The Grape Escape
Kent Life|May 2017

What started as a hobby for entrepreneur Richard Balfour-Lynn quickly became an expanding family based wine and cider business. 

Sarah Sturt
The Grape Escape
RICHARD and LESLIE BALFOUR-LYNN first came to Kent in 1986, just before they got married and were in search of a family home.

They found the perfect one in Tudor-framed Hush Heath Manor, nestling into a hill, with magnificent views across the Weald of Kent. Built in 1503, the manor served as a pair of wealthy weavers’ cottages, in an era when Kent was the centre of Europe’s textile industry. By the 1980s, however, it was in need of extensive restoration and the next four years entailed a full restitution, inside and out.

Richard takes up the tale: “In about 1870 the manor owned all this land but they ran out of money and sold it to the Days, a big Kent farming family, who owned it right up to 2001.

“The Day children had farms all over Kent but the child who owned this farm decided to sell it as a series of lots. We went to the auction and ended up buying the land simply because it surrounded our house. Then a year later Leslie said to me ‘why don’t you plant a vineyard?’ – expecting a few rows…”

Richard, who has been in the property industry for more than 30 years, wasn’t going to be put off by the challenge, although he admits: “When you plant your first vineyard you really don’t know what the microclimate is going to do.

“We are very fortunate that we are almost in a valley surrounded by woods and have a really great microclimate because it’s so protected and sheltered.

“It’s luck, I can’t say we planned it, but what I can say is that we are in the Garden of England and this is a major fruit-growing area and we have this wonderful Wealden clay.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة May 2017 من Kent Life.

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 May 2017 من Kent Life.

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 KENT LIFE مشاهدة الكل
The choice of leaders
Kent Life

The choice of leaders

It’s a small, scenic Kentish market town on the border with Surrey, famous for not one but two great leaders. We take a look around Westerham

time-read
5 mins  |
November 2020
The eco-warriors
Kent Life

The eco-warriors

Awarded a Queen’s Anniversary Prize in 2019 in recognition of its research in global nature conservation, the role of Kent-based DICE has never been more relevant

time-read
7 mins  |
November 2020
Kent's most CURIOUS MONUMENTS
Kent Life

Kent's most CURIOUS MONUMENTS

Our county can boast some of the most celebrated and downright unusual protected mouments in the country

time-read
6 mins  |
November 2020
Ghosts of a river's life
Kent Life

Ghosts of a river's life

Kent Life discovers an an other-worldliness about the marshes, creeks, and saltings of the lower reaches of the river Medway

time-read
5 mins  |
November 2020
The return of the son
Kent Life

The return of the son

The Unknown Warrior’s journey from the World War One battlefields via Dover to his resting place in Westminster Abbey is 100 years old this month

time-read
5 mins  |
November 2020
We will remember
Kent Life

We will remember

In a year when we got an inkling of what living through a war means, we remember the 75th anniversary of the end of the Great War

time-read
6 mins  |
November 2020
Age-old advice
Kent Life

Age-old advice

Just become a grandparent for the first time? Perhaps you need a little guidance, so here are some top tips about how to embrace your new family role

time-read
3 mins  |
November 2020
10 GOOD REASONS TO VISIT Medway Towns
Kent Life

10 GOOD REASONS TO VISIT Medway Towns

A vast Dockyard, a Napoleonic fort and a JCB diggers theme park - let’s visit Chatham and Medway

time-read
4 mins  |
November 2020
KENT'S CREEPIEST- GHOST STORIES
Kent Life

KENT'S CREEPIEST- GHOST STORIES

Here are 10 tales to make you shiver as we celebrate All Hallows’ Eve

time-read
7 mins  |
October 2020
Joking apart
Kent Life

Joking apart

From his home in Broadstairs, Royston Robertson comes up with satirical, topical and sometimes just plain silly cartoons

time-read
5 mins  |
October 2020