Homes & Gardens

Don’t mess with this cactus. He’s named after a member of the Sex Pistols. But he prefers listening to Mozart rather than punk rock JOHNNY Rotten has taken root in a polytunnel in a remote corner of Tynedale – and he has developed a penchant for classical music. Yes, it’s true! Read More

A cottage overlooking the waters of the Derwent Reservoir has proved to be a creative place to live for artist and photographer, Shona Brannigan IT was a cold, dark, November night when Shona Brannigan drove down the narrow, single track lane running along the north shore of Read More

It’s not everybody who can say their drunken grandfather led a horse up the stairs of a respectable hotel, before mounting it bareback and jumping over a large dining table. Colonel Michael Bell can. The story of his grandfather James Allgood – pictured on these pages – is one of Read More

As if by magic, Holly Hill Cottage near Slaley has transformed from a tiny, neglected, tumbledown house to a spacious, airy family home with a garden made for fairies. KAREN Melvin’s first glimpse of Holly Hill Cottage was by torchlight at the dead of night. But it was enough to Read More

Britain’s finest hour is remembered in a house in Stocksfield, where homeowners Carrie and Michael Page have taken a step back in time to the 1940s – right down to the car they drive. IT’S a case of look but don’t touch – and certainly do not eat – in Carrie Page’s kitchen Read More

A couple have converted a former Methodist chapel in the remote village of Slaggyford into their home – made all the more colourful by a series of stunning stained glass windows. SHAFTS of rainbow coloured light dart across the pale, maple floorboards in David and Mary Livesey’s Read More

Bumblebees and other pollinators are crucial to our existence. So why not give them a hand by planting the right types of flowers in your garden? WHERE would we be without bees and other pollinating insects? Well for starters, many of us wouldn’t be here at all. We’d have starved Read More

Many of England’s once prosperous country houses are either no longer with us, or cared for by organisations like the National Trust. When the visitors go home, the doors are locked, the lights go out and these preserved icons of a past age lie silent and empty. But at Hesleyside Read More

The National Gardens Scheme, which encourages people to open their gardens to the public to raise money for charity, celebrates its 85th anniversary this year. SOME gardeners find themselves at cross purposes with Mother Nature – they believe their patch of ground is a flower Read More

The owners of an historic 17th century cottage have embraced a range of eco-friendly measures in their home which have reduced their electricity bills by around 80 per cent. THE North Wind doth blow within the ancient stone walls of Woodside Cottage near Ridley Hall on the edge Read More