Thenford: The Creation of an English Garden

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Thenford House is an Italianate mansion, but it’s the grounds that have been the main focus of Michael’s energy away from politics over the last four decades. Michael Ray Dibdin Heseltine, Baron Heseltine, CH, PC is a British Conservative politician and businessman. Thenford is an account of a horticultural transformation from a neglected wilderness, where “old trees remained where they had fallen, like sticks in a giant’s game of spillikins”, to great English gardens.

At that moment, in the driveway visible through the window behind her, I see a rangy 83-year-old in corduroy trousers and purple socks, his luxuriant hair buffeted by the wind, whistling past in a golf buggy. Please remember it can take some time for your bank or credit card company to process and post the refund too.

She means Alan Yentob and his wife Philippa Walker, who, it should be said, has a long and serious list of documentary credits to her name.

Now the Heseltines want more people to enjoy the peace, tranquillity and beauty of Thenford so they’ve extended the number of opening days this year. So there's that wonderful moment when there are primroses, snowdrops and forgetmenots altogether in the spring garden, and it’s suddenly a sea of bloom. One of the gardens he’s proudest of is the Trough Garden, created out of a series of sheep and cattle drinking vessels, with its wisteria, rhododendrons and rare species including Aesculus hippocastanum ‘Monstrosa’, a dwarf horse chestnut, Quercus durata (leather oak) and Cypripedium reginae (showy lady’s slipper orchid). They did what they believed in, and the consequences will one day be evident,” Michael says, and falls silent again. For now, they’re describing the consequences of their great project’s exposure to the world with some of the same reluctance.Love Island All Stars viewers praise Sophie Piper for 'snitching' on scheming Georgia Steel during secret flirty chat with Tom Clare: 'He's gonna tell the villa! It is also well-known for its sculpture garden, which has an eclectic collection of work ranging from a white marble Tazza fountain to an enormous statue of Lenin. The value of original Press Photos prints has been steadily increasing in value and is expected to to continue doing so. Who knows how long he’ll be: being out in the garden at Thenford is not like being out in most gardens.

Do you remember, when we lived at Wilton Crescent, we used to walk back from the House of Commons with your heavies, and presumably they weren’t doing their stuff this time.When he is asked about his greatest political legacy, Michael is fond of answering that his garden will outlast all of it. This print is more than just visual art; it encapsulates historical intrigue and invites viewers to ponder on what could have been while appreciating the timeless elegance displayed by Anne Heseltine herself. The ultimate Valentine's Day countdown - here are 10 romantic gestures to help sweep your partner off their feet! Anne Heseltine wife of Michael Heseltine MP pictured in November 1990 when it was thought her husband might take over from Mrs Thatcher resulting in a mirror image of her being installed at No.

We assist them in setting their prints free for future generations to access and appreciate them and their historical value. Photograph: Tom Pilston for the Guardian View image in fullscreen Lord Michael and Lady Ann Heseltine in their garden at Thenford, near Banbury. As Michael drives me to Banbury train station in his Jaguar, I ask him if he thinks he’s more likely to be remembered for his achievements in politics or his arboretum and garden. As we delve into the political landscape of the 1990s, this snapshot offers us a unique insight into the dynamics within influential households during times of transition. Active though they still are, their richest life now is in the confines of Thenford, basking in the splendour of the blooming world they have made for themselves (and, just occasionally, for others).

Full of rich photography, it is a celebration of four decades of horticultural triumphs and disasters . EXCLUSIVEKate is reunited with her three children for the first time in two weeks after leaving hospital. Gayle King shares video of Oprah Winfrey reading to her grandson Luca in a sweet 70th birthday tribute.