Blue car going fast on a road

We drive the ultimate incarnation of Aston Martin’s four wheel drive SUV supercar

A blue SUV car driving on a road in the country side

The Aston Martin DBX707 offers a luxury nexus of dynamics, effortless style and performance © Max Earey

Not many of the glamorous supercars from what some people refer to as the golden age of motoring have remained. You can’t buy a new Jensen, Bizzarrini or De Tomaso now. One brand that somehow managed to overcome many bumps its historical road, and remain proudly independent – rather than simply a brand extension of a large conglomerate – is Aston Martin. After teetering on the brink of extinction in the 1980s and 90s, the company is now going through something of a golden era of its own, with the hyper wealthy fighting to get hold of the astonishing Valkyrie hypercar, and the Vantage and DB12 sports cars now appealing to new generations of young, affluent professionals and enthusiasts.

Times have changed, though, and every car company, however sporting its origins, needs to have in its portfolio a type of car that would make its own historic racing drivers cringe. The SUV, a type of big, high, spacious and powerful vehicle, is, arguably, more relevant than a sports car for a new generation of newly minted in countries which are nearly acquiring wealth themselves. Often for good reason: a place with a challenging road infrastructure, or conversely with newly laid roads in a straight line grid, it’s not a place to enjoy a low-slung, hard, riding, agile, high-performance sports car originally aimed for the track.

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That’s where the versatile SUV comes in, and our example of Aston Martin’s own take on this kind of car is in keeping with its history of making cars that stand out. Ours was in bright orange, with a lavish, black and orange accented cabin. The shape may be very different to a classic sports car, but for the moment anyway, one key element remains: a roaring V8 engine with 707PS under the bonnet. This type of engine, which emanates a compilation of wonderful cacophony, depending on how hard and fast you are driving it, is perfect for a sports car where you want to get to that point on the sweeping road where you can push it between 5000 and 7000 rpm.

For a huge SUV, it certainly has the power and the thunder, although arguably, this kind of engine will be less missed an SUV with everything goes electric, than it will in other cars which positively encourage high performance driving.

black car interior

With 900Nm of torque, this SUV provides a sports car acceleration and high speed

What is a DBX also has his sharpness – in its looks but also in the way it handles, something that is always a challenge for these big cars with high centres of gravity. It is an SUV that actually enjoys being aimed down challenging driving roads. Perhaps not narrow twisting lanes, as it’s quite big and wide, but it would be very much at home on the broad, sweeping curves of Bavaria or southern Tuscany.

There, you can revel as the engine tears through its different tones as it approaches the top of its rev range, rushing you forward ever faster – this is a very speedy car, although all luxury SUVs now are, whether electric or petrol powered. And then, back in the urban environment in which most of these cars spend most of their time, it’s back to being a menacing and rather fun designer tool.

And what about Aston Martin‘s natural home in the stately home-lined lanes of England? We would recommend a different combination if your life is based there: one of Aston Martin’s gorgeous convertible sports cars for high days and holidays, and a 50-year-old rusting Range Rover for the winter months. That way you will stay true to the aristocratic values of this fabled British brand.

 

Read more: Audi TT RS Review

 

Find out more: Aston Martin DBX707

Online Editor: Isabel Phillips

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A white house white house with daffodils around it
A white house white house with daffodils around it

The exterior of Coworth Park, originally built in 1776

The Dorchester Collection’s country hideaway near London combines serenity with spa and some brilliant cuisine

Country factor:
15 minutes from Heathrow Airport, less than an hour from central London, this country house is set in a sprawling estate of parkland, lakes and polo fields. You feel like you are in the deepest rural idyll.

What to do?
A more pertinent question is, what not to do. There is, just across the way from the main house, an extensive spa with a swimming pool and hydrotherapy. There is an equestrian centre linked to the polo fields – come at the right time of year, and you can see the British royals play their favourite sport. Otherwise, you can ride. There is an all-weather tennis court, archery, and extensive grounds to get lost in doing long walks. In short, all the benefits of an English country house hotel without having to take a helicopter or drive several hours to get there from civilisation.

A blue glass building on the grass surrounded by trees and a statue in front of it

The Spa which works in collaboration with Germaine de Capuccini

What to eat?
Not so long ago, the cuisine was the question mark hanging over almost any British hotel outside London. Michelin-starred chef Adam Smith shows at Coworth Park how things have turned full circle.

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Particularly admirable is what we would call his concept and execution platform. Across the menus in the different venues, it seems the dish is conceived, and can then be executed in different ways: traditional, vegetarian, vegan, or gluten-free.

A terrace with green blankets on chairs and outdoor gas heaters

The Drawing Room terrace which overlooks the grounds

There is no primacy of any style. Ingredients are piercing and local. It’s thoughtful and contemporary. Cooking thought leadership at its best. The main restaurant, Woven, has a delightful, classic modern feeling in its decor: no tablecloths, but as formal as you want it to be, with clever and expensive lighting.

Read more: Waldhaus Sils, Switzerland Review

The other restaurant, The Barn, is a more informal, but still highly polished and sophisticated offering. We would go to the former for dinner, and the latter for lunch. Or perhaps the other way round. Who knows.

A bedroom with a cream bed and sofa

Mansion House Junior Suite bedroom

Lying in
The decor in the rooms is perfectly judged, for where we are: not trying to be deepest wooden beam country style, but not city imposed on a rural dwelling either. Bathrooms are huge, beds almost as huge, and there is all the glitz you would expect of a luxury hotel.

Rates: From £570 per night (approx. €654/$700)

Book your stay: dorchestercollection.com/ascot/coworth-park

Darius Sanai

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a stone house with an outdoor patio
a stone house with an outdoor patio

Bittescombe Lodge and Deer Park is situated on the edge of Exmoor National Park, surrounded by nature and tranquility

Hidden in the hills of Somerset lies Bittescombe lodge, now part of Mandarin Oriental’s exclusive homes collection in collaboration with StayOne. Candice Tucker visits the property and reports back

Mention the English countryside and it usually conjures up an image of gently rolling hills with a patchwork of fields separated by hedgerows, rather than the grandeur of the Scottish Highlands.

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Just 1 hour and 39 minutes away from London, by train, I discovered the best of both worlds. Nestling near Taunton, in Somerset, is Bittescombe Lodge and Deer Park. The short drive to the property provides spectaculars view of seemingly never ending hills, covered in a quilt of yellow and green to being surrounded by trees, which transports your imagination to the great Canadian forests.

A fireplace with golden dog sculptures on each side and a pink chair

The home’s interior design and artworks were all curated by the owner

The Lodge is located in a completely secluded part of Somerset, sitting on 400 acres of land. Inside the property is intricately designed to the most exacting detail with silk and wooden walls, eccentric coloured furniture and a variety of artworks, all curated by the owner, yet it still maintains an English countryside charm.

A sitting room with green sofas leading to a terrace

The living space which includes a full size snooker table and cinema screen

The amenities are endless from a cinema, indoor swimming pool and spa (including an in house masseuse) to a gym and paddle court. The owners have ensured that the instructors for all sports including shooting and clay pigeon shooting are of the highest calibre. We enjoyed sniper shooting (a plastic deer!) whilst sipping hot apple cider and bone broth soup prepared by the in-house Michelin Star, Mandarin Oriental approved chef. Alternatively, you might prefer to snuggle up with a good book sitting in the little library looking down at an indoor well that’s 15m deep.

A swimming pool with an orange dog sculpture in the corner of the room

Within the spa are a heated indoor swimming pool, jacuzzi, gym, sauna and massage room

Each bedroom is unique but all are luxurious and cosy. Our bedroom had a plush bright coloured headboard with wooden floors and thick rugs to sink your feet into. On the bed your name is embroidered onto your pillow case and even your hot water bottle! It’s these distinctive features that make the property feel like you are in your own luxurious home rather than simply a 5-star hotel.

With hidden doors in the walls it’s what you imagine your childhood self would dream about playing hide and seek in.

A room with paintings on the walls and green sofas and a gold lamp

The service at the lodge is mirrored to that of Mandarin Oriental’s standards

At dinner we ate locally sourced venison from the deers reared at the estate. The owners explained that sustainability is an essential part of their ethos. At breakfast we could request whatever we desired. The hot danish pastries and soft poached eggs with ripe avocados on toasted sourdough was the ideal breakfast before a day in the outdoors.

A bed with a yellow headboard and green curtains and a brown throw sprawled across the bed

Each bedroom is equipped with a fireplace and beautiful views of the estate

The trails around the estate echo the scenes enjoyed on the way to the Lodge, but then you hit the deer park. With over 150 deer roaming free around the park one becomes enchanted by families of deer gracefully bounding across the land or stopping to drink at a meandering stream.

Read more: Edgewood Resort, Lake Tahoe Review

With up to ten rooms available, we recommend the stay for group trips. If you demand the full grand British countryside experience, Bittescombe Lodge and Deer Park provides it.

Rates: From £20,880/2-nights (approx. €23,500/$25,000)

Book your stay: www.stayone.com/mandarin-oriental-exclusive-homes/bittescombe-lodge

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A dog and picnic hampers and blankets in the boot of a car
An ancient British stone building

Exterior of The Lygon Arms Hotel

The Arrival

Halfway down the high street, no, make that pretty much the only street, in a village on the western edge of England’s Cotswold Hills, the Lygon Arms makes you feel like you have arrived in the 15th century. But in the nicest way. Broadway, the village, is light and open, set on a slope leading up to the highest ridge of this area, beloved by writers, nobles and more recently politicians and celebrities, for centuries. Opposite the Lygon’s little driveway is a village store selling everything from soy cappuccinos to focaccia (it’s not really the 15th century here) and beyond you see the outline of hills and woodland. Beautiful.

A dinner table set by a fire with tartan chairs

Private dining room

Walk inside the arched entrance and you have a coaching inn that has been refreshed by England’s most upmarket country hotel group: low ceilings, worn stone floors and gentle lighting are all there, but so are zippy, eager staff and a bar bristling with very 21st-century cocktails.

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The In-Room Experience

No two rooms are the same in this ancient hostelry, and we are grateful the latest owners didn’t decide to hire some Paris-based super-interior-architect to turn the interior all generic rich person chic. Our room consisted of three separate areas, an entrance lobby, mini-reception area and bedroom, all in a long line, followed by the bathroom.

A room with a white bed and sofa leading to a courtyard

The Courtyard Suite

The windows looked out over the courtyard at the centre of the hotel, which has been converted by the most recent owners from a car park to a garden-cum-terrace. A view of vintage Astons and Bentleys, not without its virtues, has been replaced by people-watching from up high: in the courtyard were a mix of hipster English couples, multicoloured American groups, and Belgian and French families undeterred by Brexit and its resultant border bureaucracy.

red and white wooden bedroom

Master Suite

But just because the Lygon has retained its authenticity and hasn’t had its corridors turned black and uplit (thank goodness), don’t start thinking you’re in for the less good aspects of the traditional British country experience, namely beds you can feel the springs through and bathrooms with a dribble of warm water. The bed was huge and luscious, the bathroom beautifully appointed. A copy of The Mistresses of Cliveden by Natalie Livingstone was on the writing desk, and (full disclosure) LUX is also usually in the rooms alongside their in-house publication.

The Out-of-Room Experience

You walk out of the front door into the middle of possibly the prettiest village in Britain, which probably makes it the prettiest village in the world. Turn left and, beyond a very scenic adventure playground for adults and children, is a good walk up to the Broadway Tower, a 300-year-old folly with a view across to Wales. Castles, Roman ruins, the Cotswolds Way walk, villages, and highly fortified estates owned by oligarchs are within a few minutes’ drive. Isn’t that enough? In case it’s not, the hotel itself has more tricks up its sleeve than you might expect from what seems from the outside like a coaching inn.

A large swimming pool

The indoor swimming pool

The central courtyard restaurant, for starters. This is now a restaurant and we had a fabulous long lunch here. The menu is a California-style, healthy take on country food: poached turbot with salsa verde, charred cauliflower steak with romanesco (fabulous), sort of idea. Margaritas were so punchy that one member of our group had to sober up with some berry cordial, bought from a local store, in the garden after lunch. Behind the hotel is a quite extensive garden, invisible from the hotel itself: croquet and tennis are available, and we hear there will be more activities opening for next summer.

A berry crumble in a pan with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top

Homemade crumble

What we liked the most was the staff. British country hotels seem to think they have a binary choice: formal, removed and (because this is Britain) a bit spluttering and Fawlty Towers; or chummy, inclusive and Soho House-ish, which can get a bit tiring if a) it’s not actually Soho House and b) you don’t want a long chat with your server about the latest music, you just want to be served.

The Lygon Arms seems to have found a happy medium. The staff are there to serve, not to be your friends, but they’re also not glaring at you like hawks. Very nice.

Read more: Chef Rasmus Kofoed: The Vegetable King

Drawbacks

a cosy lounge

The Lygon Lounge

Although it’s in one of the loveliest locations in Britain, if not the world, the Lygon Arms is a village hotel, not a full-on country house in its own grounds. If you have children or animals or indeed humans who need a lot of space to run around and sweeping vistas, you should try somewhere else – including another hotel in the same group, the magnificent Cliveden, across the other side of the Cotswolds towards London. There, you’re also likely to see all the classic cars that can no longer lodge in the courtyard at the Lygon Arms.

Rates: From £230 average per night (approx. €275/$280)

Book your stay: lygonarmshotel.co.uk

Darius Sanai

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white chairs on the grass by a pond
white lounge chairs by a swimming pool under a willow tree

LUX stopped off for an al fresco lunch with Fiona Barratt Campbell, founder of her eponymous interior design studio, FBC London and Sol Campbell, English professional football manager and former player. Sitting in their sequestered country home, in a lee of the Wessex downs the couple’s vision is clearly focused on the restoration of landscape, terraces and gardens, and the repurposing of original outbuildings

We sipped aperitifs amid darting blue dragonflies on the jetty lounge and adjourned poolside for a locally-sourced meal. Conversation ranged widely to include Fiona’s most innovative business development yet. Fiona’s bespoke FBC furniture blends with her personally-discovered antiques. We inspected the couple’s artwork in the pool house, the gardener’s cottage, walled kitchen garden, self-seeding wild flower margins, and listened to plans to re-wild the downland pastures. The second phase of restoration to their home is the refurbishment of the main house, predominantly of Georgian origin. Behind the scenes, effective estate management and skilled groundsmen underpin immaculate presentation, there are no short cuts… if necessary even Sol will get on his tractor!

a deck on a lake with a fire and sofas in a circle at the end
white deckchairs in front of a hut and grass

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white chairs on the grass by a pond
white tables and chairs in front of a swimming pool with a hut in the background
white chairs in front of an olive tree and a hut on the grass
white chairs by a pool with a dining room in the background
white tables and chairs in front of a swimming pool

Find out more: fbc-london.com

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Tree and house
Tree and house

Keythorpe Hall Private House and Walled Garden, Leicestershire, England

Once a Downton Abbey-style aristocratic home, Keythorpe Hall in Central England has reinvented itself as a sustainable private-hire venue for eco-conscious house parties

The experience

Keythorpe Hall sleeps up to 14 people in seven bedrooms in the main house. We took the corner suite with floor-to-ceiling windows looking out onto the hills of Leicestershire, a couple of hours’ drive north of London. The room was like something from a Brontë novel – with blush-coloured soft furnishings, a rattan bedstead, shutters, and folding screen. In the bathroom, there was escapism of a different kind, with a freestanding shower resembling the Great Glass Elevator in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory set beside a hot pink bathtub.

Sustainable thinking provides superior comfort. Bed linen is made from 100% Oeko Tex certified cotton. Bath products, created using botanicals, are sourced from small businesses 15 minutes down the road. The house is heated using a biomass boiler which runs on local woodchip for its energy source, and so is the Japanese hot tub on the terrace, which invites a kind of eco-therapy in the great outdoors.

Bedroom

One of Keythorpe Hall’s seven guest rooms

The food & drink

Chefs Peter Johansen and Bent Varming create bespoke menus for guests based on what’s in season. Fruit and vegetables are grown in Keythorpe’s 1.8 acre walled garden, where a quality not quantity mindset means they grow for flavour rather than yield. When we took a walk around the garden with head gardener and wild food expert Claudio Bincoletto, we spotted rainbow chard, wild rocket, and daikon – all of which reappeared on our plates later that evening.

Of the seven ultra-fresh courses we sampled, our favourites were the brill with beurre blanc, rapini and golden ball turnip, and the sea bass with beetroot and toothache pepper. After mains, the Baron Bigod brie (the only traditional raw milk Brie-de-Meaux style cheese produced in the UK) and apple brioche was particularly well accompanied by a glass of Nyetimber Demi-Sec, a sparkling wine produced just a couple of counties away in Kent.

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Responsible for personalising wine pairings at Keythorpe Hall is Bert Blaize, award-winning sommelier and author of Which Wine When. While the wine cellar is available for formal tastings, we opted for something a little less vinous: a vermouth-making class with Blaize, using botanicals foraged from the grounds. (Just don’t make the same mistake as we did, and sign up for a one-on-one session at 10am on a Saturday morning.)

Dining room

Eco-conscious gastronomy at Keythorpe Hall

The design

Few can say that they have taken a shower in front of a 2.5-metre mural of a Tudor aristocrat. But then again, the owners of Keythorpe Hall aren’t ones to pay homage to its heritage through any conservative means.

Read more: How to create a truly sustainable luxury hotel

Barbara van Teeffelen and husband Giles have spent the past decade at local auctions and Christie’s sales restoring the private collection of the original owning family while beginning a contemporary art collection of their own. Walk into the reception hall and you will be greeted by two austere, seventeenth-century faces framed on opposing walls. Enter the lounge, and you’ll find contemporary works by Polish artist Marcin Dudek and Selma Parlour’s neon, geometric canvases.

Bathroom

One of Keythorpe Hall’s guest bathrooms

Beyond the property

Leicestershire is less famous than the neighbouring Cotswolds, but it is still English countryside at its best. Keythorpe Hall is close to the market towns of Uppingham and Oakham, famed for its antique shops and galleries and shopping respectively. Rutland Water, one of Europe’s biggest man-made lakes, is 10 minutes away.

Sofa

Old art meets new at Keythorpe Hall

Any areas for improvement?

Keythorpe Hall’s owners are candid about its shortcomings. The huge showerheads are not conducive to reduced water consumption. Fish cannot be sourced locally, but must instead be transported from the coast. But the place is proof that sustainability can be synonymous with superior flavours and comfort, and bravo for the effort.

The experience: 8.5/10

Responsible culture rating: 8/10

Rates from £6,000 per night for full use of the house and grounds. Packages can be tailored to include all meals, drinks and service. Book your stay: keythorpehall.co.uk

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white mercedes parked outside a hotel
white mercedes parked outside a hotel

The Mercedes-AMG G 63 is part limousine, part sports car and part SUV, with its lavishly appointed interior, sheer pace and rugged details such as the extended wheel arches

From supercar to supreme cruiser, our reviewers sample some of the latest and greatest from the automotive world, starting with the Mercedes-AMG G 63

Rain; hail; wind; floods. The north European summer offered it all this year. So, we decided to do a country drive with a difference by calling on the AMG G 63. If you have been to a big metropolis recently, you will have seen these, often driven by gentlemen from major oil-producing regions (and we don’t mean Norway). Don’t let that put you off, though, as the G 63, cartoonishly tall and square with rounded-off corners, is a cool-looking bit of design.

The details are even cooler. Doors have been engineered for the opposite of ‘soft-close’: they need to be shut with a slam, and make a satisfying whump on doing so. You have to climb onto a sill to get into the car, and the noise on start-up sounds like a dozen hungry Rottweilers.

But this is not a car only for poseurs. Its passengers agreed it was the most comfortable SUV they had sat in (and these are connoisseurs of the high-end SUV). Smoother than a Lamborghini Urus, less floaty than a Rolls Cullinan, and utterly distinctive and fun.

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The same could be said for the driving: bumbling out of London, it felt like driving a very nicely engineered small house. A fast one, too, as putting your foot down reveals comical acceleration, aided by well controlled suspension that doesn’t lean too much, but also doesn’t bump you around, either. A very hard trick to get right and one which most manufacturers of fast SUVs don’t manage.

Once we were in the countryside, and since this was a road trip in supposedly one of the most adept off-road vehicles in the world, we had to resist the temptation to head off across the fields to test its abilities. We suspect the car would have been fine (it was even wearing Scorpion all-terrain tyres!), the farmers less so.

Fortunately, it rained on our country hotel retreat. Chewton Glen, in Hampshire, is a hotel that has been around long enough, and been reincarnated enough, that it knows what to do in the rain: big indoor pool with picture windows, big hydrotherapy area (indoors and out), and plenty of salons inside in which to chill out.

But, as the rain poured down, sending mini-streams across the windows and the tarmac, there was only one thing to do. Take the G 63 out along country roads.

car interiors

To say it was in its element would be a gross understatement. It seemed the car grew even stronger and more grippy in the driving rain. Several centimetres flowing across one part of one road didn’t phase it, with not even a tricky twitch of the wheel; braking and accelerating was not just managed, but done with aplomb.

For us, the most important observation was not on the night of the heavy rains, but ahead of the journey home the next day. This tall, quirky looking, idiosyncratic machine is not just super-fast and capable. It is exceptionally comfortable to be in over long distances, which is something we didn’t expect, and, most refreshing and unexpected of all, it’s genuinely fun to drive.

We expected it to be a hoot in town, due to its height, its power and the way instant reactions have been programmed into its being. As a city car you may wish to take into account its size, height (for car parks) and the attention it commands, most of it good, some of it less so. But it is also a highly enjoyable companion on a long drive. And it still looks super-cool on a run around town, particularly if you place a two-metre-high, two-metre wide man in stubble, wrap-around shades, and a shiny suit with a bulge in the passenger seat.

Find out more: mercedes-amg.com

This article was originally published in the Autumn 2021 issue.

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Woman walking towards table wearing a smart dress and holding a parasol
Three women posing in a field English countryside

Models (left to right) Agathe Angel Chapman de Lussy, Blaise and Alice Pins wearing designs by Meihui Liu of Victim Fashion Street. Hats by Noel Stewart and Piers Atkinson. Shoes by Natacha Marro. Styled by Ann Shore in Oxfordshire

Photographer and LUX Contributing Editor Maryam Eisler’s latest series reimagines a romantic version of the ‘Sublime Feminine’ set amidst the idyllic Oxfordshire countryside, in collaboration with Meihui Liu, founder of up-cycled, ethical and sustainable design label Victim Fashion Street

Photography and words by Maryam Eisler

‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?’  – Sonnet 18, William Shakespeare

Tell me of one who has visited the countryside on an English summer’s day, and not felt the magic of almost-temporal emotions evoked by the sheer beauty of its nature, reflected by sounds carried upon the wind.

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The sound of cricket bats hitting balls in the distance. Of horses’ hoofs trotting along bridle paths covered by foliage, casting a hundred shadows, dancing to a thousand songs sung by maidens returning from the fields, their good day’s work done. The land tended to, a bottle of warm cider washing down homemade bread and cheese, a pickle to perk-up the repast.

Model poses sitting on a bench in a wide hat and long dress

Hat by Noel Stewart. Shoes by Natacha Marro

Young model poses in high fashion outfit

Hat by Noel Stewart

Three women sitting around a table with pizza

Shoes by Natacha Marro

Afternoon tea, anyone?

Fast forward to the present, planting beauteous maidens anew in those same fields of our imaginations. Seeing young Englishwomen dressed up in their lace and floral finery, languid and remote to match the balmy weather.

Young model poses in elaborate fashion and hat

Hat by Noel Stewart

Model poses wearing a large hat seated in long grass field

Young female model crouched in the long grass wearing a headpiece

Headpiece by Piers Atkinson

Read more: Richard Mille Chantilly Arts & Elegance 2019 in photos

Soon the harvest season cometh, beware the beguiling sunsets, and the warmth breeding a tempestuous sky. Past romance, nostalgia’s return. Stop the clock, time is precious …we never know the value of the moment until it’s reflected in memory. Locked and stored, ready for the flashing stroke of another summer.

Strawberries and cream, anyone?

The shy Jay’s shrill cry when taking flight hidden in the thick foliage of an old English oak. The calming, soothing call of the wood pigeon, its eyes fixed upon intruders into its little paradise. The blackbird that dares not squawk, for ill-temper becomes it well, but not in the face of such maidens’ beauty.

Model wearing a long dress walking through a field

Clothing and accessories by Meihui Liu of Victim Fashion Street

Model half hidden in long grass wearing black clothing

Hat by Noel Stewart

All is quiet, all is calm; ‘tis an English summer’s idyll. Only the click of the camera records the moment, the photographer’s ephemeral moment made for the regard of all. The handmaidens’ tales made as presents to those not favoured by the sight of English summer’s bright. Their summer fare, passed along as wear across subterranean ethernets for all to see, smell and hear. Their pictures are portraits for all times. Serving beauty, serving style, serving innocence, patchwork vintage n’all.

‘But Thy Eternal summer Shall Not Fade’ – Sonnet 18, William Shakespeare

Woman wearing a tiara with flowers

Female model poses draped over a wooden chair in thigh-high boots

Boots by Natacha Marro

Woman walking through field with a parasol and wearing long dress

‘Hand-made in England’ was photographed by Maryam Eisler at Story Deli in Oxfordshire, featuring models Alice Pins, Agathe Angel Chapman de Lussy and Blaise and sustainable, ethical up-cycled fashion and design by Victim Fashion Street and Meihui Liu. Hats by Noel Stewart and Piers Atkinson. Shoes by Natacha Marro. Styling by Ann Shore. Makeup by Melissa Victoria Lee and Keely Mangham

To view Maryam Eisler’s full portfolio visit: maryameisler.com

 

 

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Luxury country hotel Stapleford Park in the county of Leicestershire
Leicestershire hotel, Stapleford Park side view

The historic main house at Stapleford Park

Stapleford Park is a historic manor house hotel set in stunning parkland two hours north of London. But it is much more than that: its clever structure means that it caters to families without being overwhelmed by them, and offers fine dining, indoor swimming, a spa, falconry – and it even has its own crèche and registered babysitters, as Serena Hamilton discovered.
the library bar at Stapleford Park country hotel

The Library Bar

The Leicestershire countryside is beautiful and sometimes overlooked – for Londoners, it’s a county you drive through en route to the more famous sights of Yorkshire or Scotland. And unfairly so, I mused, as our car made our way through the stunning 500 acres of parkland surrounding Stapleford Park. Green, flush with mature trees, rolling, and entirely free of development, it seemed a place you could lose yourself in.

Our particular challenge was the children. We have young children, and as many parents know, they don’t always mix well with luxury hotels. Particularly the kind of place where others might go for romantic breaks; and every parent knows the drawback of checking into a stunning getaway with their children, only to find themselves doing exactly what they would have done back home.

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We needn’t have worried. Of course, we wanted to spend our weekend with the children, primarily, and it was glorious to see their faces as we tried out the falconry (they were particularly taken by the eagles and owls). Stapleford’s grounds seem endless, and we immersed ourselves in them.

luxury country hotel in the English Midlands, Stapleford Park

Many of the state rooms originally belonged to the lords and ladies of the house with high ceilings and regal furnishings

The Midlands of England are privileged with many things, but a Mediterranean climate is not one of them, so it was fabulous to have a big, and uncrowded, indoor pool to swim and play in (and snooze by) on a rainy day. Some of the rooms are created to specific designs, like Osborne & Little or Nina Campbell; our room was relaxing as they come, with views over the trees, and a big marble bathroom.

Read next: Luxury hotel owner and serial entrepreneur, Andrew Brownsword on British innuendo 

Fine dining and fresh ingredients at Stapleford Park hotel

The Old Kitchen restaurant

All of that would have amounted to a fun family weekend, but where Stapleford came into its own was with its Ofsted-registered crèche and in-house, staff babysitters. Many hotels take no responsibility for childcare, handing you the number of a local agency with a disclaimer. On both nights, were able to have an excellent dinner à deux in the two-AA-rosette restaurant – which is big on local sourcing, and tasted like eating the countryside – while the hotel’s own babysitter took care of the kids in the room. Chef Luke Holland told us he prides himself on using only the local producers and foraging for edible ingredients around the estate. The sweetcorn risotto with wild garlic, wood blewits and slow cooked onion was so good that I had it both nights. Another highlight was the duck egg “62oc” with spring peas, broad beans, coppa and pea sorbet.

Indoor swimming pool at Stapleford Park hotel

The indoor swimming pool provides the perfect refuge on rainy days

Next to the pool is the spa, and the next day the children spent a couple of hours in the crèche – a real crèche, not a token kids’ club – while we had extremely invigorating spa treatments.

It is a rare country house hotel that would be just as idyllic for visitors with and without children – and Stapleford Park is just that.

staplefordpark.com

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