Supercars

I’ve been mouching around Cumbria recently and it really is quite bloody marvellous. So if you’re heading up there for some grub it’s worth noting that the Lake District is extremely good with food and its restaurants are some of the best on this planet. So without any waffling or further hyperbole, here is my top 10 (so far!)
 

Marané Swimwear’s Horizon Collection Can Now Be Found In The Faena Hotel Miami beach
Luxury men’s swimwear label Marané has just announced that its Manantiales swimshorts will be available at the newly opened Faena Hotel Miami beach.
The luxury 169 room hotel is one element of an incredible arts and culture quarter developed by industrialist Len Blavatnik and real estate tycoon Alan Faena, who is known for his buzzy, Philippe Starck designed boutique hotel in Buenos Aires.

Commanding a magnificent position between the Blackdown and Quantock hills in the countryside a couple of miles from Taunton is the Mount Somerset Hotel and Spa. The Regency building has a sophisticated elegance and the surroundings afford superb views from virtually all the public rooms and bedrooms. It is set off beautifully by four acres of well-tended gardens, that privacy is not respected by one sheep which regularly jumps the fence from the neighbouring field to join the rabbits gambling outside our bedroom window.

So IX Magazine attended the Goodwood Revival again this summer and once again it delivered a sizzling slice of a glorious age, an anachronistic extravaganza, a fantasy of Britain from a bygone age, enhanced by imagination, wealthy sponsors and superb organisation.

I attended an illuminating book event hosted at RAF Museum Hendon this past weekend (17 September), which saw the relaunch of 'One of The Few', containing the memoirs of Group Captain ‘Johnny’ Kent who joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) in 1930.
This fascinating event was graced by the attendance of Alexandra Kent, daughter of the RAF hero born at the outbreak of the First World War in Winnipeg, Canada.
 

Waking up covered completely with a fluffy, white duvet in a cosy, warm flat I groaned and pulled the cover over my face and tried to flick the alarm off with as little effort as possible. It was 7am and the phone case prevented stopping the alarm that penetrated my sleep and shot me into the waking world with little remorse. I had no excuse, I was supposed to be up to catch the best snow and enjoy whatever powder lines were still intact from the previous night’s snow.

It was a bitterly cold morning in the southern Bulgarian ski town of Bansko and the instant coffee on the balcony had chilled at an alarming pace. In the distance the vague plumes of steam could be seen coming from the figure of a muscular brown horse pulling a cart. On top of the cart was a man with a dark complexion holding the reigns loosely and bobbing up and down as the cart moved forward. The snow was thick with a slight crust on the surface as it had rained a little the previous night.

The LAPADA Art & Antiques Fair returns for its eighth year to the suitably breathtaking surrounds of Berkeley Square, Mayfair. Sponsored by Delancey, the LAPADA Fair offers an unmissable opportunity to source and buy some of the world’s most coveted works of art, antiques, design and decorative arts. This year, it will take place from Tuesday 13th September until Sunday 18th September 2016, marking the start of London’s fashionable Autumn art season.

Helena Bonham Carter in a Glass Elevator, Karen Elson with a crocodile on her bed  and Boris Johnson sat on a girder at the Olympic Park are amongst the eye-catching juxtapositions on show at Manchester Art Gallery in the free exhibition Vogue 100: A Century of Style.

A few years ago, we reviewed the historic Bear Hotel at Woodstock near Oxford; a characterful, pretty, ivy-clad historic coaching inn with a super-abundance of beams, open fireplaces, squeaky floorboards and a rich helping of atmosphere… Just perfect to explore the Cotswolds for both the active and the just downright lazy! You don't even have to go very far because there's much to see in and around Woodstock itself, so we were very much looking forward to revisiting such a delightful place.