Anyone with dicey cooking skills, please apply within May 16, 2010 AM I a desperate housewife? I’d like to think only occasionally (technically I’m no one’s wife although I do have a partner and a child), however when it comes to rustling up something interesting for us to eat this side of midnight after rushing home from work, it’s fair to say that sometimes it can [...]
The stylish way to take a hike May 16, 2010 THE LAKE DISTRICT The Samling Poking out of a secluded forest on the shore of Lake Windermere, The Samling must be one of the most magnificently appointed hotels in the country. It occupies a pretty Victorian mansion, but it’s no chintzy country hotel – the interiors mix heritage classicism with boutique style, the restaurant has [...]
Waterways for a boating break May 16, 2010 1. THE NORFOLK BROADS The spiritual home of messing about on the river, the Norfolk Broads is an area of ethereally beautiful countryside, remote villages and over 200km of navigable waterways, most of it tidal. Consisting principally of seven interlinked rivers, and in fact stretching across both Norfolk and Suffolk, the Broads is the country’s [...]
TRAVEL NOTES May 16, 2010 Destination Tintin tours Billions of blue blistering barnacles! Quality tour operator On the Go Tours has teamed up with Moulinsart, the publisher of the Tintin stories, to put together journeys following in the footsteps of Herge’s globe-trotting reporter. Taking place in India, Egypt, Jordan and Tintin’s home city of Brussels, the tours are led by [...]
Buy into stability with a well-placed Tuscan property May 13, 2010 THERE have been many pretenders to the throne of Italian property gold, but the fact is that Tuscany is still the place everyone wants to be. The downside to any oversubscribed spot is inflated prices, but the upside, in the case of Toscana, is an extremely stable, not to mention lucrative investment – and proximity [...]
FOCUS ON: WIMBLEDON May 13, 2010 DORSET ROAD, SW19 3HA Price: £1.45m Set in the Merton Road Conversation area, this four-bedroom semi-detached house is ideal for a family. All four bedrooms are on the first floor along with a family bathroom. Downstairs, there are two reception rooms both with bay windows, a modern kitchen-breakfast room and a family room with doors [...]
Q&A: INTERIORS May 13, 2010 HEAD DESIGNER, APD INTERIORS Q. Dear Andrew, A couple of my are not very big. How can I make them appear bigger? A. Before doing anything drastic in terms of decoration, ask yourself whether you could reorganise. Nothing makes a space smaller than clutter, so have a clear-out People often blame a messy room on [...]
Model citizens can get the best deals May 13, 2010 THE turmoil of the past two years has been unforgiving for first time buyers. In the boom times they were falling over themselves to snap up properties before prices shot up further, fuelled by a plethora of mortgages that offered 100 per cent borrowing and sometimes even more than that (thank you, Northern Rock). By [...]
HOMES BELOW THE STAMP DUTY THRESHOLD May 13, 2010 OCTAVIA HOUSE, IMPERIAL WHARF From £182,700 Residents of Hammersmith and Fulham can get a 30 per cent discount on studios if they earn under £60,000. Call St George on 020 7610 9693 www.imperialwharf.com EDGEHILL HOUSE, HARROW ON THE HILL £249,99 A bijou two-bedroom flat in a smart mansion block near South Harrow Underground station. Call [...]
The doyenne of British fashion talks Ascot style May 13, 2010 GOD knows how I’ll manage to be in heels for Ascot,” says Amanda Wakeley, OBE for services to British fashion, savvy businesswoman and recent recipient of knee surgery following daredevil skiing. Something tells me that she’ll rock flats just fine. After all, her clothing line – which she learned to design the old fashioned way [...]