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Morale-boosting bottles

The Field

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September 2025

Whether you are in renovation hell, expecting good (or bad) news or simply need to stock up, this selection will ensure you are prepared for any eventuality

- Jonathan Ray

I‘VE BEEN camping in Kent with Mrs Ray. Not camping in a tent, God forbid, but camping in the wreck of a cottage that Mrs R thought would be a good idea to buy and restore. Buy and watch fall down more like. Planning permission took forever and as each month passed another dozen tiles fell off the roof, another section of lath and plaster collapsed, and another battalion of woodworm got to work. It really is in a shocking state.

Mrs Ray is managing the whole project and has assembled a crack team of chippies, brickies, sparkies, roofers, ground workers, plumbers and goodness knows what else. She runs a tight ship and she might yet make it all work. I'm here simply to make sure the commissariat is up to snuff, and I pondered long and hard what bottles we would need to see us through our month in the country before heading off on my travels again. I’m proud to say my selection worked a treat and reckon that these bottles essential to one’s well-being will work for you, too, wherever you are – be it at home, heading off on a short break or camping in a roofless wreck.

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