LandScape September/October 2015

Rich pickings from an English vineyard

Journey through Malvern’s golden hills Lazy days on a horse-drawn barge

Autumn grasses garden | Border sedums | Hedgehog home | Blackberries | Vineyard | Horse-drawn barge | Watchmaker | Harvest mouse | Malvern Hills

Sept / Oct 2015

HARVEST TIME

Sept / Oct 2015 £4.25

Life at nature’s pace

Issue 25 | Sept / Oct 2015 | £4.25

LandScape - Life at nature’s pace

www.landscapemagazine.co.uk

plumes of floating feathers

A West Country garden comes alive with movement and autumnal colour as fronds of delicate grass take centre stage

Planting a range of bulbs guarantees a lasting show of colour.

set ting the stage With foresight, planning and work now, everything is ready for bulbs to produce a colourful spectacle next year

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utumn is a busy time in the garden, when bulbs are planted to ensure a colourful display in the following spring. With dozens of different types and hundreds of varieties, it is easy to bring colour, beauty and fragrance to every garden.

“I can’t imagine a garden without bulbs,” says gardening expert Geoff Stebbings. “No one can fail to be charmed by bright crocus poking through grass, or to be dazzled by majestic tulips opening wide in the spring sunshine. I plant them generously in borders, in the lawns and in containers so that there is a new splash of colour every week for months.

“Apart from their beauty, what makes them special is that they have the flowers already formed inside them. This helps to make them simple to grow. The result is every garden is almost certainly guaranteed beautiful flowers, whatever the level of experience of the gardener.” ›

Mixing plants of different heights, such as tulips and muscari, creates structure in a display.

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A place to sleep Garden materials are arranged to make a shelter for hibernating hedgehogs

making a hedgehog house 1.

2.

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ow is the time when hedgehogs are preparing to go into hibernation. They are busy feeding to build up fat stores that will sustain them during their winter’s sleep from November through to March.

A resident hedgehog is good for the garden as they are predators for slugs, snails and insects. However, hedgehog numbers have declined by a third over the past 10 years. Looking after them helps secure their future.

Putting a hedgehog house in the garden provides a safe place for their hibernation. Using natural materials such as bark and wood attracts insects for the hedgehog to feed on.

The house is built in a quiet and shady area of the garden. It has a narrow entrance to prevent it being entered by badgers or foxes. Sturdy bricks help the structure withstand the explorations of these predators.

Bark rather than pre-treated wood is chosen, as the chemicals can be harmful to the animal. Larch, Douglas fir and Scots pine are good choices due to their durability.

Step 1: The bricks are arranged to form a C-shaped structure.

3.

Step 3: A pile of sticks are laid down the centre of the tile. Sheets of bark are placed over them, enough to cover the whole structure.

5.

Step 2: A large slate tile is placed on top of the bricks to form the basis of a roof.

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Step 4: Two bricks are laid in front of the door on either side, to form a tunnel entrance. A smaller slate tile is placed across them.

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materials

Photography: GAP Photo

• Two oblong slate tiles, one larger, one smaller • 14 house bricks • Three coping stones • A bundle of sticks • Sheets of bark

Step 5: Three coping stones are laid on top of the slate tiles to create a roof for the porch.

Step 6: The porch is covered with further sheets of bark.

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Hedgerow jewels Bursting with luscious purple juice, blackberries add colour and sweetness to savoury dishes and desserts

Pickled spiced blackberries
 Makes 4 jars 1kg ripe blackberries 6 cloves 1 stick of cinnamon ½ tsp ground nutmeg 3 juniper berries 225g golden caster sugar 125ml cider vinegar Place the sugar and vinegar in a saucepan. Crush the juniper berries between two teaspoons and add to the pan with the spices. Bring to the boil gently, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 mins. Add the blackberries, cover and simmer for a further 10 mins, stirring occasionally. Pour into sterilised preserving jars, seal and allow to cool.

Label and store in the refrigerator for at least one week before using.

Served with cold cuts, duck or lamb.

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Blackberry and orange crumble bars Makes 16

125g golden caster sugar

350g blackberries

225g butter, chilled

zest and juice of 1 orange

2 tsp cornflour

225g plain flour

50g walnuts

125g fine semolina

2 tbsp Demerara sugar

Mix together the flour, semolina and 100g of the caster sugar. Cut the butter into cubes and rub in until the mixture is only just starting to stick together, then stir in the orange zest. Spoon just over half the mixture into a 20cm square cake tin. Using the back of a spoon, press the mixture into an even layer.

Mix together the remaining 25g of caster sugar with the cornflour. Pour in half of the orange juice and stir through. Add the blackberries and toss to combine. Spread the mixture over the pastry base.

Chop the walnuts finely and stir into the remaining crumble mix. Spread over the berries, then sprinkle the Demerara sugar over the top. Bake in a preheated oven at 180ÂşC/gas mark 4 for 45 mins. Leave to cool in the tin before carefully removing and cutting into bars to serve.

Blackberry swirl cookies Makes approximately 30

150g butter, softened

150g blackberries

1 tsp vanilla extract

110g golden caster sugar

3 tbsp double cream

Âź tsp ground cloves

250g plain flour

Place the blackberries, 30g of the sugar, the cloves and 2 tbsp water in a saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 mins. Remove from hob, mash well and allow to cool completely.

Beat the butter and remaining sugar together until pale and fluffy, then beat in the vanilla extract and the cream. Add the flour and mix to a smooth soft dough.

Roll out the dough on a sheet of non-stick baking parchment to form a rectangle approximately 30cm x 20cm. Spread the blackberry mixture over the biscuit dough leaving a 3cm border along one long edge. Roll up from the opposite side, like a Swiss roll. Cover and chill for 30 mins.

Cut the dough into 5mm thick slices and place on baking sheets with a 2cm gap between biscuits. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C/gas mark 4 for 10 mins until crisp. Cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

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THE FABRIC OF NATURE Textile artist Amanda Richardson’s vibrant collages are inspired by the countryside

Passing the test of time Watchmaker Robert Loomes and his team create exquisite timepieces that keep alive a 400-year-old British tradition

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Completed movements and watches sit next to the engraving design on a sheet of brass. This is a practice piece, used by a watchmaker who is learning to engrave.

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nside hushed workshops in a 16th century building, a miniature engineering marvel is taking shape.

Twelve skilled craftsmen are painstakingly assembling beautiful, deceptively simple-looking watches, designed by owner Robert Loomes.

They are following in the footsteps of generations of British watchmakers. Since the 17th century, British-made timepieces have been viewed as the best in the world, with every major design in horology coming from the country’s craftsmen, scientists and engineers. In the heart of the market town of Stamford, Lincolnshire, Robert and his team are dedicated to upholding and furthering this status.

Life-long passion Watchmaking runs in Robert’s family. A 17th century member of the family, Thomas Loomes, made fine watches and clocks in London.

But it was helping his father, an antiques dealer who specialises in clocks, that piqued Robert’s interest. “By the time I was 16, I was very competent,” he says. “I was repairing clocks, taking them to pieces and putting them back together again. I learnt how to restore and make components.”

In 1993 he and his wife Robina moved to Stamford where he launched his own business restoring antique clocks. In 2005, in what he describes as a natural progression, his interest expanded to watchmaking.

“There’s a charm to traditional methods of watchmaking, they are simple, attractive pieces,” he says.

The firm’s peaceful premises next to the river Welland have proved the ideal home. “Watchmakers need peace and quiet as the work is concentrated. Much of the time a watchmaker is concentrating on a small rectangle a few inches across, right under their nose. The work is demanding in that there are so many individual checks and adjustments that must be made during the build.”

The design process Robert designs all his watches and his office walls are covered in hand-drawn plans of various components. When his ancestor was making watches, everything would have been done by hand. Today technology has a part to play. Computer

› The workshops in Stamford, Lincolnshire, are housed in a 16th century building which has a 19th century facade.

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Land of hills and springs A riot of colour covers the north Malvern hills above a historic spa town, as autumn transforms this ancient landscape

The spine of the eight-mile long chain of the Malvern Hills stretches away, rising and falling as it goes. In the foreground sits the British Camp reservoir, which takes its name from an ancient Iron Age settlement on the hilltop above it.

Life among the stalks Wearing the colours of autumn, the minute harvest mouse lives a solitary life high above ground in tall grasses and hedgerows

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Each weighing just ₁/₅oz (6g), harvest mice scale an ear of wheat without bending the stalk.

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t dusk on a warm autumn evening, a tiny animal searches for food among a tangle of blackberries. Just a few inches long, the harvest mouse is barely visible as it darts among the leaves. Grasping a fruit with its dextrous forefeet, it nibbles at the drupelets before heading upwards, effortlessly navigating the winding stems.

The harvest mouse, Micromys minutus, spends much of its life climbing. It lives among dense vegetation, in the stalks of long grasses, reed beds, cereal crops and sedges. Physically, it is well adapted to this high-rise life. Its four-toed forefeet are strong and flexible allowing the mouse to pull itself upwards. A small thumb pad further aids grip. The hind feet have five toes which can be spread out for extra surface area and more support. The outer toe is opposable so the foot can completely span vegetation. All the toes have a tendon locking mechanism, meaning the mouse expends minimal muscular energy when gripping to maintain its hold.

More remarkable, though, is the tail. Uniquely among British animals, the harvest mouse has a fully prehensile tail that it uses to wrap round the stalks as it climbs. A strip of muscle beneath the bones at the final ¾in (20mm) of the tail allows it to curl tightly around vegetation, anchoring the mouse securely. The ›

The strong hind feet are able to grip stalks tightly, freeing up the four-toed forefeet to collect food.

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Ploughing a winning furrow 120

Ploughing plot sizes depend on the field but are usually approximately 110yd (100m) long and 21yd (20m) wide for the tractors, smaller for the horses.

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n T he soft light of an early autumn morning, golden fields lie bare save for the stubble left behind by combine harvesters. In a moment, the silence of the countryside is shattered as hundreds of tractor engines fire up and 250 ploughmen prepare to compete to become national champions.

This is the start of the two-day British National Ploughing Championships. In 48 hours’ time, the 200-acre site will be covered in thousands of straight furrows as, over a weekend in October, ploughmen from across the country compete against each other. Whether driving a modern tractor, a much-loved and restored vintage vehicle or walking behind stately plough horses, all have only one aim – to be the best in their category.

They will strive to create the straightest furrow and the most even finish. Their aim is to leave no suggestion of anything other than clean soil on the surface.

Ploughing skills have long been the yardstick by which farm workers are judged. Ploughing matches are the arena in which they prove their worth. In the past, champion ploughmen could expect a better wage than their less skilled colleagues. Today they compete for the glory and satisfaction of a job well done. The ultimate accolade is to be recognised as the National Champion in their class, whether using modern or vintage tractors or horses.

The heavy horses For many of the 8,000 people who visit the event, the big attraction is the heavy horses. Ten teams of magnificent Shires start work at 9.30am on each day.

Their coats gleam and muscles ripple while their harnesses flaunt an array of polished brasses that sparkle in the sunlight. These powerful animals lean into their collars as they haul the plough through the soil. The rhythmic pounding of large hooves, and chime of chains and bridles conjure up memories of a bygone age.

Until steam power arrived in the 19th century, these beautiful, strong animals were the only assistance the ploughman had. They remained an essential force on many farms until the middle of the 20th century, when the tractor came to dominate the fields. ›

In October, ploughmen from across Britain come together to display skills that have been valued on farms for centuries 121

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autumn’s gentle glow

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