Catherine Courtenay

1 week ago | greatbritishlife.co.uk | Catherine Courtenay

When I call Frances she’s across the country in the South East, visiting her mum. Regular viewers of Gardeners’ World will remember the episodes filmed a few years ago in Frances’ allotment in Kent. That was before she bought her house in Devon and moved here permanently. People are still surprised to learn that, apart from those couple of years at home, Frances has been living and working in Devon for 13 years, ever since graduating from the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh.

1 month ago | greatbritishlife.co.uk | Catherine Courtenay

MasterChef semi-finalist, hotelier, editor and now crime writer, Orlando Murrin’s first novel, Knife Skills For Beginners, was shortlisted for the Val McDermid Debut Award. His cheffing hero is back this month for a second   Can you tell us about the new book, Murder Below Deck? Like my first, it’s a culinary whodunit, with a humorous twist. Our hapless hero, chef Paul Delamare, is invited to join an old friend, a chic Parisian socialite, for her honeymoon voyage aboard a superyacht.

1 month ago | greatbritishlife.co.uk | Catherine Courtenay

Authors, artists and creators of fantasy worlds, Brian and Wendy Froud arrived in Chagford more than 40 years ago where they became so inspired by what they found, they never left. Catherine Courtenay paid a visit to their enchanted Dartmoor home The road leads on, up, down, around tight bends, sometimes narrowing to hardly a car width, cutting through deep sided hedgebanks, and woodland.

1 month ago | greatbritishlife.co.uk | Catherine Courtenay

When the going gets tough, drop your crabbing line off the quayside at Kingsbridge, sit back and just watch the world go by. This town encourages you to stop and appreciate life’s simple pleasures – crabbing, good coffee, big slices of cake, lovely paintings, nice people. Kingsbridge is the hub of the South Hams area of Devon, a place renowned for its glorious beaches and countryside. The towns and villages around here are all pretty special, but Kingsbridge stands out as being proper ‘ansome.

2 months ago | midweekherald.co.uk | Catherine Courtenay

I’m being watched. The lemur is poised, the long, curling tail erect and a paw in the air; it’s ready to run and its wide-eyed stare is a little unnerving... especially when you’re stood on someone’s doorstep in a quiet street in the middle of Seaton. But I had been forewarned; Hilary Bradt’s directions on finding where she lived were: ‘You can’t miss the house, there’s a tiger in the garden’.