Alan Titchmarsh
Gardener, presenter and novelist Alan, 68, is returning to TV with a new series of Secrets Of The National Trust. He lives in Hampshire with wife Alison, and has two grown-up daughters.
Your new show has you exploring National Trust (NT) properties. What makes the NT so important?
If the NT didn’t exist, we’d have lost so much as a nation. Buildings would have fallen apart or been knocked down because local authorities couldn’t afford to preserve them. The great thing about the NT is that we fund it – there are around five million members. What the NT has achieved and sustains is astonishing and it’s unique in the world.
Do you have a favourite property?
For sentimental reasons, probably Hill Top at Sawrey, which is Beatrix Potter’s cottage. It’s not big or grand but she’s there – you get the feeling she’s just popped out for something. I grew up on Beatrix Potter – my first gardening book was The Tale Of Peter Rabbit – so I love going there. In the garden, you can see the gate and rhubarb patch she painted for
The Tale Of Jemima Puddle-duck.
What about a favourite garden?
Everyone wants to say Sissinghurst because it’s so beautiful. A new one to me is Kingston Lacy in Dorset – the house is statuesque with plain lawns out the front and two wellheads. The symmetry is wonderful. It was Debussy who said music is the silence between the notes, and it’s the same in landscapes – it’s the gaps between that matter.
Did any properties surprise you?
Tyntesfield in North Somerset. The owner, William Gibbs, made his fortune digging guano (bird poo!)
in Peru and shipping it to the UK to use as fertiliser. He became the richest commoner in Britain. The property is enormous and Gothic. The ‘gosh’ factor is high!
You’re a great lover of books – what are you currently reading?
Old Men Forget, the memoir of politician Duff Cooper. I’m mad about books. I’ve written more than 70 of my own, including 10 novels. My favourite books are The Wind In
The Willows and Pride And Prejudice.
I’d invite Jane Austen to my fantasy dinner party, along with Alan Bennett, Horatio Nelson and Jilly Cooper.
What would you cook?
Bacon and eggs. I have chickens, and you can’t beat home-grown eggs. I reckon that to do hot coffee, crispy warm toast, bacon, egg, beans, and get it all hot to the table, is impressive – and I can do that!
What’s Christmas like in the Titchmarsh household?
To me, Christmas means home and family. We’ve always been close as a family and I now have four young grandchildren, so Christmas is manic! Just watching their faces is magical. Father Christmas has always left stockings, which is very nice of him. I couldn’t possibly say whether I’ve dressed up as Santa, except to say ‘yes’, absolutely, every year! I cooked Christmas dinner once, just to show I could! But my wife is a truly great cook.
Secrets Of The National Trust With Alan Titchmarsh
is on Channel 5 in the spring; watch the first series at my5.tv