Like many castles in Britain, Sissinghurst has had a rocky history until, in derelict condition, the castle and farm was put on the market in 1928 for the grand sum of £12,000, with alas no offers of interest for two years. Fortunately, by one of those pieces of serendipity, Vita Sackville West and Harold Nicolson […]
Did past generations anticipate future restrictions such as social distancing? Certainly, they were aware of sensible health precautions, including covering faces, from the various epidemics that seem to be a characteristic of human civilisation through the centuries. The various designers who have contributed to the layout of the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew knew a […]
To many people Wandsworth is somewhere they drive through as fast as the traffic lights will allow on the A3 out of London towards Portsmouth, an area of London that lacks identity and a ‘heart’, with the modern, and partly empty shopping centre since Debenham’s left, Southside at its heart. Look hard, scratch below the […]
The 20th century was not particularly kind to Morden in South London, with a sprawl of housing following the opening of the Underground station interspersed with industrial sheds, a town centre that is focused on the roads cutting through its heart – albeit supporting it as a major bus interchange – and the electrical pylons […]
The beautiful 17th century mansion of Ham House situated next to the River Thames near Richmond is a house with Scottish connections. Closed due to the restrictions for the current health situation, it is slowly and carefully re-awakening into the new ‘normal’. The bringing together of the house and the adjacent manors is a PhD […]
It is many years since I visited Cannizaro Park – and that was for an open-air summer concert, so I didn’t really explore the park which probably is at its best in the spring when the magnificent collection of azaleas and rhododendrons is in full bloom. On arriving at the house you discover the Millennium […]
At one time threatened with development for housing, Morden Park is one of London’s hidden gems, an area of natural woodland and parkland hidden behind housing from the 1930′s which followed the opening of Morden Underground Station at the end of the Northern Line in 1926. At the centre of the park is a large […]
Today’s exercise in this current pandemic was in Morden Hall Park, which has the River Wandle wandering through it, on its way to Wandsworth, the river being enjoyed today by children, splashing dogs, and the occasional father having a paddle. The estate was owned by Westminster Abbey until the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry […]
Todays walk for exercise during the pandemic was through the first phase of the Ram Quarter development on the site of the old Young’s Brewery where beer has been brewed since at least 1533, continuing after the closure of the brewery in 2006 with a micro-brewery on site. The brewery and pub was located on […]
When you read or watch the news can you tell what is real and what might be staged? President Donald Trump is fond of using the phrase ‘fake news’, but if you are in the USA and watch Fox News and CNN, you will find two entirely different views of the world, confusing to the […]
"The many great gardens of the world, of literature and poetry, of painting and music, of religion and architecture, all make the point as clear as possible: The soul cannot thrive in the absence of a garden. If you don't want paradise, you are not human; and if you are not human, you don't have a soul."
(Thomas Moore)
To be an architect means having a wide range of interests - architecture, art and creativity in all its variety of forms, sustainability, science and innovation. The greatest interest is often where these different worlds overlap and collide - that is when something imaginative often occurs that pushes us all forward to another place
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