Delighted to report that Four Hedges - A Gardener's Chronicle by Clare Leighton, has been republished by Little Toller Books  (£10) with a new introduction by Carol Klein.

Clare Leighton (1898-1989) studied engraving at the Slade School of Art under Noel Rooke. Four Hedges became a best-seller for Leighton, a highly accomplished wood engraver, when it was first published in 1935.  It charts a year as she transforms a meadow into a garden in the Chilterns and is illustrated by eight-four enchanting woodcuts of fruit, flowers, tools and even a tortoise tucking into a dandelion! There is a leisurely style to her writing that is the perfect antidote to today's frenetic world. Read and relax.

NB: Fans of Vera Brittain's autobiography, Testament of Youth, may remember her devotion to Clare's older brother, Ronald, who was killed in action in 1915.