OUT & ABOUT Three outdoor hotspots

Travel editor Patrick Hamilton Courtney reveals three outdoor hotspots to have up your sleeve this autumn

EAT: SMOKE AT HAMPTON MANOR

Inspired by the West Midland’s estate’s Victorian walled garden, the cuisine at Hampton Manor’s principal dining room Peel’s has held a Michelin star for several years. The handsome garden has now been lovingly restored and opened to the public, alongside new restaurant Smoke, where all food is prepared in a woodfired oven. The new venture’s need to socially distance has resulted in the estate’s greenhouses being opened up for candlelit dinners with dishes from the Smoke menu. We recommend requesting this for the most enchanting of evenings eating among vines and foliage, hamptonmanor.com.

VISIT: OMVED GARDENS

Tucked away in the leafy surrounds of Highgate is Omved, an ambitious project that sought to turn a forgotten area of tarmacked wasteland behind the high street into a diverse horticultural habitat and creative hub. Primarily a garden of wild-flower meadows, orchards and vegetable patches, Omved also contains an events barn, open kitchen, glasshouses and a space called The Forge to host an in-residence artist. The site aims to be a learning environment, and in this vein hosts frequent exhibitions, dinners, concerts, workshops and discussions spanning food, craft and ecological awareness, omvedgardens.com.

DISCOVER: FOREST OF DEAN SCULPTURE TRAIL

If you’re a regular reader of Out & About, you’ll know we’re partial to a spot of open-air art. This season we’re heading to the sculpture trail in Gloucestershire’s Forest of Dean and Wye Valley. The art here is accessible and family friendly, with sculptures inspired by the woodland. Our favourites include Cathedral by Kevin Atherton, a stained-glass window suspended in the canopy. The trail is open year round, free of charge. Art is placed discreetly in the landscape so you’ll have to sniff it out; maps are available at Beechenhurst Lodge visitor centre for those who fear getting lost, wyedeantourism.co.uk.

DON’T MISS: Tavolino, a smart new Italian restaurant between London and Tower Bridges serving simple but excellent dishes made with produce from Britain and Italy, tavolino.co.uk