THE COUNTRY FILES Luke Edward Hall reveals his favourite spots and shops in Gloucestershire

Designer Luke Edward Hall on hunting for antiques, books and the perfect pyjamas in Gloucestershire

THE artist and interior designer Luke Edward Hall is known for his bold sense of colour and playful, whimsical work. His unique eye for style has led to commissions and collaborations with clients including fashion brands Burberry, Lanvin and Richard Ginori, with whom he has launched a ceramics range, and projects such as designing the new Hotel Les Deux Gares in Paris. In June 2019, he and his partner, fellow designer Duncan Campbell, rented a second home close to the village of Churchill in Gloucestershire, where they live along with Merlin, their silver fawn whippet.

I love it in Gloucestershire. There are wonderful grand houses and hidden gardens to visit, like Sezincote, Chastleton, Upton Wold and Kiftsgate. In normal times, there is a fab dog show at Churchill, the lovely village up the road from us.

I’ve just moved into a new studio space in a local barn. The characters I draw and paint are often inspired by those from the past, from novels and mythology. Or they are completely imagined. I love working across a range of creative fields – perhaps I have a short attention span, but really I think it’s because I like looking at life through a variety of lenses. My second book is out later this year and will be focused on my interiors work and inspirations.

There are lots of creative people nearby. Nicky Haslam is one of our neighbours – every couple of weeks he’ll come over for supper and regale us with a few of his dazzling stories, or we’ll drop in for drinks. Duncan and I adore having people over. We set up the barbecue and a little bar (that’s a table with a tablecloth, a bucket of ice and bowls of lemons). If we can, we’ll cook things that we have grown, such as flowers from our courgette plants stuffed with ricotta and mint.

We’ve loved getting to grips with the garden, because we had hardly any experience before. We’re into flowers we can bring into the house – last year we grew hundreds of tulips and dahlias, towers of sweet peas and nasturtiums, but we’ve enjoyed dabbling with vegetables, too. Family-run Wyatts is best for roses.

Eating out is a joy. My favourite pub is The Woolpack in the Slad Valley, while The Straw Kitchen at Whichford Pottery has a weekly super brunch, which is usually eggs of some sort, lots of pickles and bits from their garden. We’re also close to Daylesford, where we get coffee and groceries, cheese and jars of their excellent kimchi.

A favourite walk takes us from the village of Lower Slaughter to Upper Slaughter, past the impressive manor house, water mills and village greens, across stone footbridges along the River Eye. It’s glorious.

Tetbury is the best for antiques: I love Brownrigg, Lorfords and Twig. I’m also a fan of Station Mill near Chipping Norton, which is full of bargains. You need to rifle through stuff, but there are gems to be discovered.

The last three vintage finds I’ve bought are a colourful plaster crown dating from the 1930s from Tatters Antiques, a red Prince of Wales Investiture chair from 1969 at auction and I had three new tablecloths made at an interiors shop in Chipping Campden using Schumacher and GP & J Baker fabrics I found on ebay.

I’m reading Bloomsbury Stud about the mysterious and beautiful Bloomsbury sculptor Stephen ‘Tommy’ Tomlin. We have excellent bookshops here: I like Kellow Books in Chipping Norton for old books and The Borzoi Bookshop in Stow-on-the-wold for new ones.

Cutter Brooks in Stow-on-the-wold is wonderful and they sometimes stock unisex pyjamas and dressing gowns by P.LE Moult, which I love.

lukeedwardhall.com

“NICKY HASLAM IS ONE OF OUR NEIGHBOURS – EVERY COUPLE OF WEEKS HE’LL COME OVER FOR SUPPER AND REGALE US WITH A FEW OF HIS DAZZLING STORIES”