be more of a Caribbean area, the market did well, but, when the English came, they wanted supermarkets. Markets aren’t how posh English shop.’ On my way home, I pass a truck selling doughnuts, an olive stand and a florist, but where the rest of the pitches once stood, tables from the bars sprawl across the pavement. In the 18th century, this part of Battersea and Clapham was where lavender was grown to be sold at markets.

On the train that evening, I pass New Covent Garden, which moved from its original site in the West End to its current location at Nine

Markets today

Columbia Road Flower Market, E2

One of the largest flower markets in Europe

Brixton Market, SW9

Home to some brilliant street food

Portobello Road Market, W11

Prof Browne’s words in Bedknobs and Broomsticks, ‘anything and everything a chap can unload, is sold off the barrow in Portobello Road’, still ring true. Expect everything from clocks to old vinyl

Walthamstow Market, E17

A wonderful old-London feel. Get your jellied eels

Maltby Street Market, SE1

Bermondsey’s Maltby Street is chic. Try the duck frites

Elms in 1974. When it moved, something was inevitably left behind. Not long ago, it was announced that London’s other great markets, Billingsgate Fish Market, Smithfield Meat Market and New Spitalfields, are also going to be moved. It is no longer convenient for them to exist in the city that bred them, so they’ll be stuck together at a large site in east London. When they merge, three cultures will be merged, too. It’s hard to define what markets mean because they mean an awful lot, but to lose them is to lose a connectedness: it’s to lose a connection to each other and a connection to food. When they go, we become unbound, and the homogenisation of London grinds on.

The loss of markets across London and the process of markets evolving—often becoming swamped by chain restaurants—is ongoing. In 1987, Elizabeth Meath Baker was writing a column for Tatler about London streets. ‘It’s a while ago now,’ she tells me over a cup of tea, but she vividly recalls game dealers in Leadenhall Market, which has been active since the 14th century. ‘There were these two men and the way their fingers moved over the birds. Pluckety, pluckety, pluckety. It was a partridge, I think—they were just so fast.’ Mrs Meath Baker, who today runs the Walsingham Farm Shop in north Norfolk, says she’s quite sure you wouldn’t see that wonderful sight at Leadenhall today.

The boys at The Fish Stall on Northcote Road in Battersea have almost packed up when I get there. ‘I remember when it was

‘Markets mean an awful lot and to lose them is to lose a connection to each other and to food’

Art Gallery/Bridgeman Images; Alamy

Billingsgate Fish Market, pictured in 1892 at its former home in Lower Thames Street

The railway arches of Ropewalk, Bermondsey, are home to the chic Maltby Street Market

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What part of London is home to you?

I live in Camberwell in south-east London. It’s the capital at its best: wonderful Georgian homes mixed into a maelstrom of modern life and the sights and sounds of a younger, more diverse London. I love that the shops are always open, that I know my neighbours and that King’s College Hospital (Denmark Hill, SE5) is close by if anything serious goes wrong!

You’ve seen more of London in the early morning than most people as a longstanding presenter of Today. What do you love about dawn London?

What on earth are people doing at that time? I mean, I have an excuse; often, everyone else seems not to have seen it or to have forgotten it. The most poignant sight is the cleaners going home after servicing the offices in central London. Or the police, carefully preserving evidence after some late-night altercation. It’s strangely comforting to see it all happening and know that it would be even if I was tucked up asleep.

Is there a café or restaurant near Broadcasting House ( pictured ) where you go to cool off after recording?

My favourite cafe is FCB in Denmark Hill station (Windsor Walk, SE5). I go home by train and often pick up a coffee there for my wife and daughter, who both work at home. I never stay around Broadcasting House: one of the advantages of my hours is the quick escape.

What are your favourite parks and museums in London and why?

My favourite park is Ruskin Park close to where I live. It is small with a wonderful community feel and I think I know almost everyone in it— enough at least to nod at. The view across London is staggering, a whole vista from the City and The Shard in the east through to Battersea Power Station [in the west] and beyond. Greenwich Park is also a great south London viewpoint. I never go to museums. My favourite place to pop into in central London is the very conveniently placed library at the London School of Economics—I am an alumnus in Aldwych (10, Portugal St reet , WC2).

Webb Justin

Where would you go to conduct an interview if you wanted discretion and also some good food and drink?

My favourite place to take someone for a relaxed meal and chat would be the Spanish restaurant Moro in Exmouth Market, close to the newly refurbished Farringdon station (34–36, Exmouth Market, EC1). The tables are reasonably far apart; it has a buzz and it is usually busy, but quiet enough to talk.

If you get a break during Today (perhaps when Thought For The Day is on) are you ever able to sneak in breakfast?

I am really strict about food and Today : I don’t eat at all the night before presenting,

so that I wake up hungry. At about 5am, after I have been working for an hour, I have a bowl of cereal in the office. That’s it! I don’t eat or drink during the programme—there really isn’t time and it’d be a fuss. The three hours on air are filled pretty completely with things happening and sudden changes of plan and direction, so stuffing yourself with any food or drink simply wouldn’t be possible.

‘The Gift of a Radio’ by Justin Webb is out now (Doubleday, £16.99)

‘Ruskin Park is small with a wonderful community feel–I know almost everyone in it’

The BBC Radio 4 Today presenter talks to Rob Crossan about eating on live radio, London at 4am and the best place in the capital to conduct a discreet, in-person interview

THE CAPITAL ACCORDING TO...

Property market

Penny Churchill

So very Surrey

Great names of the past are recalled in three magnificent properties

PERHAPS best known to COUNTRY L IFE readers as the setting for the early collaborations between the architect Edwin Lutyens and the plantswoman and garden designer Gertrude Jekyll, the ancient town of Godalming, six miles south of Guildford in south-west Surrey, lies in a great valley of green meadows, with the River Wey meandering through and wooded hills rising all around, on the spurs of which the outlying parts of the town are scattered.

At some point in the 11th century, the manor of Godalming was divided into two. The principal part was the King’s Manor, which was held by the Bishops of Salisbury from 1221 until the Dissolution and sold by Elizabeth I in the early 1500s to George More

of Loseley Park, whose direct descendants still own the estate. The second part, including the hamlet of Tuesley, was known as the Rectory Manor, which was granted to Salisbury Cathedral by Henry I in the early 12th century, and remained with the Dean and Chapter until the mid 19th century. Leased by the Cotillion family for much of that time, the manor was transferred in 1846 to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, who began to break up and sell off the estate in the early 1860s.

Currently for sale through the Guildford office of Knight Frank (01483 617916) at a guide price of £4.95 million, the present Tuesley Manor dates from the 15th century, and, according to Historic England, was re-clad and extended in the 16th, late 17th and 19th

centuries. Discreetly located off Tuesley Lane, 1½ miles south of Godalming and six miles from Guildford, the house has been further extended and upgraded by the present owners, who bought it in 2002.

The manor house stands in a wonderfully private setting, protected to the north by a large bank of woodland and to the south by a high stone wall that separates it from the country lane. To the north of the house, sloping lawns run down to the brook that traverses the garden from east to west, before rising up to meet the ancient woodland. The 12 acres of grounds include a disused tennis lawn and, to the west, an indoor swimming pool housed in a traditional barn with retracting side walls.

The charming and historic Tuesley Manor, dating from the 15th century, is set in 12 acres of grounds near Godalming in Surrey. £4.95m

It was to Tuesley Manor that the late Bronwen, Lady Astor, moved from Cliveden following the death in 1966 of her husband, William Waldorf, 3rd Viscount Astor, in the wake of the Profumo affair that rocked 1960s Britain and led to the collapse of the Macmillan government. Having reinvented herself as a psychotherapist and spiritual adviser, she converted to Catholicism in 1970 and, for a time, ran a small retreat centre in the grounds of her Surrey home.

Today, Tuesley Manor is a family country home of character and charm that retains many of its original features. Built of the local Bargate stone and brick under a tiled roof, the extensively refurbished main house is an interesting mix of old and new. It offers more than 6,800sq ft of living space on three floors, including a large kitchen/breakfast/ family room leading to an airy dining room overlooking the courtyard garden. The spacious drawing room, located next to the open hall with its inglenook fireplace and original oak beams (the oldest part of the house), has views over the main gardens, with a study, gym and mezzanine store room completing the ground-floor line-up.

The first floor is home to the principal bedroom suite, which has access to an eastfacing roof terrace, with three further bedrooms and two bathrooms on the second floor. Further accommodation is available in the two-bedroom Garden Cottage and the

one-bedroom The Retreat, which boasts an open-plan kitchen/living room and a games room, currently used as an artist’s gallery, which opens onto the gardens.

never recorded as a rectory. Later, it was the home, until 1948, of Air Vice Marshall Sir Oliver Swann, a distinguished RAF officer who is credited with inventing the Second World War flying boat.

Knight Frank (01483 617910) and Savills (01483 796816) are joint agents in the relaunch, at a guide price of £6.3m, of Orange Grove, a handsome Victorian country house set in 5½ acres of immaculate landscaped gardens on the edge of the 1,400-acre Loseley Park estate in the picturesque Surrey Hills AONB. Approached along a quiet no-through lane, the house is the largest of a group of properties that make up the idyllic hamlet of Littleton, enjoying unspoilt rural views on all sides, yet within easy reach of Guildford High Street, 2½ miles to the north.

Orange Grove dates from the mid 19th century or earlier and was lived in at one time by the vicar of Wanborough, although

The current owners bought Orange Grove in 2012 and spent two years extending and renovating it, installing new bathrooms, walnut floorboards, new double-glazed sash windows, partial underfloor heating and air conditioning, a new open-plan living kitchen and new bathrooms. In all, it offers more than 7,300sq ft of light and airy living space on two floors, including an entrance hall, library, study, playroom, living room, kitchen/ dining room and private office on the ground floor, with the principal bedroom suite, three further bedrooms and two bathrooms on the floor above. Further accommodation is available in the coach house, which is linked to the main building via a glazed walkway, and in the former cottage, which was demolished and rebuilt to provide a double garage and a large gymnasium, with a studio apartment above.

The gardens have been expertly redesigned by Andrew Fisher Tomlin, winners of RHS Chelsea Flower Show Gold medals and bestin-show awards in 2014, 2016 and 2018, with ornamental beds surrounding the house on all sides and a pretty rose garden to the west. Outbuildings include an outhouse with planning consent to convert into a wellness suite. There is also a delightful summerhouse

Secluded Orange Grove is surrounded by 5½ acres of immaculate landscaped gardens in the idyllic hamlet of Littleton, Surrey. £6.3m

The Orange Grove gardens have been expertly redesigned by Andrew Fisher Tomlin, winners of Chelsea Gold medals

Property market

(previously a treehouse) and, away from the main house, an all-weather tennis court.

Just as the town of Godalming, and the Munstead Wood area in particular, will be forever associated with the historic partnership of Lutyens and Jekyll, so the town of Farnham will always be linked to the Arts-and-Crafts architect Harold Falkner, who created no fewer than 115 buildings in the area in a range of styles, from Arts-and-Crafts and Queen Anne to neo-Georgian and Tudor.

In 1925, Falkner built imposing Runfold Manor in the William-and-Mary style for Lady Diana Courtauld on a green-belt site between the villages of Seale and The Sands on the southern fringes of Farnham. Located within the coveted Guildford-PetersfieldWinchester ‘golden triangle’, the handsome brick-built house, set in 3½ acres of glorious grounds, has been reconfigured and extended by the current owners to provide 9,500sq ft of elegant living space on three floors, with modern family living very much in mind.

The ground-floor accommodation includes four reception rooms, a family kitchen,

a cinema, gym and an enclosed swimming pool, with the principal bedroom suite, two guest bedrooms, three bathrooms, a study and an integral one-bedroom apartment on the first floor, as well as three further bedrooms on the second floor. Now for sale through Savills in Farnham (01252 729004)

at a guide price of £3.5m, Runfold Manor stands at the end of a private driveway overlooking wonderful open countryside, with direct access to miles of public footpaths and bridleways and close to the commons of Hankley and Frensham, both owned by the National Trust.

Above and right: Imposing Runfold Manor, built in the William-and-Mary style, stands on the edge of Farnham in Surrey. £3.5m

James Fisher

The next generation

From the new homes that are popping up all over the country, we’ve chosen some of our favourites

London SE26, £3 million

If you go down to the woods in Sydenham today, you will find the magnificent Pavilion, a ‘one-of-a-kind’ four-bedroom family home set in the leafy grounds of Beltwood House. As well as offering 2,500sq ft of living space over its three floors, the property boasts a cinema/multimedia room, huge open-plan living areas and its very own contemplation pool. Potential purchasers also have access to the gym and spa at Beltwood House itself. As desirable as the property is its location in the wooded suburbs of south-east London, surrounded by good schools and pubs, as well as being within walking distance of Dulwich & Sydenham Hill Golf Club. Hamptons (020–3369 4375)

Suffolk, £1.85 million

Situated in an acre of gardens surrounded by woodland, Oak View Place does exactly what it says on the tin. A few minutes’ walk from the nearby village of Westleton, properties don’t come much more ‘new build’ than this, with the interiors being fitted out as I write. The property has been designed to be as energy efficient as possible, with a predicted EPC rating of A, yet it gives up none of the modern comforts, with four bedrooms, each with an en-suite bathroom, and lashings of entertaining space. Southwold, Walberswick and the Suffolk coastline are a 15-minute drive away; Westleton itself offers two pubs and a post office.

Durrants (01502 723292)

London SW2, £1.3 million

As much as a new-build can be about starting from scratch, so, too, can it be about breathing new life into something old. One such example is the magnificent Coach House in Brixton, a four-bedroom house designed by MW Architects that looks more at home in a Yorkshire village than it does in south London. The property oozes a type of rustic chic, with poured-concrete floors complemented by exposed brick and soft colours. The bottom floor is entirely open plan and features a small garden to the rear with off-street parking out front, as four bedrooms occupy the first floor. The many amenities of nearby Brixton and its environs need no further explanation. The Modern House (020–3795 5920)

Cheshire, £5.5 million

There is much to admire about Baguley Farm near Alderley Edge. It boasts more than enough space to swing several cats, with 23 acres of grounds and seven bedrooms. Its use of mixed materials smacks of sustainability. The contemporary interiors, including a cinema room, gym and pool, are elegantly laid out. It is, however, something else that the property offers that has the agents talking. ‘One of the fastest-growing sports in the world is taking over the North-West,’ says Crispin Harris of Jackson-Stops Alderley Edge. ‘Our buyers have gone padel-court mad.’ Yes, in what is surely a COUNTRY LIFE first, we have here a property featuring a padel court, the Hispanic hybrid of tennis and squash that is taking the world by storm. As well as padel, the gardens and grounds feature a four-car garage and two-bed annexe, as well as lawns, a rock garden and paddocks. Jackson-Stops (01625 540340)

North Yorkshire, £8 million

Nestled between the North York Moors National Park, the Yorkshire Wolds and the Vale of York sits the 79 square miles of the Howardian Hills. A captivating landscape of well-wooded rolling countryside, fields and scenic villages, it is a peaceful place at one with Nature. So, too, is the Valley Farm estate that sits within this AONB, 15 miles from York, designed by Mark Bramhall and occupying 66 acres studded with lakes, woodland, pasture and grassland. The property, which offers six bedrooms, plus a further three in a detached annexe, was recently recognised in Pevsner and, among other things, can function almost exclusively off grid. The interiors, although contemporary, are sensitively designed to blend with and enhance the surrounding valley landscape, as well as make the most of the recycled and sustainable materials from which the property was built. Further amenities within the 16,000sq ft of living space include a pool, gym and wine store.

Savills (020–7409 8881)