Photo: Jonathan Buckley · favourite parts of Perch Hill. It’s an absolute haven for...

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NORMALLY at this time of year, Perch Hill in East Sussex would be teeming with excited visitors eager to see the pretty garden with its 1860 oast house which

has been rebuilt and restored to its former splendour. It is a riot of brilliant colour, filled with carefully mixed crimsons, purples and deep blues. ‘You should never be afraid to mix bold colours,’ says owner Sarah Raven, who is giving a video tour of her two-acre gardens for the RHS Virtual Chelsea Flower Show. ‘The purple alliums and crimson granny’s bonnets work wonderfully with splashes of deep orange and the acid green of the euphorbias. It looks like boiled sweets and is one of my favourite parts of Perch Hill. It’s an absolute haven for pollinators.’

It’s a novelty for plantswoman Sarah, her writer husband Adam Nicolson and their grown-up children to have the gardens to themselves. ‘It’s marvellous to be in such a beautiful place, and nature is breathing a sigh of relief and clearly enjoying lockdown with the lack of planes and traffic right now,’ says Sarah. ‘Of course, it’s troubling when it’s your business and this is supposed to be your busiest time of year. But the garden looks beautiful, so it’s wonderful to be able to open it up virtually for Chelsea.’

The garden is set among the 90-acre organic farm they bought 25 years ago as a dilapidated dairy farm complete with a 1610 farmhouse, which they have also lovingly restored. Now, they breed organic sheep, Sussex cattle and chickens. Sarah specialises

tHe GReAteSt FLOWeR SHOW – RHS CHeLSeA -iS NOW AN ONLiNe extRAvAGANzA. CLAre MOrrISrOe piCkS HeR beSt bitS

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Photo: Jo

nathan

Buckley

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20 | METRO | Tuesday, May 19, 2020

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GETAWAY GETAWAY

House plants are the perfect solution for ‘generation rent’ who are in danger of nature deficit disorder, due to living in accommodation with no outdoor space says Caro Langton, one half of the botanical design duo RoCo. And this year was the first time RHs Chelsea was to feature a physical House Plant Design Zone to appeal to young people until the lockdown turned the show into a virtual one.

‘Plants gives us a deep connection to nature, which is particularly important if you are living in a rented flat with no

garden,’ says Caro. With her business partner Rose Ray, the pair grew their house plant studio from Caro’s grandma’s beautiful, vintage Hampstead conservatory, pictured above, helping city dwellers enhance their interiors with nature.

‘Neither Rose or I have gardens and during lockdown we have all been craving the natural world. Indoor plants can help with that. They are not just a not a fashionable interiors millennial trend, but a gateway to traditional gardening for people who will never have their own outdoor spaces. Young people are adapting – and it’s brilliant that

Chelsea is also moving with the times by introducing its first ever dedicated house plant design zone, and by organising this virtual online show which will make Chelsea accessible and affordable to a whole new generation of gardeners.’

This was to be RoCo’s first time showing at RHs Chelsea. Now they will share their secrets on how to propagate their favourite houseplants at their virtual show. Caro adds: ‘A plant can be a thoughtful gift to leave on the doorstep of a friend or family member you are missing at this difficult time.’

n Caro and Rose at Instagram @studio.roco

in seeds, seedlings, bulbs and produce like salads, herbs and cut flowers. As well as her oast house garden, she has a cuttings garden filled with perennials including lupins, tulips and alliums. There is also a fabulous farmhouse garden with soft mauves and pastel pink blooms of roses, box balls and peonies. ‘It’s such a contrast to the boldness of the oast house garden,’ she adds. ‘It’s very romantic with more than 60 varieties of roses.’

There are also herb and vegetable gardens. ‘of course, it’s a worrying time,’ she says. ‘But it seems people want to be more connected with nature right now. And our customer base has grown since lockdown as first-time gardeners and young people get more engaged in their outdoor spaces and catch the gardening bug, which is wonderful news.’

n To order seedlings, plants, bulbs and to book

socially distanced visits after

lockdown go to sarahraven.com

‘more PeoPle have caught the gardening bug’

‘house Plants are the Perfect solution for generation rent’

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Team work: Rose, left, and caro

A talk on the wild side: Tom Massey says you don’t need much space to create your own wildlife haven

Back to nature: sarah Raven, below, and her

oast house garden

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RHS gold medal-winner Tom Massey was due to design another showstopper this year with a stunning patchwork of texture and colour inspired by ornamental wild flower meadows in the Yeo Valley Organic Garden.

Instead, he is recreating a biodiverse plant tapestry in his own small front garden with plume thistle, sage, tufted hair grass, foxglove, cat mint and valerian, to show nature lovers they don’t need a huge outdoor space to grow a magical wild flower meadow.

Tom’s fun, informative video guide will be interspersed with footage from the contemporary six-and-a-half acre Yeo Valley garden in Somerset which boasts a perennial meadow, a gravel garden and a birch grove teaming with flowers.

And Tom says the timing couldn’t be more perfect. ‘The show gardens take a year to plan, so like everyone I was disappointed that RHS Chelsea was, very understandably, cancelled this year. But I’m delighted to be able to take part

in the virtual show. It gave me an opportunity to use up some of the plants that would have been used in my Chelsea show garden and to demonstrate that you don’t need a huge garden to plant a wild flower meadow. My outdoor space is tiny, just five metres by one metre.

‘Transforming small urban spaces creates biodiverse wildlife corridors and natural habitats for animals and insects living in our cities. You can also adapt them for a patio or balcony using large planters or a collection of small pots to attract pollinators. I’m hoping that the virtual show will offer a mix of take-home ideas, inspiration and sustainability.

‘One of my favourite features of the Yeo Valley Organic Garden is the old Mini, which has been transformed into a giant planter rather than being sent to the car scrap yard. We don’t all have space for an old car in our gardens, but planting up a Wellington boot, a watering can or even a car tyre can look just as effective.’

n For more inspiration, visit tommassey.co.uk

‘You don’t need a huge garden to plant a meadow’

n The RHS Virtual Chelsea Flower Show runs until Saturday. Free content will be uploaded on the show’s website at 9am each day. Visit rhs.org.uk/chelsea and follow #RHSChelsea on social media.

:

Mini eco-system: An old car has become a flower bed in the Yeo Valley Organic Garden, below

Today: PerfecT PlanTsSarah Eberle, the most decorated female designer in Chelsea history will welcome visitors into her naturalistic, woodland garden and share top summer gardening tips. Co-designer of this year’s M&G Garden Charlotte Harris will take viewers on a lockdown tour of some of London’s public parks, highlighting the value of inner city green spaces. ToMorrow: HealTH & wellbeingBBC presenter and multi gold-medal winning designer Adam Frost will explain how he gardens with plant health in mind as he shows visitors around his Lincolnshire garden. Nikki Tibbles, one of the most celebrated British florists and founder of Wild At Heart will show visitors how to create a seasonal bouquet. See her tips on page 24.

THursday: grow your ownPlantswoman and cut flower expert Sarah Raven will take visitors on a tour of her garden at Perch Hill in East Sussex to showcase what’s ready for cutting in the garden now. Chelsea Pensioners will be showing

how they have been busy on their allotment during lockdown. friday: wildlife & environMenTTom Massey, inspired by his design for the Yeo Valley Garden intended for this year’s show, will be talking about the organic, wildlife haven he created in his own front garden. Sienna Hosta will be Friday’s expert grower, giving a tour of the show-stopping plants grown for this year’s show. saTurday:sMall sPace gardeningLast year’s Chelsea Best in Show gold medal-winning designer Andy Sturgeon will be giving a tour of his own courtyard garden, sharing design and growing tips for smaller outside spaces.

Andy’s Air Plants and London-based interior planting duo RoCo will show how to propagate weird and wonderful plants to help transform your indoor space.

THrougHouT THe weekThe School Gardening Club will provide parents and children with fun, hands-on activities from experts, including how to create miniature allotments.

Chelsea dates for Your diarY

GET INVENTIVE We repurposed our wooden clothes horse to become a mini book corner/library, right. We’ve hung a selection of books over it to help the kids feel inspired to choose the book they want to read. We use a photo holder to pin up cut-outs from lessons. The kids respond to things presented in creative ways rather than just looking down at a work sheet on the table.










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LIKE many parents right now, Anna Burles and husband Chris Trotman have been thrust into the chaos of teaching their children at

home while trying to protect their livelihoods. It’s an exhausting task and, with everyone home, simply keeping the house tidy is now a full-time job in itself.

But interior designer Anna, mum to five-year-old Margot and Frank, who is about to turn four, believes this challenge can be as rewarding as it is difficult. She says: ‘Make no doubt about it, like everyone we are really struggling right now. Home schooling is a huge challenge and so hard. But the kids seem really happy, full of life and just love being around us more.

‘And they are both coming on well with our efforts, even if it is a fraction of the time their amazing teachers put in. So while this crazy time can be terrible pressure-wise, it can also be very enriching for families.’

Here Anna shares her secrets for successful home school survival – and sanity!

TIDY TIPSWe’ve added a giant pinboard behind the kitchen table to house all

of the kids’ art, letters from friends and stories written by Granny. This keeps things tidy, and also sets an inspiring backdrop for being creative at the table. We also use little table-top easels to display the storybook of the week, or the fun exercise we’re doing. It creates something for them to focus on in their eyeline. We keep all their pens, markers and glue in a nice metal Garden Trading trundle to keep them contained. And we have lots of wipe clean books for quick hand-writing practice, in an attempt to contain the mountains of paper.

WEEKLY PLANNER We spent an afternoon going through all the suggested resources from the school and friends, then created a weekly planner with website hotlinks to some of the key songs, classic tales and YouTube channels with educational content. This meant when we were feeling stressed, we had

Lesson time: Anna

says having a weekly

planner makes home

schooling easier

InterIor desIgner ANNA BuRLES Is lIke many lockdown parents,jugglIng work wIth home schoolIng. here’s what she’s learnt so far…










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Tuesday, May 19, 2020 |�METRO | 23

something we could turn to without having to plan each day with up-to- date content.

MORNING BLITZWe tend to focus on schooling just in the morning, with circle time [sitting in a circle and talking] in our bedroom for a change of scene, followed by a bit more formal teaching. And then from lunchtime onwards we do some activities but let them run a bit feral as they

my blood pressure going through the roof so Chris and I ‘divide and conquer’ the children and do things in shifts. An hour on, an hour off, or one of us takes a couple of hours if the other is on a call with clients.

OUT OF SIGHTOur storage solutions weren’t built for the chaos of home schooling, so we’ve invested in more boxes and baskets. Some are see-through so we can see the contents and be inspired to use them, especially if they have crafty bits in them like pens, glitter and glue. Others hide at least 50 per cent of the toys, as we’ve realised that when the kids have access to all of them 24-7, they create a crazy mess. I’ve also ordered some big shallow trays to slide under the sofa for all the maddening Lego and little building bits lying around.

n Check out Anna and Chris’s interior design and creative

branding studio Run For The Hills at runforthehills.com and

Instagram @runforthehillslondonANNA BURLES WAS TALKING TO

CLARE MORRISROE

FUN TIMe IN THe GaRdeN We’ve used our oldest pans, oven trays and cutlery to let the kids go crazy in the garden to replicate the kind of mud kitchen they have at school. We were also given a forest den kit by a friend as a present, which is amazing for them as they can mix potions from it. It has turmeric and beetroot powder to dye the water and rosemary, lavender and flower petals to make their potions smell amazing.

‘Home schooling is a huge challenge and so hard, but the

kids love being around us more’

INNOVaTIVe LeSSONSWe’ve been using twinkl – it’s free for this home schooling phase – which has a tonne of creative lessons and things you can print out, cut and make. They are secret maths and English lessons in disguise! Twinkl has done all the hard work, so you don’t have to make up the lessons. We also make our version of Play-doh to recreate things we’re learning about. There’s lots of instructions to show you how to make it online. We also cook together and get the kids to do the measuring and weighing to get some hidden maths in there. A scavenger hunt to find things of a certain size, shape and colour is great for getting them running around. twinkl.co.uk/home-learning-hub

need to play and we need to do some work! We also get the grandparents to Zoom stories to them. We gathered a whole collection of picture book pdfs and sent them to the grandparents so they can share screentime and read the story together.

TaG TeaMINGOn a busy work day with lots of deadlines, I can feel

Magical moment: Margot mixes up a beetroot potion

Are you sitting comfortably? Chris reads to Margot and Frank.

Top right: The children’s noticeboard

Getting stuck in: Hands-on fun

MARK’s sAnity sAveRs

‘I’m carer to mum and her nuclear swearing’











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THE COMEDIAN MIssEs gIggINg buT sAYs NONE OF us WILL EvEr rEgrET THE EXTrA TIME sPENT WITH LOvED ONEs

n Coffeen My phone. It’s an old iPhone my friend gave to me when he got an upgrade.n My ladder that I balance my laptop on for gigs.

n Boggle. I play a game on Zoom with friends. I’moften accused of making up words and then looking them up to see if they exist – which is true.

n Palmer’s Cocoa Butter moisturiser. I’ve never washed my hands so much so I need to use something.

STand-up comedian and political satirist Mark Thomas, 57, may have spent the past two months or so in lockdown with his mum, but he’s still found time to work

on his podcast, The Things about us, and is keeping his legion of fans happy with the occasional online gig. So how is he taking to lockdown life? How do you structure your day?I am in lockdown with my 84-year-old mum. I’m her carer and I’ve been here for two months. My day is structured around her meals, cleaning, and her bouts of nuclear swearing. It’s a mixture of domestic chores, arguments, and structuring work around it. We really like each other, we just row a lot. I love her, or I wouldn’t be here, but she’s very rude. It could be anything – ‘I don’t like the way you’re chopping those vegetables,’ or ‘why can’t you follow the instructions.’ One of the rows was about me offering her too many choices for meals. ‘Why don’t you just tell me what we’re going to have and do it?’ So that’s what I do now. She can’t see her grandchildren or great-grandchildren, so it’s not great for her. What do you watch to cheer yourself up?Violent kung fu movies. netflix has loads. My favourite is Jackie Chan’s police Story. How has your week changed?My week was travelling around the country doing gigs, so it’s changed quite dramatically. I’m interviewing people from the nHS for a new show I’ll be doing. That’s been really interesting.

I occasionally do gigs online. I have to balance the computer on a rig I’ve set up involving a stepladder, cardboard and gaffer tape, so I can do them standing up. You can’t do gigs sitting down. When I do gigs, normally I have a routine of getting to the venue early and ironing my shirt. I’ve found myself putting on aftershave for Zoom gigs, it’s part of the preparation. Do you miss gigging?I really miss doing gigs. I’ve been writing new material for Zoom gigs. I miss mucking about with the audience. One of the last gigs I did before lockdown, I got the audience to sing the Russian national anthem, which I hadn’t prepared for. What does the future look like for stand-up comedians?Tough. We need to help each other and the venues. Regional theatres are already shutting. We need to be together and there’s nothing like laughing together. Did you panic buy anything?Hair clippers. I got them the day before the shops shut. I used them. It looks great from the front but from the back it looks like an aerial photo of the bombing of Cambodia. My mum helped. I told her she was doing it with the wrong number but she said: ‘Shut up, stay still, I’m doing it right.’ It’s like Mrs Steptoe and Son. Has lockdown given you an insight into your personalit y?That I really need to work. and I’m way more tolerant than I ever thought. My mum calls me the ‘jailer’ and ‘prison warder’. It doesn’t help I shout ‘slop out’

into the bedroom. The thing about this is that none of us will regret any extra time we’ve spent with loved ones. Will coronavrius change society for better or worse?It’s very quickly turned into a culture war of left-wing liberals, wanting us to stay indoors, and right-wing libertarians, wanting us all to go out and get haircuts. all of this will change things, but it’s up to us to make sure things change for the better. all the struggles that were happening before this are still going on. Covid might just exacerbate them. perhaps this will finally be the time where we decide we need to reorganise things.

n Mark Thomas’s podcast The Things About Us is available via

podfollow.comINTERVIEW BY ANDREW WILLIAMS

MyMARK tHOMAs

use WHAt yOu HAveYou can use anything you have to hand to style your flowers – from

jam jars and tea cups to buckets and tin cans – get creative and repurpose what you have. Plant herbs in tea cups and display flowers in upcycled olive oil cans. When choosing a container, consider scale.

scent-sAtiOnAlI love bringing scent into my

home with roses, lavender and jasmine. At my flower

company, Wild At Heart, we champion buying British and

work with British suppliers. Lilac, foxgloves and lupins all thrive in the UK.

BRinG tHe OutDOORs inNow we have been spending more time indoors, bringing the outdoors in feels more important than ever. Simply filling vases with greenery and leafy branches from your garden looks fabulous and can give a great sense of scale and drama. If you don’t have a garden, head to your local woodland or nearby green space and forage. Long stems of cow parsley look beautiful.

PlAnt HeRBsIf you have a garden, or the smallest city outdoor space, plant a herb garden with fragrant plants such as rosemary, basil, oregano, chives, coriander, parsley, thyme and lavender which look fabulous in pots.

tHeRe ARe nO Rules! There are actually no rules. Be creative with what you have. Flowers should bring a smile to your face. Receiving and bringing flowers into your home should feel like a fabulous hug, which feels more

important than ever now.

n Nikki will be demonstrating how to make a seasonal bouquet, available from Wed at 9am on the RHS Virtual

Chelsea Flower Show website, rhs.org.uk. Wild

At Heart is shipping contactlessly nationwide

during the pandemic, wildatheart.com and Instagram @wildathearthq

NIKKI TIBBLES WAS TALKING TO CLARE MORRISROE

THIs WEEk, CELEbrITY FLOrIsT niKKi tiBBles sHOWs us HOW TO CrEATE DrAMATIC DIsPLAYs usINg FOrAgED FLOWErs AND FOLIAgE

Gig economy: Mark Thomas

misses live audiences

PHoTo: STeve ULLATHo

RNe

S

Tuesday, May 19, 2018 | METRO | 25










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time to enjoy the great

outdoorscompiled by LARA SARGENT

NATURAL SELECTION Trust us, you don’t need to be poolside or lolling on a beach to love this rattan table (£119.99) and wicker cushion (£79.99). Both from Zara Home, zarahome.com. Buy it with the Ownable app

BEACHY KEENDitch heavy towels for these stripy, pastel, lightweight designs – perfect for kicking back in the garden.Lightweight beach towel, £8.99, H&M, hm.com. Buy it with the Ownable app

TABLE TALKRain or shine, British summer weather is anyone’s guess, so choose flexible furniture like this pretty, ceramic, hand-crafted table. Mabel Indoor/outdoor side table, £128, Anthropologie, anthropologie.com. Buy it with the Ownable app

SERvES YOU wELLServe huge bowls of crisp, crunchy and colour-packed salad using these mango wood servers made from a sustainable wood supply. Sun bleach wooden salad server, £15, French Connection, frenchconnection.com. Buy it with the Ownable app

PLAY OUT This snazzy silicone radio will make chill-out garden time an even brighter affair. Lexon Tykho 3 FM silicon radio and speaker, £60, Selfridges, selfridges.com. Buy it with the Ownable app

COLOUR POTSMix and match these metal,

tealight lanterns in paintbox brights for a burst

of colour in any outdoor space. Delta metal tealight

lanterns, £6 each, Habitat, habitat.co.uk. Buy

it with the Ownable app

BE ILLUmINATEd

Make the most of your outside space, even when the

sun goes down, with this modern, rattan solar lantern. Light fantastic. Rattan solar

lantern, £29, Home Essentials, homeessentials.co.uk.

Buy it with the Ownable app

LIGHT wORK

The real beauty of this rechargeable and dimmable light is that it can illuminate your garden well into the night or create a moody ambience inside. Offers up to 20 hours of light from a single charge.Bud portable light by Innermost, £99, Heal’s, heals.com. Buy it with the Ownable app

IN THE CANAlfresco cocktails don’t come easier than this bundle of ready-to-drink martinis and pina colada. House Party Nitro Pack x 12, £24, Funkin Cocktails, funkincocktails.co.uk. Buy it with the Ownable app

SPICE wORLdSpice up your store cupboard with this hot sauce, a blend of fresh roasted pineapple, scotch bonnet chilli and herbs and spices. Aloha 65 Sun On A Beach Hot Sauce, £4.95, Aloha 65, aloha65.com. Buy it with the Ownable app

BOLdLY GOESMake sure your outdoor

space is comfy with stylish, shower-resistant cushions in bold, geo prints. Garden Itza & Acapulco reversible

cushions, £12 each, John Lewis & Partners,

johnlewis.com. Buy it with the Ownable app

PINK POwERPink is still sizzling this season, so match your outside to your inside with this must-have metal garden bench – the prettiest seat we’ve spied for an enchanting garden space. Pretty pink

metal garden bench, £180, Rockett St George, rockettstgeorge.co.uk. Buy it with the Ownable app

REd ALERTWe’re just potty about these oversized pastel planters in

faux painted terracotta. Home2Garden large planter

with saucer, £39.50, QVC, qvcuk.com. Buy it with the

Ownable app


Some Show homeS are now open for viewing but, SayS AndreA deAn, with virtual tourS like theSe, why not viSit online?

make the first move

AfTer weeks in hibernation, the housing market is coming back to life. estate agencies are reopening, show homes are unlocking their doors and

viewings are being resumed – all subject to strict social distancing rules. An upside of lockdown is that many developers have introduced or stepped up virtual tours, allowing house-hunters to fully explore properties by walking

through every room, from floor to floor and even on to the balcony or into the garden, via a smartphone, tablet or laptop. fresh phases and entire new developments have been launched that offer high-spec virtual tours and appointments with sales teams, so with the government advising that initial viewings should take place online, why not click on the links and be first in the queue to snap up a new-build?

BRISTOL Brandon Yard, BS1, from £825,000The Penthouse Collection completes this waterside scheme which enjoys magnificent views across Bristol Harbour and easy access to the city centre and Clifton. Two three-bed penthouses with massive terraces are on the market now,

with another being released shortly, and the comprehensive virtual walk-through of the dressed show home will give you a feel of its size and spec. Viewings by appointment. galliardhomes.com; acornpropertygroup.org

BEDFORDSHIRE Lavender Grange, Lower Stondon, Bedfordshire, SG5, from £450,000Hitchin town centre is only a ten-minute drive from this development, named after the nearby lavender farm. Set in a village location and surrounded by countryside, it has play areas, green space and electric car charging

points. Sizeable four and five-bed detached

houses are currently for sale, showcased in video tours, and interactive walk-throughs of the four-beds are

also available. barratthomes.co.uk

SOMERSETCubis Bruton, Bruton, BA10, from £315,000Eye-catching, uber-contemporary three and four-bed houses boasting eco features such as green roofs, triple glazing and heat recovery ventilation systems. The layout of each is different but all are designed round a large, open living space with a terraced garden that integrates fully into the landscape, and the impressive 3D virtual walk through makes the four-bed show home hard to resist. You can also view by appointment. acornpropertygroup.org

PHoTo: Gran

T FrazEr


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make the first move

EVEN though they share the same workplace, Hillary Greenhalgh, 24, and Alex Murray, 25, haven’t seen each other

in person for over two months as they’re living separately with their parents and going into the office on alternate weeks. However, thanks to technology, they’ve been able to view and reserve a house together at Countryside’s Abbotsfield development in St Helens, Merseyside, without physically setting foot inside the show home – or even seeing each other in person.

The couple, both project coordinators for an electricity company, have been saving hard for about a year. ‘We’re both very keen to move out of our family homes but haven’t rented as we would be paying someone else’s mortgage and wouldn’t have been able to save as much,’ says Hillary.

‘We were after somewhere with an easy commute and Alex definitely wanted a house, and had visited a number of new-build sites before lockdown but nothing really appealed.

‘Then I saw an ad for a gorgeous home at Abbotsfield – only a 15-minute drive from work – and immediately rang Alex. Having studied the website and read reviews, we began emailing Countryside and our sales consultant Lisa has proved to be absolutely brilliant.

‘We’ve had virtual tours of the development and the show homes on YouTube, conference calls so that we could both speak to her at the same time despite being apart, and

she even set up a WhatsApp group for us so she could answer any queries promptly. As first-time buyers, we had a lot of questions!’

They were blown away by a spacious, three-bed New Stamford house, which they reserved with just a £500 deposit, and hope to move in later in the year.

‘We love the three-floor townhouse style with the bedroom suite at the top with amazing skylights,’ adds Alex. ‘And downstairs, the open-plan kitchen

and dining room with French doors leading outside is really impressive. We’d already ramped up our saving efforts but life in lockdown is helping us to save more, so we will move in with the money to buy furniture and kitchenware.’

Hillary and Alex utilised the Help to Buy scheme, which lends 20 per cent of the cost of a new home (40 per cent in London) to those putting down a five per cent deposit. The loan is

interest-free for five years and repaid when the property is sold.

They had no qualms about buying a home they’d never seen in real life. ‘We read a lot of really positive online reviews that gave us the confidence to go for it,’ explains Hillary. ‘Modern technology has given us all the information we needed for us to feel confident we’ve made the right decision.’

n Three and four-bed houses at Abbotsfield, three miles from St Helens town centre, start from

£181,995. Countryside can be contacted by phone, Skype, Facetime or Microsoft Teams and personalised

virtual tours of show homes are available, abbotsfield.co.uk

‘We bought a home while living apart during lockdown!’andrea dean meets a pair who found their dream home online

do the MaTHS

For a three-bed New Stamford house like

Hillary and Alex’sPurchase price:

£209,9955% deposit: £10,500

20% Help to Buy loan: £42,000

Mortgage: approx. £640 pcm

MontHly sPend: Approx £640

MANCHESTER Piercy street, new Islington, M4, from £479,000

Urban Splash has just released 17 spacious three and four-bed town houses at this groundbreaking regeneration scheme, now nearing completion. Each has high ceilings, oversized windows, a private

terrace, car parking and use of a communal garden overlooking the Ashton Canal. You can book a virtual viewing over Skype or Zoom but it’s not open for show-home viewings as yet. urbansplash.co.uk

LANARKSHIREKersewell Park, lanark, Ml11, from £435,000Family firm RoCo Property Developments Ltd has constructed eight luxury detached houses featuring five double bedrooms, open-plan kitchen/sitting/dining rooms with wide, sliding doors into large gardens and two further reception rooms, in a rural location within commuting distance of Edinburgh and Glasgow. As the scheme isn’t finished, the virtual tour relies on CGIs rather than video footage and its thoroughness compensates for the lack of detail. No viewings as yet, as they’re not currently permitted in Scotland. rettie.co.uk

LONDONPump House, south norwood london se25, from £295,000There are 14 one and two-bed apartments next to Norwood Junction station in the first joint venture from Brick by Brick and Common Ground Architecture, a development company and architectural practice set up by Croydon Council to boost the supply and quality of new and affordable homes in the borough. London Help to Buy is on offer, and all have a balcony or roof terrace. Contact the sales team for a link to a video tour or to book a personalised WhatsApp viewing. Those with a firm interest can also visit now. wearebrickbybrick.com

HERTFORDSHIREsouth oxhey Central, south oxhey Wd19, from £275,000One and two-bed apartments are the latest homes to be released in this large development, part of a £150million regeneration project. Offered with Help to Buy, they feature spacious all-in-one kitchen/living/dining rooms opening on to private balconies. There’s a detailed virtual tour of the two-bed show apartment, and you can book an appointment for a personalised walk-through. southoxheycentral.com

WEST MIDLANDSHedge House, solihull B93, £3.5millionHedge House is a one-off wonder: a vast, light-filled, five-bed house with panoramic rural views and 6.5 acres of grounds. Includes a ten metre high glazed atrium, an internal garden, Control4 and Lutron technology, a gym, sauna and master suite with dressing room, two bathrooms and a balcony. An introductory tour is on the website and a Zoom walk-through can be booked. Viewings in person by appointment. centrick.co.uk

Tuesday, May 19, 2018 |�METRO | 27

done deal: Alex and Hillary hope to move in later this year


‘He looked so at home, that was good enough’the radio presenter’s dog helped choose her flat in fulham

West is best: Pandora bought a flat

close to where she was renting in Fulham

my first home

PANDORA CHRISTIE

MY FIRSTHOME

HEART radio presenter Pandora Christie has DJ’d at sell-out festivals, hosted events at Wembley in front of 80,000 fans and

interviewed everyone from The Rock to Kim Kardashian. Life hasn’t always been easy, though, as Pandora was in foster care from the age of nine and spent time homeless and living on the streets. Now, at 38, she says having a place of her own is the best feeling ever.

When did you buy your first home?I bought in Fulham as I’d been renting there for a few years. Funnily enough,

when I looking for a place to live, I looked everywhere, and finally came back to west London. I ended up moving across the road from where I was living.

How did that happen?I met a couple who were walking their dog in a park. I said I was looking to buy but wasn’t finding anything. They said they were selling. I took my dog, and it was he who chose the flat. He picked up one of their dog toys and sat on the sofa. He looked so at home and that was good enough for me.

Did you decide that day to buy it?I loved it as it had a park for dogs nearby, a

sauna and a gym. I could walk my dog in my pyjamas. I knew inside this was it but the couple wanted to go through estate agents and do it properly. There was someone else interested and I think they were bidding more, but they went with me. They also left me everything in the house. When I went to see it the second time, we had a conversation about the furniture and everything else. They were going to put it in storage. I said: ‘I don’t have anything so if you want me to put in more money I can,’ but they decided to give it all to me. I changed one ceiling light. The look of the house is down to them completely.

What kind of style is it?It’s a one-bed garden flat and the building is early 20th century, but inside it’s quite modern. I’ve got French doors that lead out to my little front garden. There is a grey, white and pink theme throughout. I’d never been into art but I have a big artwork in the living room. They left me the most obscure mirror, too, it’s like a sculpture. The art is by Andrew Martin, I just bought it online.

How old were you when you bought it?I bought it last November when I was 37. I was never really interested in buying my own home. My sister asked me why was I paying rent. I had been saving for nine years for a rainy day but it struck a chord with me. As a freelancer, you don’t have the security, but it didn’t make sense to pay someone else’s mortgage.

Did buying change your life?When I was younger, I thought, ‘when I’m 30 I’ll have kids, dogs and a big house’, but that didn’t really happen. This made me feel like an adult for the first time. It’s like a mini-vacation from the outside world.

Was that relevant because you were once homeless?After spending a lot of my childhood living on the streets, not knowing where my next hot meal or warm bed was, having my own property has given me a new freedom and contentment. I never thought this day would come but I finally have my own forever home. I just wish my mum was here to see all the progress I have made.

Was buying a home as exciting as your glamorous day job?More. It doesn’t even come close. The moment you go into the estate agent and they hand you the keys, nothing gets close. It’s the biggest feeling. Sorry, The Rock.

Advice for first-time buyers?If you think you’ve saved enough, put another £10,000 or £15,000 on top. You can never have too much for your deposit and that will bring your monthly repayments down. If you can hold out a little longer, don’t rush. Also, do not compromise for anything. Wait for a place that is perfect for you.

n Pandora presents Heart’s mid-morning show on weekdays from

10am-1pm, Instagram @pandorapresenter

INTERVIEW BY OLIVER STALLWOOD

Photo: Rachell Sm

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