Taking a leaf out of Kenneth Grahame’s book, our writer spends a few days getting lost among the woods and riverside villages of Oxfordshire and Berkshire
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trolling through a deep tangle of beech trees to get some fresh air after a long drive, I think of the scene in Kenneth Grahame’s wistful story The Wind in the Willows, where Mole gets lost in the Wild Wood. “There seemed to be no end to this wood, and no beginning, and no difference in it, and, worst of all, no way out.”
I’ve come to South Oxfordshire to explore what was once Grahame’s old stomping ground. Although I don’t share his character’s fear of the woods, I do share his own wonder for this part of the country, close to suburbia yet wrinkled with pockets of wildness. It’s one of those spring days when the light feels elastic and daffodils brighten the verges of muddy lanes. The moon is rising, however, and smoke drifts from the chimney of a cottage just beyond the woods. Nocturnal creatures may be rousing but I’m feeling the pull of a cosy burrow. I leave the trees and head back to my accommodation, Bonni B&B, in Hill Bottom.
Run by Koo and Denny Akers, the B&B is a spin-off from Bonni Outbuildings, the cabin business the couple set up during the pandemic. These distinctive corrugated cabins in shades of mint, moss and terracotta have been commissioned as everything from artist studios to yoga shalas and even golf-simulator games rooms. The option to order a Bonni fully fitted and decorated has helped define the brand and, although the B&B is located above a smart timber garage at the couple’s home, it has just the same fittings, furnishings and paint colours as the cabins.
