Here is a thing I have never told anyone.

For two years, I drove through Avebury Stone Circle every single morning on my way to dance college in Swindon. Past the standing stones. Through the village. Past the sheep. At 8am, in the rain, in a Vauxhall Corsa with a flask of tea propped against the gearstick.

I was eighteen. I thought I was in a hurry.

There's a particular kind of summer afternoon that Somerset does better than anywhere else. It starts in the mid-afternoon — later than you intended, as always — when someone finally says right, let's go, and you pack the blanket and the children and something cold to drink and you leave.

Spring doesn't send a calendar invitation. It just shows up - usually on a Tuesday, while you're doing something entirely unrelated - and suddenly the air smells different, the light is doing something ridiculous through the kitchen window, and you're looking at the children and thinking: we need to go outside. Right now. Before it changes its mind.

When you think of picnics, winter might not be the first season that comes to mind. But there’s something undeniably magical about a cold-weather alfresco gathering. The frosted landscapes, peaceful surroundings, and excuse to wrap up in cosy layers make a winter picnic an adventure like no other.

Few things are more quintessentially British than a picnic, and when paired with a road trip through some of the UK’s most iconic locations, it’s pure magic. Picture yourself nibbling treats on a Hyde Park blanket, exploring the woods of Winnie-the-Pooh, or imagining a Bridgerton scene in the rolling hills of Bath. I’ve put together a list of my own personal dream picnic destinations right here in the UK, each steeped in charm, history, and its own unique inspiration. So grab your hamper, a cosy blanket, and join me in dreaming of these picture-perfect picnic spots.

Something happens in September that I can't entirely explain. The light drops a degree or two and suddenly everything looks like it's been edited — golden, warm, slightly melancholy in the best possible way. The farm shops fill up with cider apples and pumpkins and the kind of root vegetables that make you want to cook something slow.