My Life In 10 Really Good Objects: Part Two - Late Morning to Early Afternoon

19 May

I am a voracious consumer, an enthusiast for things.

Words by Charlie Gladstone

Catch up on Part #1

One of the relatively unusual things about my work is that I spend equal amounts of time indoors and outside. As well as a lot of time at my desk and quite a bit of time chatting with my team, I might have a campsite or some woodland or even a farm to have a look at. I love clothes and have done from a young age (I was inevitably teased about this at school; oh, how we’ve moved on).

ONE

What I wear needs to work in all of these places. And what I mean by ‘work’ is that it has to be something that I like the look of, is pretty robust, doesn’t include any sort of logo or writing at all, is unshowy but beautifully made and, vitally, it must have a clear and traceable provenance. I know where everything that I wear is made.

So, what to elect as the perfect piece of clothing?

Well, I mentioned by Blundstone in Part 1 of this series, so it needs to be something different. I think it has to be the Sunspel T shirt; made in England forever, hard wearing, great cotton, unpreachy and probably the very definition of stylish simplicity in design. Oh, and despite a decent provenance, it is mercilessly free of the sort of pretend credibility that blights so much marketing at the moment.

Two

Notes. I have tried lots of apps and Apple pens and all of the rest and I still like writing stuff down on paper. I often use old envelopes; they work, and the bin will generally offer up more.

But if I had a choice, I would always use a Rhodia notebook which is a French classic and -although now part of a large conglomerate- still made in France of French paper.

These simple, orange, checked paper notebooks offer some of the best value you’ll ever get for a few pounds.

Three

Talking of design icons, what greater memento of the beauty of British design and manufacture than the Land Rover, now known as The Defender, might there be?

Well, none. Really, profoundly, this is the greatest vehicle ever made.

We are collectors and enthusiasts and so my morning, if I am in Scotland, will partly be spent at the wheel of mine. I have a relatively late one, which is nicely in balance with my late Dad’s that he bought in 1969, it lives with us now and is -after a recent renovation- even more immaculate than my recent one.

What is it about the Land Rover, a car that is as uncomfortable and noisy and prone to not starting as any I have ever driven? In many ways it’s simply je ne sais quoi; you either get it or you don’t. But in other ways it’s the simple, elegant, good looks, the ability to truly navigate mud and snow, the fact that (despite the glitches) they will last forever, and maybe even the colour palette which, at root, has never changed.

I could go on, but I probably don’t need to, because you’ll have made up your mind already. As I say, you either get it or you don’t.

Four + FIVE

Music. If I am working alone, I listen to music, generally through my AirPods. I have the Pro, noise cancelling ones and like most people I was sceptical about them to begin with. How wrong I was; these are lightweight, they offer up beautiful sound, they’re easy to use. The best bit is the way they react when your phone rings, how easy it is to segue from music to chat. BOOM. Just don’t lose them, they’re expensive.

I use Spotify a great deal, goodness me it’s good, but I also buy a lot of vinyl. At least once a week my mail will include a record from Rough Trade who are incredibly efficient online and have lots of special, limited editions.

I’ll unpeel the packet and glance over the record and it will always give me a deep sense of joy. This is a good moment in my morning. I have been buying records (and for a time cassettes and CDs) for over 50 years and I have a formidable library.

In many ways a record on vinyl is a bit like a Land Rover, at once perfect and imperfect, but despite the uncanny ability to scratch and warp and pick up dust and crackle and…… I’ll always choose vinyl for its size and sound and smell and beauty and, perhaps most importantly, for reasons I can’t entirely understand but that are rooted in the fact that these magical discs have always been there for me.

SIX

Oh, and sticking with music, I was recently given an absolutely amazing speaker made by Transparent Speaker. I had often hankered after one of these, they are mainly made of glass, but they felt too expensive for me and this came out of the blue, from a business partner.

I use its Bluetooth and it sounds great, but I just love the look of it most.

SEVEN + EIGHT

I don’t eat much for lunch; I can’t because otherwise a sort of all-consuming sleepiness overcomes me and, well, nice though a snooze is, it just isn’t going to happen.

We’ll generally make some soup or maybe cook up some butter beans with lemon and spinach or that sort of thing. And this will always be done in a Le Creuset pot.

This is such an interesting company that still makes all of its cookware where it has always been made, in Picardy. This isn’t a product that’s ever in fashion and nor is it ever out of fashion, it just quietly and efficiently does what it does. And the colours of the cast iron cookware are somehow almost provocatively anti fashion, but boy is it good stuff.

Every day we cook with pots we have had since our wedding a third of a century ago, and they are still perfect. Yes, these are brutally expensive but if you measure value by the length of use, they are as cheap as chips. I recently bought a cast iron non-stick pot and it’s a game changer.

And I’ll eat lunch with the one knife that I truly love, another French classic, an Opinel, with a coloured wooden handle.

I love these for their French roots, their bright handles and their consistent efficiency. Caroline and I don’t agree on whether they should go in the dishwasher, as I like the handles a bit faded and she doesn’t. If I put one in, she’ll take it out and, I confess, vice versa.

NINE

Does food count as design in this article? Well, I think so and I make the rules.

Lunch will always be followed by a Magnum. This is the greatest invention ever in the world of chocolate/ice cream/pudding and 14 months ago I decided to try to eat one a day.

I succeeded and it was such a pleasure that I decided to carry it on for an indefinite period.

Conclusions of this most unscientific of experiments include the fact I think they might be addictive, the caramel ones make me feel a bit sick and I always come back to white as my favourite, though I often flirt with almond.

Oh, and although I am sure that they are smaller than they used to be, I think that the current size is perfect; never-too-big-never-too-small.

And, finally, a tip; let the white Magnum warm up quite a bit until the ice cream is properly creamy and the chocolate falls off, that’s the best way to enjoy it.

TEN

On the sofa in my office, I have some of these fantastic linen cushions from Baileys.

I went to see Mark and Sally Bailey in their absolutely fantastic homewares shop in Ross on Wye a couple of weeks ago, ostensibly to equip one of our cottages at Glen Dye. And some subtle, low key, richly coloured cushions came home with me for the office.

Honestly, for cost versus beauty, these are the best cushions I have ever bought (and having decorated nine houses at Glen Dye recently, I have bought a lot).