The Cottage Industry
Country Life UK|July 04, 2018

Owning a weekend cottage is a dream to which many aspire. Flora Watkins finds out how to achieve

Flora Watkins
The Cottage Industry

I AM excessively fond of a cottage!’ exclaims Robert Ferrars to Elinor Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility. ‘And I protest, if I had any money to spare, I should buy a little land and build one myself, within a short distance of London, where I might drive down myself, at any time.’

This may be the only sentiment expressed by the buffoonish Ferrars with which we can all agree, for who hasn’t dreamed of escaping the city on a Friday afternoon for their own quintessential country cottage?

It may be thatched and rendered in Suffolk pink or in mellow Cotswold stone under a roof of slate tiles. There are, quite possibly, roses around the door and, almost certainly, there is honey, still, for tea.

For Millie Johnson, her own rural idyll— in the Test Valley village of Abbotts Ann— is a mere hour and 10 minutes from home if she gets away by 3.30pm, after picking her daughter up from school in London. Her husband takes the train down later to Andover.

‘We’ll sit in the garden and have a gin and tonic and watch the sun set over the fields,’ Mrs Johnson enthuses. ‘You get a really good night’s sleep and wake feeling relaxed. We rush so much that it’s lovely to stop and pause and just be. My daughter absolutely loves climbing trees and making dens. We have friends down for a night and go collecting sloes. There are lovely walks, fishing at Stockbridge and a pub in the village with an old skittle alley.’

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة July 04, 2018 من Country Life UK.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة July 04, 2018 من Country Life UK.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

المزيد من القصص من COUNTRY LIFE UK مشاهدة الكل
Kitchen garden cook - Apples
Country Life UK

Kitchen garden cook - Apples

'Sweet and crisp, apples are the epitome of autumn flavour'

time-read
2 mins  |
October 23, 2024
The original Mr Rochester
Country Life UK

The original Mr Rochester

Three classic houses in North Yorkshire have come to the market; the owner of one inspired Charlotte Brontë to write Jane Eyre

time-read
5 mins  |
October 23, 2024
Get it write
Country Life UK

Get it write

Desks, once akin to instruments of torture for scribes, have become cherished repositories of memories and secrets. Matthew Dennison charts their evolution

time-read
6 mins  |
October 23, 2024
'Sloes hath ben my food'
Country Life UK

'Sloes hath ben my food'

A possible paint for the Picts and a definite culprit in tea fraud, the cheek-suckingly sour sloe's spiritual home is indisputably in gin, says John Wright

time-read
3 mins  |
October 23, 2024
Souvenirs of greatness
Country Life UK

Souvenirs of greatness

FOR many years, some large boxes have been stored and forgotten in the dark recesses of the garage. Unpacked last week, the contents turned out to be pots: some, perhaps, nearing a century old—dense terracotta, of interesting provenance.

time-read
3 mins  |
October 23, 2024
Plants for plants' sake
Country Life UK

Plants for plants' sake

The garden at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire The home of Edward Banks The Banks family is synonymous with an extraordinary collection of trees and shrubs, many of which are presents from distinguished friends, garnered over two centuries. Be prepared to be amazed, says Charles Quest-Ritson

time-read
7 mins  |
October 23, 2024
Capturing the castle
Country Life UK

Capturing the castle

Seventy years after Christian Dior’s last fashion show in Scotland, the brand returned under creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri for a celebratory event honouring local craftsmanship, the beauty of the land and the Auld Alliance, explains Kim Parker

time-read
6 mins  |
October 23, 2024
Nature's own cathedral
Country Life UK

Nature's own cathedral

Our tallest native tree 'most lovely of all', the stately beech creates a shaded environment that few plants can survive. John Lewis-Stempel ventures into the enchanted woods

time-read
5 mins  |
October 23, 2024
All that money could buy
Country Life UK

All that money could buy

A new book explores the lost riches of London's grand houses. Its author, Steven Brindle, looks at the residences of plutocrats built by the nouveaux riches of the late-Victorian and Edwardian ages

time-read
8 mins  |
October 23, 2024
In with the old
Country Life UK

In with the old

Diamonds are meant to sparkle in candlelight, but many now gather dust in jewellery boxes. To wear them today, we may need to reimagine them, as Hetty Lintell discovers with her grandmother's jewellery

time-read
5 mins  |
October 23, 2024