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Times
34 minutes ago
- Times
Somerset's coolest new farm stay with its own private vineyard
It's hard to pinpoint the exact moment I decided I wouldn't mind staying in this patch of southwest Somerset for the rest of time. I suppose it could have been during my Sunday-morning lakeside massage. Specifically when gazing out through the door of the tumbledown boating shed-turned-treatment room at the reeds swaying in the summer breeze and realising the choral birdsong soundtrack wasn't being piped through the portable speakers but coming live and direct from the trees outside. Or perhaps it was the previous day, on a grassy slope amid apple orchards, surrounded by local families and their dogs, as a dinky Glastonbury-style knees-up unfolded around us featuring acrobats and pints of homebrew. Actually, I think it was back at our farmstay watching our host, Panu Long, point out ancient-looking pagan symbols scratched into the walls of the barn where his hulking 150-year-old cider press and shiny new silver fermentation vats reside. Cider has long been a big deal in these parts, but Panu and his wife, Sophie Brendel, are just as serious about bringing wine here as climate change starts to see southern England give France's Champagne region a run for its money. The couple and their two children moved to this 40-acre farmstead, four miles east of Taunton in the gaze of the Quantock and Blackdown Hills, in 2022 (and have since acquired a labrador, kitten, Legbar chickens and a cote of doves). The following year they began planting vineyards and have since rechristened it Thornfalcon Winery & Press. But while production of their wine range is still a work in progress (it takes three to four years from planting before the grapes can be used), their hospitality is already well underway. We spent two nights in the Coach House, a barn conversion dominated by beautiful timber frames and a vast open-plan living/kitchen area with a creaking dining table at its heart. Flagstone floors lead to the children's twin room, an adorable Enid Blyton-style den decked out in folk wallpaper, stripy blinds, checked bedspreads and patterned quilts. Then we duck into the mezzanine master bedroom for more arts and crafts-inspired interiors. A welcome hamper in the kitchen is loaded with goodies from the farmhouse gardens (eggs, lettuces, carrots, asparagus, broadbeans, rhubarb…), plus local cheeses, jams and bread. The first night we arrive late to find a fish pie in the oven courtesy of Sophie, and Panu knocking on the door with a tray of Thornfalcon house martinis. Before they upped sticks Sophie worked as marketing, digital and commercial director for the Victoria and Albert Museum, where her love of fabrics and interiors was ignited, while Panu was in drinks, overseeing the bars at big-ticket events such as the Baftas and Elton John's White Tie and Tiara Ball. • Discover our full guide to Somerset Outside in the Coach House paddock stands their latest pride and joy: a traditional vardo Gypsy caravan. The plan is for it to be wheeled to any of Thornfalcon's three guest stays as a portable extra children's bedroom. There's also the Vine Hut — a roomy shepherd's hut with an outdoor copper bath and fire pit overlooking the vineyard — and the Lambing Shed, a more isolated retreat hidden away in the orchards with a wood-fire garden bath. Both sleep two, have kitchens, log-burning stoves, (indoor!) showers and look like giant doll's houses, such is the attention to detail across every last inch. • 13 of the best luxury hotels in Somerset The next morning the pair take us on a tour past their handsome 250-year-old thatched farmhouse and up a lush track to the lake. Normally they would be encouraging us to swim in it, but it is out of bounds while the resident nesters, Mr and Mrs Swan, hatch their cygnets. Then it's on to the vineyards, where Panu shows us the fledgling chardonnay, pinot noir and meunier grapes that will be made into their sparkling wine, and his innovative deterrent for hungry deer: a movement-triggered speaker system that blasts Radio 4 across the hillside. A discussion about the UK-EU youth mobility scheme on The Week in Westminster was certainly enough to move me on quickly. Future plans include converting an outbuilding into an events space for supper clubs and corporate getaways, plus Sophie's long-term dream of turning the stables into music studios for more creative escapes (they have already hosted their first writers' retreat). Panu has further drink-related ambitions too; he has already planted more vineyards with hardier, hybrid grape varieties and is busy perfecting his 'keeved' cider — a naturally carbonated delicacy, sold in champagne-like bottles, which should be ready this autumn. That afternoon we're packed off to the nearby Burrow Hill Farm for Cider Bus Saturday, a local tradition that started during the pandemic when groups could only meet outside ( It's hosted by the illustrious cider-making Temperley family, who have owned Burrow Hill since the 1960s, and whose blue double-decker Somerset Cider Bus will be a familiar sight to anyone who has been to Glastonbury Festival. Most other summer weekends it's the centrepiece for this small local shindig that also features a pop-up food stall and some sort of family-friendly music performance or circus act hidden down an orchard track. Today we get pizza and an all-female troupe of tightrope walkers called Daughters of the Dust. A little onsite shop also sells Mary Temperley's homeware and toiletries. It's impossible to visit Burrow Hill without someone mentioning Mary's sister and the most famous family member of all: Alice Temperley, whose eponymous fashion emporium relocated from London to nearby Ilminster a few years ago. Now housed in the Victorian former magistrate's court, it's an Aladdin's cave of bohemian fabulousness and well worth a visit, particularly because of its outlet store prices. I screech in just as it's closing but still manage to walk out with most of a new summer wardrobe. Back at Thornfalcon, the traditional wood-burning hot tub and sauna have been fired up, ready for us to pile in. They're on the banks of the lake, overlooking a beached fishing boat, the nesting swans and setting sun beyond. Sophie arrives carrying a white-label prototype of Thornfalcon fizz and my family wonder why we don't just move to Somerset to start a vineyard too. The next morning the kids help collect eggs from the henhouse, I have my life-affirming massage and we bid Thornfalcon an emotional farewell as Sophie delivers one last delight: she has booked us Sunday lunch at the Lord Poulett Arms in Hinton St George — a film set-ready 17th-century inn with the best roasts in the vicinity (mains from £20, B&B doubles from £120; But crucially, it's also off the A303 on the way back home to London, otherwise I'm not sure she'd have ever convinced us to leave. Krissi Murison was a guest of Thornfalcon, which has B&B doubles from £125 ( By Siobhan Grogan The market town of Ilminster is a 15-minute drive from Thornfalcon and has a 15th-century church, a popular theatre, and plenty of independent cafés and shops for pottering around. Half an hour further from there, higgledy-piggledy Bruton is (famously) well worth the day trip for its terraced streets, acclaimed Godminster cheese shop and art gallery Hauser & Wirth in a former farmstead with a stunning landscaped garden (free; Get another art fix at Close Gallery, which showcases contemporary works, in the grounds of Close House in Hatch Beauchamp (free; The Quantock Hills were England's first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and are the best place for hiking and cycling with their windswept heathland, wildlife sightings and stretches of wilderness. Rocky ridge Haddon Hill is another good option for a countryside ramble, with lunch afterwards at the modern fine-dining restaurant Holm in South Petherton — it's full of clever ideas such as Westcombe cheddar fries with asparagus or chocolate crémeux with Jerusalem artichoke ice cream (mains from £23; Afterwards stroll around the village, which has a church with an octagonal central tower with 12 bells and a performing arts centre, the David Hall ( There's history galore at the 50-acre 16th-century Hestercombe Gardens (£17; the Jacobean almshouses of Taunton and Castle Neroche, an Iron Age hillfort. The National Trust's Tudor mansion Barrington Court also has gardens, a café and independent artisan studios for shopping (£12 or free for National Trust members; The award-winning gastropub the Barrington Boar is nearby and recently opened a new bakery in the converted cider barn next door (mains from £23;
The Sun
39 minutes ago
- The Sun
Inside Casa Amor bombshell Yasmin's X Factor past and successful music career
CASA Amor bombshell Yasmin Broom is a secret celebrity who took part in The X Factor and scored a huge record deal. The 26-year-old stunner from Manchester is one of the ladies hoping to turn the boys heads in the Love Island villa. 4 4 But it won't be her first time in the spotlight. Yasmin first rose to fame as a contestant on ITV talent search The X Factor back in 2016. She was a member of girl group Four of Diamonds who reached the live shows of the contest. The girl group did not stop there and went on to enjoy success following the show. Over a year after leaving the programme and performing a series of local gigs, they scored a major worldwide record deal with EMI - the first girl band to sign with the label since Spice Girls. It saw them release their debut track, Name On It, featuring Afrobeats artist, Burna Boy. They went on to release further tracks including Stupid Things featuring Saweetie and Blind. In 2019, the girls supported Rita Ora on her UK arena tour before making TV appearances on Blue Peter and Britain's Got More Talent. Throughout 2019 and 2020, they continued to release more music before signing a new deal with Fascination, the home of girl groups, Girls Aloud and The Saturdays. However, they split shortly after. Since their break-up in 2020, Yasmin has worked as a DJ and has performed at a slew of festivals across the UK. She recently performed at Parklife in Manchester before packing her bags to head into the villa. Yasmin is expected to arrive in the villa on Sunday night's episode. 4
The Sun
40 minutes ago
- The Sun
Kneecap chants ‘f*** Keir Starmer' in another foul rant just days after sparking police probe at Glastonbury
RAPPERS Kneecap called out Keir Starmer for saying the group should be banned from Glastonbury Festival. The hip-hop group, from Belfast, Northern Ireland, spoke at London's Finsbury Park today - a week after performing at Glastonbury Festival. 6 6 6 6 It came after the PM told The Sun on Sunday last month that the Irish trio should be banned from the music festival after a band member was charged with a terror offence. Rapper Liam Og O hAnnaidh told the crowd yesterday: 'Keir Starmer gave an interview with The Sun saying we shouldn't be playing Glastonbury - so f**k Keir Starmer.' 'F**k Keir Starmer - you're just a s**t Jeremy Corbyn.' Bandmate Naoise O Caireallain added: 'We appreciate all of this f*****g mad energy that we are getting in Finsbury Park. 'Look, they tried to stop us playing Glastonbury, and they f*****g couldn't. 'They tried to stop us playing in Cornwall, and they f*****g couldn't stop that either." Sir Keir Starmer told The Sun last month that it was 'not appropriate' for the Irish group to cash in at the festival. Og O hAnnaidh, 27, who goes by the stage name Mo Chara, appeared in court last month, accused of displaying a flag in support of banned terror group Hezbollah at a gig. He was bailed until later in the summer — leaving him free to play at Glastonbury. Asked by The Sun on Sunday if he thought Kneecap should play at Glastonbury, the PM said: 'No I don't. Prime Minister Keir Starmer calls for Glastonbury to axe Kneecap from the line-up 'I think we need to come down really clearly on this. I won't say too much, because there's a court case on, but I don't think that's appropriate.' During Kneecap's performance at Glastonbury, the group took to the stage and led a "free Palestine" chant before leading five chants against the Prime Minister. Meanwhile, Bobby Vylan - frontman of English punk-rap duo Bob Vylan - chanted "death, death to the IDF" and other alleged anti-Semitic slurs on the West Holts stage last Saturday. The BBC were slammed for broadcasting performance on live TV, including by PM Keir Starmer himself. Avon and Somerset Police confirmed on Monday that cops are investigating Kneecap and Bob Vylan after video and audio footage was examined. Posting on X, the force said: "Video footage and audio from Bob Vylan and Kneecap's performances at Glastonbury Festival has been reviewed. "Following the completion of that assessment process we have decided further enquiries are required and a criminal investigation is now being undertaken. "A senior detective has been appointed to lead this investigation. "This has been recorded as a public order incident at this time while our enquiries are at an early stage." The force confirmed that it had received a "large amount" of contact from across the world about the controversial performances. The Sun has contacted Avon and Somerset Police. 6 6
