Falling for Kencot

摘要

Sonia Patrick is a self-effacing gardener She seems almost bemused by my interest in her and her beautiful manor house garden. For her, creating and maintaining such a place seems as natural as breathing. Her story is a quietly unfolding process - notthe excitable gush of words so often heard from the gardening convert. Sonia's parents were mad about gardening; her mother entered sweet peas at the Royal Horticultural Society shows and gained bronze and silver medals, so Sonia's familiarity with horticulture began there Her married life to an army officer was mainly on the move, including postings to Greece, Germany and Cyprus Then finally her husband was given a posting which enabled them to live in Oxfordshire, 'Having moved so much we had no furniture to speak of," she recalls, 'One day we heard of a furniture sale here in Kencot village and so we came.' Sonia and her late husband Tony were attracted to the place and idly asked if there were any houses on the market. The village policeman told them of Kencot House, and that was the beginning of a 34-year residency. Sonia remembers it was a wet, cold November day, the hunt was out and the roads were muddy, but they 'took one look over the gate and fell for the garden'.