Travel news, heritage holidays around the UK and Ireland, 6 of the best sculpture gardens, plus fairs and auctions

Words: Rhiannon Batten

Don’t miss our round-up of holidays for history lovers, from a Victorian baking workshop in Nottinghamshire to a trip to medieval north Wales, plus garden tours including a visit to picturesque Iford Manor (pictured above)

Couple’s Retreat

A new hideaway for honeymooners and treasure-seekers, The Lund Collection is a one-bedroom holiday cottage in the Cotswolds conceived by interior design studio Bergman Design House. The interior harmoniously blends bespoke, contemporary furniture with 17th-century Chinese ceramics, 18thcentury armoires and a sense of playfulness.

thelundcollection.com

The shipping news

For a taste of Portuguese tradition in the UK, look out for Passeite olive oil. Produced in the historic Coimbra district and sold in refillable ceramic bottles, hand-painted in a style inspired by local 15th-century designs, the oil is shipped to the UK under sail power by the hardworking crew of New Dawn Traders. newdawntraders.com

Full bloom

The hermit’s grotto and bridge over the waterfall – one of 14 paintings of the landscape commissioned by the then-owners, and used to inspire the parkland’s restoration.

The National Botanic Garden of Wales recently completed a five-year project to restore features of a Regency-period landscape in Carmarthenshire, originally created for local businessman and MP William Paxton. The 300-acre wooded parkland has much to explore, from lakes and bridges to pathways and cascades. botanicgarden.wales

Ripe for the Making

At Damson Farm, garden designer Alison Jenkins’ two-acre smallholding on the eastern fringes of Bath, visitors can book a range of workshops based around edible and regenerative gardening. This month, learn how to weave willow into a receptacle for the summer’s bounty, with the berry basket-making course (£90) led by Sarah Loughlin of Hopewood Baskets.

alisonjenkins.co.uk/workshops