Wiltshire Life

It is festival season and we feature the exciting and diverse events taking place across the county this summer – from the world renowned Chalke Valley History Festival and If Opera at Belcombe Court to the Taste of Corsham food festival and the Salisbury International Arts Festival. It is a case of spot the giant balloon dogs in Swindon as the town prepares to go walkies on the Swindog Art Trail; we meet Stuart Scott the globally successful furniture maker who is driven to design; we discover why the Salisbury home of former prime minister Edward Heath is still a place for politics; we catch up with Sarah Harris the muralist who takes her work to the streets and beyond; Wiltshire Wildlife Trust reveal how they are securing the future of an ancient woodland; find inspiration from the glorious private gardens opening through the National Gardens Scheme; in our regular features garden designer and beekeeper Sophie Butcher explains how you can give plants the freedom to spread and grow whilst still maintaining order; French or German? Grant Berry deliberates the Alsace territory and its influences on its wine production, and our recommended reads this month features historians and authors appearing at the Chalke Valley History Festival.