As the days lengthen and thoughts of slowing down in the summer sun take hold, the desire to seek out water is instinctive.

We came across designer Julian Sainsbury's ceramic workshop when searching for beautiful crockery for Thyme's Ox Barn restaurant.

I recall one fine morning, several years ago, in the South of France, when I woke up with a light fuzziness to find myself on the patio of a charming Chateau.

I have just been to Antarctica.

Since the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1536 (Southrop Manor being one until then), the English population had lived quietly for fifty years.

As the festive season draws near, the floristry at Thyme continues to respond to the seasons, keeping in step with and reflecting the pared-back winter landscape and gardens that surround us.

There is much evidence of medieval farming around Southrop. Farming techniques then involved piling up the soil in long rows known as ‘ridge and furrow’.

At the heart of Thyme sit two beautiful barns. The restoration of the Ox Barn and the opening of its eponymous restaurant mark the final piece in our village-within-a- village restoration.