The hullabaloo about the launch of the Mansion Tax in the Budget on Wednesday threw up some interesting anomalies — mostly to do with the fact that many houses which will incur the new charge are modestly-sized homes in London rather than palatial country seats with acres of space. We picked on the example of … Read more
‘Has nobody in Grand Designs ever watched Grand Designs?’ the actor and writer Robert Webb told The Times a few weeks ago. He wasn’t reviewing the TV show, though, but instead musing on the often seemingly-inevitable catalogue of unexpected hurdles, costs, glitches and mini-disasters that are part and parcel of taking on a major project. … Read more
All good things come to an end, as is the case for the extended Bates family, wool merchants from the West Riding of Yorkshire who became one of Liverpool’s most powerful commercial dynasties in the late 19th and 20th centuries. Their home, historic Grade II-listed Gyrn Castle, set in 67 acres of lakes, woods and … Read more
The River Irfon flows for 28 miles along the upper slopes of Bryn Garw in the Cambrian Mountains, one of the most beautiful parts of Mid-Wales. It powers through the Abergwesyn valley, runs past the Nant Irfon National Nature Reserve in the hills above the village of Abergwesyn, and continues on through Llanwrtyd Wells to … Read more
