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.

We are celebrating our hen's eggs this Easter, but to be honest there isn't really a time of year when we don't. We have been keeping happy hens in the Kitchen Garden at Thyme for many years, providing us with one of the most crucial staples in the kitchen.

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’.