A LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

The bond between a grandparent and their grandchild can be a very special and influential one. My grandmother encouraged my passion for reading and passed on her love of Nancy Mitford and milky cups of tea. Luckily,

I have managed to wean myself off the two teaspoons of sugar that used to be stirred briskly into the tea while I sat waiting patiently at the scrubbed pine kitchen table. I spent a lot of time with Nana as I was growing up. As a former English teacher, she was wonderful at helping me with my homework and she also taught me to knit — although that wasn’t very successful, despite her best efforts. I thought of her as I read this month’s ‘A Day in the Country’ column by Eliza Henry-jones. Eliza’s grandma preferred her tea scalding hot and black, accompanied by white toast with homemade marmalade — turn to page 16 for this moving piece about growing up with a grandparent suffering from Alzheimer’s. Nineteen-year-old Harry Coulton from Queensland’s Goondiwindi is someone else with a grandparent who has played a major role in his life. Harry, who went to boarding school in London from the age of 11, would regularly return to visit “Sampa” as he calls his grandfather Sam Coulton. “I talk to Sampa twice a week and even when I was in London, I would speak to him every week. It’s indescribable what he means to me. Sometimes we have our differences, but he has been a massive part of my life in terms of learning and also the friendship we have. It’s quite special,” he explains. Read more about their bond on page 92. This month, we launch our regional shopping guide on page 118 and I would love to hear of any great rural businesses that you would like to see in the magazine. Enjoy the issue,