In 1999 when Rosie Taylor bravely bought the run-down Asthall Manor, true source of Nancy Mitford’s ‘Hons’ cupboard, she wanted, with her two young daughters, to bring it into the new century in a fresh way, but without losing any of the old Cotswold charm which had first drawn her to the valley of the River Windrush. Together with Rosie we took an unbelievably beautiful place and turned up the volume on wild flowers and water meadows; made sense of a steeply banked hill directly behind the house with terraces and block planting of clipped yew; nestled in a tennis court and swimming pool with timber clad changing room; made a rustic thatched boating gazebo by the leet and, most important of all, provided a sun baked outside room in the kitchen courtyard where the family could eat, drink, play ping-pong and loud music amidst a billow of herbs and roses. Now the home of the hugely successful biennial (biannual ?) ‘On Form’ outdoor sculpture exhibition the garden has been enjoyed and admired by visitors and artists alike.