It’s essential to protect your skin and your hair in the the sun. Here’s our guide on how to stay safe. Unfortunately, with vitamin D a complicating factor, the sun-safe advice has become confusing. We need to get enough sunlight without sun cream to replenish our vitamin D resources, but we must always use sunscreen. […]
Yes, we know you like to keep your house clean(ish). But kids with muddy shoes, dogs with muddy paws, and life’s general wear and tear mean that it’s hard to keep on top of it. But even if your loo gleams or your floor looks as though you could eat your dinner off it, is […]
Each year, the National Gardens Scheme sees a host of privately owned gardens open to the public to raise money for charity. And it’s not restricted to large, landscaped affairs – cottage gardens and unpretentious plots participate too. There’s nothing more inspiring, for anyone with an interest in gardening, than taking a walk around other […]
Here’s the first in our new series of dog-friendly local walks With thanks to George Edwards and his dog Meg (pictured). START: Full Moon pub, Cholesbury-Hawridge Common ENDS:Full Moon pub, Cholesbury-Hawridge Common DISTANCE: 3.8 miles (6km) ASCENT: 91m (300 feet) The Walk The walk involves a few stiles, all dog-friendly, and a few fields with livestock. Paths […]
The VisitChilterns website hosts details of where to stay, eat out and things to do. It also features details of the Chilterns Walking Festival. Specialist themed walks, stories and scenic landscapes are a feature of the Festival programme. Some walks will involve local food and drink, practical craft sessions or chances to learn about the […]
Spring planting is one of the most enjoyable jobs of the gardening year. Flowerbeds in particular are tapestries that evolve over the years and many of the changes you’ll make to the pattern will be prepared in spring. There are many obvious places to buy plants in bulk, and we wouldn’t for a moment discourage […]
The second in our editor Clare Swatman’s two-book deal with Macmillan is due out on 22 February 2018. Called The Mother’s Secret, it’s a powerful story about family, secrets and devastating lies. Love keeps us together Kate and Georgie are best friends, different in the way siblings always are, united by the bond of sisterhood. […]
David Guest, production editor of Living magazines, has written his first novel A Pressure of the Hand. You can own your own first edition for £7 from d.guest@btinternet.com, or in e-book form from Amazon or Apple iBooks. Berkhamsted author Sue Hampton gave it four stars on Good Reads and said: ‘I considered five stars. As […]
It is light and frothy and some of the bubbles may get up your nose. Space Captain Smith by Toby Frost, 2008 You’re entitled to expect something special from a £12 paperback. From the seriously awful front cover to the absence of an index at the back, this is not exceptionally good value. A Perspective […]
Local pub chains have scored highly as employers in The Sunday Times 100 Best Companies Awards 2017. Oakman Inns & Restaurants, operator of the King’s Arms in Berkhamsted and the Akeman in Tring, rises to eighth position in the Top 10 Best Companies To Work For in the UK and are the highest ranked in […]
If you’re looking for a good read, get down to Waterstones and buy Before You Go, the fine first novel from Berkhamsted Living editor Clare Swatman. It is a tale of love, loss and redemption. Zoe and Ed are long-time sweethearts who have had their ups and downs. Their marriage is going through a rocky […]
The Learn by Tony Halker Published by Clink Street Publishing, £8.99 Available from Amazon. This may be one of the most ambitious and extraordinary novels you will find this year. Not many debut novelists will devise an original form of language for their story – even fewer will carry it off. Berkhamsted author Tony Halker […]
