Let’s move to St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex: the yin to Hastings’ yang

This seaside town has stepped out of the shadow of its twin. One could say it was gentrifying, were it not built for the gentry

What’s going for it? St Leonards has come of age. For years, all talk has been of its elderly twin, Hastings, newly colonised by rat-race escapees, with their boutiques selling linocut prints or vintage eccles cakes. But slowly, to the west, its neighbour has been undergoing its own metamorphosis. It is very much yin to Hastings’ yang. Whereas Hastings’ Old Town is all higgledy half-timber and tattooed sea dogs, hipster or otherwise, St Leonards has from its birth been a refined, Regency place. Work began on the town in 1826, by a prescient down-from-London-er, James Burton, a property developer who built much of Bloomsbury, and his son, Decimus, an architect. Their work survives, its stucco now largely freshly painted and reappreciated after the doldrum decades. Shab remains, but also the flipside, a slightly anarchic freedom and odd shops that come from low (although risen) property prices. One could say St Leonards was gentrifying, were it not in fact built for the gentry.

The case against Don’t mention the G-word, or call it, as some property column or other (was it me?) did a decade ago, “Portobello-on-Sea”. It is not, although the interiors bloggers are coming. Still host to the usual ingrained seaside town problems. Traffic.

Continue reading...

from Property | The Guardian https://ift.tt/35mViDz
via IFTTT

Let’s move to St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex: the yin to Hastings’ yang

This seaside town has stepped out of the shadow of its twin. One could say it was gentrifying, were it not built for the gentry

What’s going for it? St Leonards has come of age. For years, all talk has been of its elderly twin, Hastings, newly colonised by rat-race escapees, with their boutiques selling linocut prints or vintage eccles cakes. But slowly, to the west, its neighbour has been undergoing its own metamorphosis. It is very much yin to Hastings’ yang. Whereas Hastings’ Old Town is all higgledy half-timber and tattooed sea dogs, hipster or otherwise, St Leonards has from its birth been a refined, Regency place. Work began on the town in 1826, by a prescient down-from-London-er, James Burton, a property developer who built much of Bloomsbury, and his son, Decimus, an architect. Their work survives, its stucco now largely freshly painted and reappreciated after the doldrum decades. Shab remains, but also the flipside, a slightly anarchic freedom and odd shops that come from low (although risen) property prices. One could say St Leonards was gentrifying, were it not in fact built for the gentry.

The case against Don’t mention the G-word, or call it, as some property column or other (was it me?) did a decade ago, “Portobello-on-Sea”. It is not, although the interiors bloggers are coming. Still host to the usual ingrained seaside town problems. Traffic.

Continue reading...

from Home And Garden | The Guardian https://ift.tt/35mViDz
via IFTTT

Most-viewed homes on Rightmove – in pictures

The website has revealed the properties that received the most clicks in September

Continue reading...

from Property | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2MCFp3k
via IFTTT

From Renaissancecore to the pillow bra: this week’s fashion trends

What’s hot and what’s not in fashion this week

Pets on planes On a flight to Milan, Kendall Jenner wore a top paying homage to her dog – the fashion equivalent of an emotional support animal.

Continue reading...

from Property | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2BdTeQt
via IFTTT

A guide to buying a property Nottingham Estate Agents

Buying a new home can be an exciting, but nail-biting experience. “The house buying process in this country is fraught with bumps on the road, unexpected events and start-stop moments,” says Philip Norgan, Sales and Lettings Manager at Martin Kemps estate agents. “With the best will in the world, there will be hiccups along the way. Be prepared for […]

The post A guide to buying a property appeared first on OnTheMarket.com blog.

from OnTheMarket.com blog https://ift.tt/314qXGp
via IFTTT

Country diary: richness can be found among the rot

Allendale, Northumberland: Fungi and leaf mould are all part of the recycling that makes my garden thrive

Autumn is a rich, woodsy potpourri of scents as I rake leaves from the garden paths. Seeing them as a harvest rather than a nuisance, I lay the leaves over the shady border to rot down and improve the soil. Bulbs will push up through the leaf mould in spring. One path that I clear by hand has an eruption of hundreds of plump wood puffballs. There’s a strong fungal smell as I pull them up so their fruiting bodies can’t mature. It’s best to avoid breathing in the millions of dust-like spores that they produce, something that could be easily triggered from their ripe globes when trodden on.

In the flower border, clusters of shaggy ink-caps burgeon up through the soil, forcing aside clods of mud. Their caps are smooth and creamy, supported by chunky stems, their sides flaking with curled overlapping layers, inspiring the alternative name of lawyer’s wig. Some have turned rusty orange on top and black and slimy underneath as they collapse back into the earth. The fungi and the leaf mould are all part of the recycling that makes my garden thrive.

Continue reading...

from Home And Garden | The Guardian https://ift.tt/33iwkmT
via IFTTT

Country diary: richness can be found among the rot

Allendale, Northumberland: Fungi and leaf mould are all part of the recycling that makes my garden thrive

Autumn is a rich, woodsy potpourri of scents as I rake leaves from the garden paths. Seeing them as a harvest rather than a nuisance, I lay the leaves over the shady border to rot down and improve the soil. Bulbs will push up through the leaf mould in spring. One path that I clear by hand has an eruption of hundreds of plump wood puffballs. There’s a strong fungal smell as I pull them up so their fruiting bodies can’t mature. It’s best to avoid breathing in the millions of dust-like spores that they produce, something that could be easily triggered from their ripe globes when trodden on.

In the flower border, clusters of shaggy ink-caps burgeon up through the soil, forcing aside clods of mud. Their caps are smooth and creamy, supported by chunky stems, their sides flaking with curled overlapping layers, inspiring the alternative name of lawyer’s wig. Some have turned rusty orange on top and black and slimy underneath as they collapse back into the earth. The fungi and the leaf mould are all part of the recycling that makes my garden thrive.

Continue reading...

from Property | The Guardian https://ift.tt/33iwkmT
via IFTTT