Food, Flowers + Friends
Water Lane - written by Max Fraser
Ian does what he does best; bringing theatre and food together under one roof. It’s those theatrical elements that bring people to the yard.
Ian and Nick at Water Lane - Walled Garden, Hawkhurst, Kent, TN18 5DH
The ‘yard’ that Nick Selby is humbly referring to is Water Lane, the kitchen garden/restaurant/shop that he and partner Ian James opened in the stunning Victorian walled garden on the edge of St Ronan’s School near Hawkhurst. Ian and Nick are the proud custodians of this historic gem on the Kent and Sussex border, where they are incrementally yet energetically restoring the garden’s former splendour while injecting modern-day vitality within the four walls, under their three pillars of Food, Flowers and Friends.
Today, as you enjoy a casual breakfast or lunch in their open-sided pavilion or in the light-filled Pelargonium greenhouse (depending on the season), there is usually activity taking place all around. On a regular day, perhaps a craft workshop is taking place in the neighbouring glasshouse or a flurry of friends are browsing the shop. Or maybe the wood-fired oven is being prepped for char-grilled delights while a gardener tends to the veg patch nearby. These gentle comings and goings are for all to see, the daily dance providing the theatre on their ever-evolving stage.
Water Lane’s curtain was lifted - or more specifically, the dazzling green wooden gate was slung open - in July 2021. Over the preceding season, the duo had hurdled their way through a gargantuan list of jobs to bring the walled garden back to life after a short period of neglect. Land was levelled, rubbish and dead shrubs cleared, paths reinstated, and an open-sided stretch tent erected for dining.
The path to acquiring the keys was destined. The previous owners Emma and Monty Davis had lovingly run a plant nursery here for a decade as well as a subsequent restaurant, but they wound down their business around the time the Covid-19 pandemic struck and put the property on the market. It was perhaps fortuitous that 50 miles north in London’s Hackney, the confines of an urban apartment were taking its toll on Ian and Nick, exacerbated by the national lockdown. Their itch for the countryside became acute and they realised that happiness and contentment was going to come from living and working closer to nature and the outdoors. They possibly didn’t envisage life and work entwining in quite the way it is at Water Lane, their commute to work now only a dozen strides from their homely bothy on the other side of the garden wall.
They benefit from this proximity as there is always work to get on with, such is the unpredictable nature of tending to plants, people and old structures. The duo bring experience to this ambitious project, having established the upmarket grocer Melrose & Morgan in 2004 in London’s Primrose Hill and Hampstead. And while food was all around them, it was the horticultural allure that was beckoning to Ian in recent years. When lockdown struck, he undertook online RHS training as well as practical experience at the renowned Wolves Lane Flower Company. As he was searching for some land for flower growing, the walled garden popped up repeatedly as an option. Fast forward a few months, with the inclusion of investment from a third partner, and Ian was very soon planting his floral fantasy. “The whole place was about potential,” said Ian. “That potential needed to be explored.”
Despite their prior experience with food retail and hospitality, Ian and Nick were nevertheless stepping into the unknown in this pocket of Kent, needing to attract a new clientele to its off-the-beaten-tracklocation, not to mention recruit staff, repair and renovate old glasshouses and grow vegetables and flowers from scratch. As Nick confesses, “It was quite scary as I’d never grown vegetables before. I just couldn’t fathom how productive some of the plants would be!”
By the time they were ready for the public, they were relieved to see their head chef Jed Wrobel picking ingredients from the garden to include on his menu, as well as foraging further afield for three-cornered leeks, wild mushrooms, nettles or wood sorrel. As he develops new dishes, there is always talk about ‘leaning into the garden’ to ensure that the season’s finest is featuring on diners’ plates, be it rainbow chard, courgettes, French beans, fennel, young garlic, tomatoes, salad leaves or edible flowers. Head gardener Linda Herbert is responsible for nurturing the plants to maturity, using natural inputs and no chemicals.
In the neighbouring beds, Ian is found exercising his passion for flowers with an abundance of fantastic florals such as sweet peas, dahlias, poppies, cosmos, roses, sunflowers, calendula, irises, alliums, tulips or daffodils. The most prolific blooms adorn each restaurant table throughout the seasons, some are used for flower arranging tutorials, others head out to local florists as well as bunches being sold in the Water Lane shop where garden tools, books, homewares and foodie treats are also available from shop manager Pia Carpenter.
The vivacity of natural growth at Water Lane not only adds colour and cheer to the surroundings but it also infuses the mood. Indeed, there is a happiness wafting through this place, an air of lightness that is carried from the effortless dressing of each plate of food in the restaurant to the bright smiles of each waiter. Greeted by restaurant manager Rachel Ring, dining in the elegant light-flooded Pelargonium glasshouse is always a pleasure, even on a gloomy day. This is the sort of place that gracefully accommodates all occasions, from a quick bite in your scruffy gardening gear to a long celebratory feast in your finest frock.
Patrons arrive from the locality as well as venturing from Rye, Hastings, and Tunbridge Wells as well as London. Increasingly, as Water Lane gathers momentum, these people are visiting for a touch of education in the form of a workshop gathered in a neighbouring glasshouse. Embracing the expertise of specialist craftspeople, courses vary from how to grow vegetables, espalier fruit trees or dry flowers to other crafts related to horticulture as well as willow weaving, booking binding, and ceramics. “Education is an important aspect,” says Ian. “We’re providing a platform and a space for other experts to come in and share their knowledge through conversation and making.”
During each visit, one senses progressive interventions are continually being trialled or implemented as Ian and Nick expand their ideas across the site. And talking to them, one gets a clear impression that steady evolution is part of their DNA, with the walled garden’s seemingly endless potential evident as they speak. What’s appealing is that the duo is firmly embedded in the project, getting stuck in to every and any element that may need doing, which is why you’ll often see them stride past with purpose, casting a wave or smile as you dig into your main course with gusto.
At the time of my visit, they had just completed a Spring Equinox feast in collaboration with seasonal celebrators SSAW Collective, and their Spring Fair of independent makers was rapidly approaching. Intriguingly, one quarter of the garden was growing wild and teeming with wildlife and opportunity. Further into the future, various structures are awaiting planning approval. Prospects beckon on the other side of the wall, where another acre of scruffy space cries out for new beginnings.
“The charming and personable duo of Ian and Nick seem calm and content but you know their minds are always whirring with ideas and to-do lists. They know they’ve taken on an ambitious project yet, as Ian states. “We have the tenacity to keep going until it’s done.” At this point, Nick looks up from his cup of tea with
a wry smile, declaring, “this is just the beginning.”
Water Lane - Walled Garden, Hawkhurst, Kent, TN18 5DH
Wed-Fri 08:00 - 17:00, Sat-Sun 10:00 - 16.30
www.waterlane.net
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