Thenford: The Creation of an English Garden

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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. 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! Today, the garden at Thenford has an arboretum which contains more than 3,500 different species of trees and shrubs, including rare plants which were wild-collected by well known plantsmen including Roy Lancaster OBE, Allen Coombes, Keith Rushforth and Chris Chadwell.

But Michael is king in the garden because his knowledge of plants has always been so much better than mine. Beautifully illustrated with both professional photographs and private family images, this personal story of the creation of an extraordinary garden will delight horticultural experts and novices alike. The garden at Thenford has an arboretum which contains more than 3,500 different species of trees and shrubs, including rare plants which were wild-collected by well known plantsmen including Roy Lancaster OBE, Allen Coombes, Keith Rushforth and Chris Chadwell.In this print from November 1990, we catch a glimpse of Anne Heseltine, the wife of Michael Heseltine MP. Anne and Michael take me on a tour in one of their ‘his and hers’ golf buggies, which they use to visit the four corners of the gardens most evenings. Some years ago, a journalist went to interview Lord Michael and Lady Anne Heseltine about their garden. With the Tarzan-and-Jane era more or less behind them – while he was swinging that mace in the cabinet and carving out a niche as the best Conservative prime minister that never was, she was on the boards of four major museums – the Heseltines have finally written the book that they have talked about for years. 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.

In their own words, Michael and Anne Heseltine describe the ups and downs of how they set about transforming and expanding a wild, overgrown and often dilapidated woodland into the magnificent garden they have today. I very much hope that one of the lessons we as a nation will learn from the last couple of years is the therapeutic effects of gardens and greenery. One of the statistics that stuck with me from the book, I say, was that the Heseltines have shot a genocidal 300 grey squirrels for the protection of small birds and trees in just six months. This captivating image, taken in November 1990 by Arnold Slater from Memory Lane Prints, depicts Anne Heseltine, wife of Michael Heseltine MP, as speculation swirled about her potential role as Prime Minister, should her husband succeed Margaret Thatcher.Our first stop is the Sculpture Garden with its interconnected series of ‘rooms’ enclosed by yew and beech hedges. Written in both their voices, each taking different chapters, with warmth, amusing anecdotes and respect for the people who have helped advise and craft it' Garden Design Journal. Feeling embarrassed about my firm position in the latter camp, I talk ruefully about my own back garden, whose state of disrepair can be summarised by the ominous weed that keeps sliding in under the back door. 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. We’re meeting the day after David Cameron’s former spin doctor Craig Oliver’s incendiary diaries were splashed across the Mail on Sunday, revealing the bitter divides that the referendum created in the government, and putting the boot into Brexiteers such as Boris Johnson.