MY FAVOURITE VIEW
For jet-setter Laura Hamilton, there really isn’t anywhere quite like home
On a crisp and cold day, there’s nowhere more amazing to be than up on Box Hill in Surrey. When the sky’s clear you can see for miles, over beautiful hills and dales – it’s a lovely place to spend time with family or go for a romantic walk. It’s fantastic at any time of the year, but particularly so during snowy Februaries when there’s a wonderful atmosphere with lots of families running about and playing on sleds and toboggans.
The first time I visited Box Hill was with an old motorcycle-riding boyfriend. I was sitting on the back of his bike as he rode up the hill and he took me to this motorbike café on the way back down, which just seemed so unexpected for this otherwise totally peaceful area. It was such a different experience! In a total contrast, in April last year my husband and three kids organised a surprise champagne picnic for me up there, which was the perfect way to spend my birthday.
My children adore running around and exploring the woods. They love the outdoors in general, and discovering new places, which is great because they’ve been travelling with me since they were about three weeks old! But as much as they do enjoy that, they love being somewhere that they’re familiar with, too, and so Box Hill has become the perfect place to take them to spend an afternoon closer to home. I think they take after me in that respect, because to me England is such a beautiful, special place. Our small island offers so much, and even though I’m on a beach pretty much every other weekend, whenever I land back in the UK and see all the greenery, I know I’m home.
Nearly two years ago we took over a closing Post Office in nearby Purley, and we’ve developed a coffee shop and deli there to provide a new space for the community. We’ve integrated it into our visits up Box Hill, too. The family might pop in and have brunch there on a Sunday before heading up the hill for the afternoon, or on warmer days, we’ll collect a picnic from the shop to enjoy after the walk. It’s been a huge achievement for us to get something like this off the ground, and really rewarding, too. It was wonderful to have Box Hill so close by during all the renovations – it’s a place of pure escapism, where you can switch off, have a breather and feel like you’re a world away from everywhere else, even though you’re so close to the city. I’m not somebody that relaxes very easily, but when I’m on Box Hill, surrounded by open space and fresh air, I nd myself appreciating things and breathing more deeply, worlds away from the stresses of daily life. LAURA HAMILTON PRESENTS A PLACE IN THE SUN ON CHANNEL 4. FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT LAURAHAMILTONOFFICIAL.COM.