As an only child growing up on a hill farm in Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland, I spent endless hours by myself creating dams in the burn, looking after my own animals and climbing miles over hills, helping my father with his cattle and sheep. A childhood in the wildness and raw beauty of Scotland has left me with an innate connection with nature.
I suspect I absorbed my love for flowers by osmosis, playing on my own, creating an imaginary world from the primroses, foxgloves and berries that I found. I had a deep sense of the seasons. I was extremely dyslexic however, and out of school and in the wilds of the farm my imagination was caught by what I could create in the landscape.
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RHAPSODY IN BLUE
Timeworn accessories, grainy woods and natural materials create a unique ambience in Anneke Herbers’ atmospheric home
FIRST CLASS
The sensitive restoration of a former village post office has delivered a new life in the country for Bee Osborn
FIRE & FROST
Flaming red and gold stems contrast spectacularly with carpets of frosty snowdrops in Jackie and John Copping’s cottage garden in Essex
VINTAGE VIBE
Ann Jarvis wanted to buy and renovate a country cottage as a family retreat... but that was before she fell for the existing design of this Cotswold conversion
MY FAVOURITE VIEW... Everest and the Khumbu Glacier, Nepal
The majesty of Everest and the Khumbu Glacier inspired musician Cerys Matthews during her memorable birthday expedition
LET'S MOVE TO Whitby
A WINDSWEPT OUTPOST BRIMMING WITH CHARACTER AND WILD COASTAL WALKS
Clever ways to CONFIGURE YOUR KITCHEN SPACE
TIME FOR A NEW LAYOUT? USE EXPERT DESIGN TRICKS TO MEET YOUR NEEDS AND MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR FLOOR SPACE
Meet Maria Sigma TEXTILE DESIGNER
With her zero-waste designs and contemporary craftsmanship, Maria Sigma is creating beautiful woven textiles that feel right and relevant for 21st-century life
All you need to know…EXTENSIONS
A WELL-DESIGNED EXTENSION WILL ADD SPACE, STYLE AND VALUE TO YOUR COUNTRY HOME. HERE’S OUR GUIDE TO GETTING IT RIGHT…
3 CLEVER DESIGN SOLUTIONS
3 CLEVER DESIGN SOLUTIONS
Taking Scotland in Stride
A walk through the Highlands and Borders is the best way to touch this country’s history and nature
Scotland Makes Periods Less Painful
The country is the first in the world to offer free, universal access to sanitary products
GEOLOGY 101 Columnar Basalt
A distinctive volcanic structure found throughout the world has been given fanciful names: “Organ Pipes” in Namibia and Victoria, Australia; “Kilt Rock” and “Samson’s Ribs” in Scotland; “Giant’s Causeway” in Northern Ireland; “Thunderstruck Rocks” in Romania; “Devils Tower” in Wyoming and “Paul Bunyan’s Woodpile” in Utah, USA; the “Baigong Pipes” in China; and the “Cliff of Stone Plates” in Vietnam. High-resolution satellite images have even shown similar as-yet-unnamed structures on Mars.
Bass of Tomorrow
We can think of a few string manufacturers who claim to make the best-sounding products in the world. Dr Jonathan Kemp doesn’t just make that claim—he can prove it, too. Hywel Davies is blinded with science...
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION
Fifty years ago, the Shortboard Revolution saw the most radical design shifts in the history of surfcraft. Today, that same experimental spirit is alive and well in the surfing and shaping approaches of Torren Martyn and Simon Jones
Rock Shops of Distinction MR. WOOD'S FOSSILS
KEEPING A TRADITION ALIVE
Explore Scotland's Magical, Misty Isle Of Skye
Don’t let the weather fool you — Skye can be “a wee bit moist” on occasion, as 19th-century Cuillin mountaineer pioneer Charles Pilkington once said, describing Scotland’s island of adventure.
Alan Cumming Celebrates the Good Life in Scotland
As The Good Wife takes its last bow, life is still a cabaret for Alan Cumming.
Bold chisel
denHolm’s Steven John Clark is a rock legend who carves new life into raw limestone.
POLICE WATCHDOG PROBES FLAT PLUNGE
SCOTLAND’S police watchdog has launched an investigation after a man was left fighting for life in Dundee.