Within an hour of arriving at The Lodges at New House Farm, inEtchingham, East Sussex, our toddler has made firm friends with our neighbours – a friendly bunch of longeyelashed alpacas and rotund sheep that occupy the field adjacent to our accommodation.
My partner and I assess the converted stables that will be our home for the next couple of nights with similar enthusiasm, noting the huge, squishy sofas, cosy woodburners, and the white linen on the plump double bed. In the kitchen, the best part of all: an array of cartons containing tonight’s dinner – an unctuous beef bourguignon studded with lardons and pearl onions; chocolate bread and butter pudding and a platter of local cheeses to finish.
The out-of-hours squawk of a cockerel on the gravel outside sounds like a fanfare: let the unwinding commence.
After an evening spent eating, sprawling and dozing on the sofas, the following day begins in a similarly relaxed fashion; our daughter wakes later than usual before motioning to be let out to go and see the alpacas. Outside the stables, we discover a trug has been left on the picnic bench – as if by elves – filled with local produce from Eggs to Apples, the award-winning farm shop that stands a stone’s throw from the Lodges on London Road.
Denne historien er fra September 2019-utgaven av Sussex Life.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra September 2019-utgaven av Sussex Life.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
TAKE YOUR TIME
Dean Edwards’ new cookbook features delectable recipes that you can slow cook or stick in the oven. Here’s a selection of the best
Decorative art
Not simply functional, treat your walls like an extension of your personality
ON THE FRONT FOOT
The rugby legend took the reins at Sussex County Cricket Club in 2017, rekindling his love for a sport that first won his heart on the village cricket fields of North Yorkshire
NAKED AMBITION
In the 1980s, Christine and Jennifer Binnie partied with Boy George and Marilyn and bared all as performance art collective The Neo-Naturists. Now they are working together to gain the recognition they feel they deserve
ROCKET MAN
Astronaut Tim Peake has come a long way since growing up in Westbourne and attending Chichester High School for Boys: 248 miles above Earth, to be precise. But, he says, life on the International Space Station has a lot in common with family caravanning holidays
Revolution man
Lewes’ most famous resident Thomas Paine may be the greatest propagandist who ever lived. But how did a humble customs and excise officer ignite the touchpaper for revolution in not one but two countries?
THE DIARY
17 exciting things to do this month in East and West Sussex
All in a day's work
Meet Tim Dummer, who has helped keep Midhurst’s Cowdray Estate shipshape for an impressive five decades
My favourite Sussex
Bruce Fogle is an author and a vet with a practice in London who has lived in West Sussex with his wife, the actress Julia Foster, since 1989. He recently became president of RSPCA Mount Noddy near Chichester
10 OF THE BEST Meat-free restaurants in Brighton and Hove
Brighton is often rated one of the most vegan-friendly cities in the UK. What these restaurants prove is that plant-based food doesn’t have to be puritanical – at all of these places you’ll find big flavours and a desire to push the envelope
