My room at The Pig on the Beach had everything a hotel guest could wish for. Stunning décor, a view across the sea towards Old Harry Rocks and a rolltop bath strategically placed by the window to enjoy the amazing vista. I was so determined to make the most of my one-night stay that I even set my alarm for an hour earlier than usual. When it went off at 6 am ...keep reading
After the excitement of December 25 – parties, presents, carols, turkey, twinkling lights and all – the days between Christmas and New Year can be a bit of an anti-climax. That’s why my mum came up with the tradition of treating us all to a family lunch at a favourite restaurant on Boxing Day or the day after. We went to Summer Lodge in the pretty Dorset village of Evershot for ...keep reading
There’s nothing I like better than discovering a new Dorset café. So en route to the garage – my car had broken down again – I was delighted to find The Bakery at Poundbury, the posh-looking village designed by Prince Charles on the outskirts of Dorchester. The Bakery has been open for three years and is part of a chain of six (the other cafés are in Lyme Regis, Exeter and Plymouth). ...keep reading
Like loads of other parents I’ve got an empty nest again. My son has been home from university all summer, give or take the odd trip to a festival, a Deliveroo job (none of us ever realised how hilly Bournemouth was before) and some eye-wateringly intense bike training. But now he’s back at university and the house feels very quiet. The bikes have gone, the slack line has been dismantled ...keep reading
There are times in life when only chocolate will do. Last week’s stresses included a son training for a scary bike event, a book to finish and a bill for a car exhaust – so I definitely needed a slab of Dorset’s best chocolate. I hotfooted it along to Chococo’s Swanage emporium and snapped up a selection of their gorgeous handmade chocs, which were devoured (by three of us, I ...keep reading
What a horrible few days. I still can’t quite believe that the UK has done something so crazy. I’m shocked and devastated at the catastrophic decision made by the British electorate on Thursday. I keep hoping that the whole thing will turn out to be like Bobby Ewing’s “death” on Dallas – that we’ll wake up in a few days time and find that the whole sorry mess is a ...keep reading
When I was a teenager all the cool girls at my school lived in Wimborne. They wore the chicest clothes, shopped at Chelsea Girl in Bournemouth on Saturdays (the height of sophistication) and unlike the rest of us knew enough boys to invite a whole load of them to parties. So it was a bit of a surprise when I moved back to Dorset to find that Wimborne is actually ...keep reading
Saturday breakfast is my favourite time of the week. The stresses and strains of the previous week recede into the distance and two days of blustery walks, log fires and reading books stretch blissfully ahead. Years ago, when I was on the Sunday Express, I always worked on Saturdays and even though I got Mondays off in lieu it was never quite the same. Worse still, I missed two years ...keep reading
I can’t think of a better way to spend a wintery Saturday afternoon than lunch at The Pig on the Beach at Studland, followed by a bracing walk to Old Harry Rocks. The Pig on the Beach opened its doors in June last year and has been garlanded with praise ever since. A gorgeous 23-bedroom country house, with stunning views across the Dorset coastline, it received 1,100 room bookings within ...keep reading
Blue skies, a blissful country house setting and a virtuoso performance by a world renowned cellist. You can’t get much better than that. And luckily for an audience of around 100 people, that was the treat in store at Encombe House in Dorset on a sunny June morning. The walk from Kingston to Swyre Head, past Encombe, is one of my all-time favourite walks. My family did it every Boxing ...keep reading