Coombe Beauchamp Apples

The other weekend we had tea in the orchard of our friends the Macdonalds. It is a magical corner of Herefordshire where Angus grows old varieties of local apples which are pressed into apple juice each autumn. 

His enthusiasm and attention to detail carries through from the choice and care of the apple trees, and the surrounding wild flower hay meadow; to the labels on the green glass bottles.

The Coombe Beauchamp labels are printed by Tilley's - a traditional letterpress printers based in nearby Ledbury since 1875. The large golden letters spelling out Apple are printed with wooden type and the rest of the text is over-printed with old metal type. All the labels are glued by hand onto the bottles and boxes - no self adhesive short-cuts here.

The new season's fruit were just ripening when we visited, and underneath and around the trees is a wonderful wild flower hay meadow full of yellow rattle and vetches. 

For more details on the juice please contact Angus Macdonald - angusmacdonald@talktalk.net

You can see more about Tilley's on their website here

Neri & Hu for De La Espada

We were delighted to have our Sourdough blanket used in this shoot by De La Espada. The furniture is by Neri & Hu for De La Espada. It was shot in Portugal with styling by Simon Kampfer and photography by Yuki Sugiura. 

Isokon Plus

I had a wonderful morning this week at the Isokon Plus workshop.

I really love working spaces - with all their particular sounds and smells.

These above are the Bodleian library chairs in the making. They were commissioned for the famous library in Oxford with the design by Barber Osgerby and the production by Isokon Plus. The chair is beautiful and distinctive - perfect for the Bodleian.

I find myself very drawn to the aesthetic of industrial machinery - the particular hammerite green above feels very familiar and I love it against the bright yellow and red.

These below are sanding belts hanging up on long wall pegs.

You can see here the iconic Isokon plus Penguin donkey. I think these must be the original birch ply ones designed by Egon Riss in 1939. 

I love the sinuous feel of the Bodleian chairs all stacked up - they feel like the spine and rib cage of a whale.

Isokon Plus are a wonderful company with a fascinating history and we are really looking forward to working with them. You can see more about Isokon Plus on their website here.