STYLE | Feature
Tribe and tide
N AV I G AT I N G I S L A N D FA M I LY L I F E By Em ma Elobeid Pictu res Ti m i Eross
Having favourites is frowned upon. We’re supposed to appreciate each for its individual gifts and not yearn for either a predecessor or successor. Fear not, I don’t mean children. Because while it’s biologically impossible – and utterly unthinkable – to spread our love anything other than equally between offspring, most of us have a season that speaks to us above all others. Mine is Autumn.
T Discovering a new perspective on Autumn
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styleofwight.co.uk
urns out, I’m not alone in my preference. Far from it: there have been social surveys and serious studies and they all say the same – Autumn is the most beloved. “Delicious Autumn” exclaimed Victorian – and gloriously Gothic – novelist George Eliot (who herself was repeatedly drawn to the Isle of Wight’s spectacular wildness) “My very soul is wedded to it; and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.” My thoughts exactly.
Describing the detail of this seasonal love affair without descending into cliché isn’t easy, but I’ll give it a go. Because I love Autumn best for reasons (almost) entirely unrelated to plaid shirts, crunchy leaves, darkening skies or ‘hug in a mug’ Pumpkinspiced lattes. I love Autumn because it is when I feel both truly myself and deeply at home. Certain places exude Autumn all year round, and Appuldurcombe House is one of them. Once the grandest on the Isle of Wight, now largely a shell of its former English Baroque glory
