Flying between extremes
Country Life UK|April 24, 2024
Revisiting the Norfolk of his childhood bright, but not as early as planned on an April morning, John Lewis-Stempel is entranced by the wildlife of the Broads and spots a crane so large it renders his binoculars redundant Illustration by Michael Frith
Flying between extremes

MY history with the Norfolk Broads can be politely accounted as 'uneven'. It commences with Arthur Ransome and the perils of a middle-class childhood. You never escape the reading. If your parents don't direct you, school does. Consequently, I ended up reading Ransome's Coot Club, in which Dick and Dorothea Callum visit the Norfolk Broads and encounter the titular Coot Club, a gang of local children formed to protect birds and their nests from egg collectors and other disturbances. Children protecting birds? I signed. Signed hard.

Only a year or so later, I was invited to go boating on the Broads. Coot Club for real! However, the auguries were never good. The invitation was kind, but from a family on the other side of my parents' divorce and freighted with perturbation. Whereas I expected a wooden yachta red-sailed whenry-we traversed the waters in a synthetic, motorised cabin cruiser. There was no tranquillity on the Broads, only the relentless traffic of plastic boats up and down marked, diesel-iridescent waterways and the speed limit of 5mph noted in breach rather than in observance. At night in my 'bunk', our small cruiser rocked and yawed in the wash of larger cruisers, which I learned to call dismissively 'gin palaces'.

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der April 24, 2024-Ausgabe von Country Life UK.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der April 24, 2024-Ausgabe von Country Life UK.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

WEITERE ARTIKEL AUS COUNTRY LIFE UKAlle anzeigen
Kitchen garden cook - Apples
Country Life UK

Kitchen garden cook - Apples

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

time-read
2 Minuten  |
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 Minuten  |
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 Minuten  |
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 Minuten  |
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 Minuten  |
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 Minuten  |
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 Minuten  |
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 Minuten  |
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 Minuten  |
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 Minuten  |
October 23, 2024