The actress on river life, education and not being held hostage by acting.
I’VE interviewed several actors who have waxed lyrical about boats, but never one who lived on one. Step forward or, rather, lower the gangplank, Imogen Stubbs. ‘I grew up on a Dutch sailing barge,’ she points out, welcoming me on board and seating me beside a table piled with books. ‘My dad was in the Navy, although I’m not sure he liked living on water, but my mum did. Unfortunately, boats have a tendency to sink over time and you end up having to replace them. One we lived on after Dad died is now a teashop in Malden.’
Miss Stubbs is understandably reluctant to give away the location, but its mooring is on a river somewhere in South-East England. Although living conditions were on the primitive side on the barges of her childhood, you can’t say that about this number, which is warm and spacious without being flashy.
She and her partner, fellow actor Jonathan Guy Lewis, designed the boat themselves. ‘Because of my past experience, I knew what worked and, with a boat, you have a certain leeway on design. The real pleasure of living here is that, with the rise and fall of the river, you never have the same view out of the window.’
It’s an enviable location, yet not so distracting that it prevented her partner from writing a play that he and Miss Stubbs are about to appear in, as the parents of a teenager facing his exams, called The Be All and End All.
‘It’s part of a trilogy Jonathan is writing called Education, Education, Education,’ she explains. ‘It’s in response to the lunacy of an education system entirely defined by exam results and the pressure, verging on absolute hysteria, now exerted on children from an early age towards getting a top grade.’
Denne historien er fra April 25, 2018-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra April 25, 2018-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Kitchen garden cook - Apples
'Sweet and crisp, apples are the epitome of autumn flavour'
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
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
'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
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.
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
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
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
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
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
