Country Homes & Interiors – September 2019

MY FAVOURITE VIEW...

From the top of the

Skirrid, Monmouthshire

TelevisionpresenterandnaturalistKateHumble’sgo-towalk,uptheSkirrid

mountain in Wales, shows off the surrounding landscape at its finest

LivingintheWyeValley,I am

incrediblyspoiltasfarasviewsare

concerned,butthere’ssomething

extraspecialabouttheworldfromthe

summitofa littlemountaincalledthe

Skirrid,orYsgyrydFawrinWelsh.Also

knownastheHolyMountain,there

arelotsoflovelymythsandlegends

aroundit,andOwenSheerswrotethe

mostbeautifulpoemsinspiredbyit.

WhetherI’mwithfriends,my

husbandorjustmydog,I tendto

walkthesamewayup,windingmy

waythroughthewoodsatthebase

ofthemountain,ratherthangoing

themorepopulardirectroute.This

way,I geta backwardshelter-skelter

viewofthelandscapeasI startto

climb,andI gettoseeit changing

asI gethigher.It’sthegatewayto

theBlackMountainsandtheBrecon

Beacons, so I look out over very

greenland,oftendottedwithfluffy

whitesheep.Thenontheskylineas

thelandstartstorise,andtheshades

changefromgreentobrownasthe

treesrunout,there’sthisperfect

trianglerightonthehorizon– the

SugarLoafMountain.It’ssobeautiful

seeingthislittlepeakcomingout

ofnowhere,andinearlysummer

I oftenhearcuckoosinthewoods

• a wonderfulsoundtracktowalkto.
  ThewholeoftheMonmouthshire
  countrysideopensuparoundme
  asI climbhigher,andthere’sthis
  wonderfulsensethatI’malmost
  takingoff,likeoneofthekitesor
  ravensthatsoarintheskyaround
  there.AndwhenI finallygettothe
  top,there’sthewholeworldinfront
  ofme!It’senoughofaneffortthat
  I feelI’veearnedtherewardofthe
  view and the cold cider that awaits

meatthebottom.It’sespecially

impressiveona summerevening

whenI canhavethewholemountain

tomyself.It feelsasthoughtheview

hasbeenputonasa wonderful

privateshow.There’salsosomething

thathappenstothelightattheend

ofthoselongdays– there’sthis

softness,whichmakesthelandscape

feelespeciallyverdantandluxurious.

Icanstandupthereandsometimes

thewindis howling,othertimes

it’sabsolutelystill,butwhateverit’s

like,it makesmefeelsosmalland

insignificantcomparedtothe

majestyofthelandscape.

KateHumblehashelpedlaunch

theDettolTriggerProject,inspiring

peopletomakesmallchangesto

reducehouseholdwasteandtrigger

a cleanerworld.Tofindoutmore,visit

dettol.co.uk/dettol-trigger-project FEATURE

THEA BABINGTON-STITT

MY FAVOURITE VIEW

Kateenjoysviewsoutto

theiconic,volcano-like

SugarLoafMountain

from the top of Skirrid

146 COUNTRY HOMES & INTERIORS