Ginger-beer childhoods

Summer holidays filled with outdoor adventures are the perfect way to foster a love of the countryside and a lifetime enthusiasm for the field

- Callie Coles

A COUPLE of years ago, my granny sent me a clipping from her newspaper. At first glance, it seemed to be a recipe. I am not the most adventurous cook and rarely follow recipes, so I examined it with slight trepidation and a large pinch of salt on standby:

Ingredients

One grassy field

1/2 dozen children (or as many as you have)

3 small dogs

A pinch of a brook

Some pebbles

Mix the children and dogs well together and put them in the field, stirring constantly. Pour the brook over the pebbles. Sprinkle the field with flowers, spread over all a deep blue sky, and bake in a hot sun. When brown, remove the children and set away to cool in a bathtub.

Source: The Darling Dahlias and the Eleven O'Clock Lady by Susan Wittig Albert.

I found this captivating but also amusing, especially when I saw that dearest Granny had written below: 'Sounds like a tried-and-tested Coles family recipe, darling Granny is a real source of inspiration to me: she had four children under the age of five and it is a constant reminder that life could be even busier and that I have got it rather easy in comparison.

My husband Toby and I are fairly old-fashioned in the way that we live our lives, from our hunting in the winter to the summer months when life doesn't pivot around horses and hounds. This has trickled down, inevitably, into the way that our children see the world. We have chosen to live in a secluded corner of Devon, almost as far away from the bright lights and busy streets of civilisation as is possible, and our children have learned to make the most of the rolling hills and empty lanes. They are not often found inside on days when the sun is shining or indeed even on grey days.