Revision (or the lack of it) has been the main topic of conversation over these Easter holidays, so I’m sure that Harry was thrilled to be back at school to play cricket and fit in the odd GCSE.
These days, the exams finish shortly after half-term, and Harry and his friends are whizzing off surfing in Devon to ‘recover’ immediately afterwards. As parents, it’s a shame that this brief term’s work makes no difference to the school fees, but that won’t irk us if we finally get a warm, dry summer for our teenagers to enjoy.
The past two summers have been shockingly wet, and for a keen cricketer, more or less a washout. Yes, the bluebells will be more beautiful this year than in living memory due to all that moisture fattening their bulbs, but bluebells, however beautiful, don’t compare to a great summer with plenty of cricket.
I know that when Harry reaches my age, it will be the games and the friendships and not the GCSEs that he’ll remember from this summer term. I hope, for everyone who’s just gone back to school, that this summer is unforgettable. Good luck in the exams, too. Some of you will need it.
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21 of the greatest craftspeople working in Britain today, as chosen by the nation's best designers and architectsWe've persuaded some of the most celebrated names from our Country Life Top 100 to name the craftspeople they have in their own personal little black books.
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The garden created by a forgotten genius of the 1920s, rescued from 'a sorry state of neglect to a level of quality it has not known for over 50 years'George Dillistone’s original Arts-and-Crafts design at Knowle House, East Sussex, has been lovingly restored and updated with contemporary planting. George Plumptre tells more; photography by Clive Nichols.
