Alan Titchmarsh
Alan Titchmarsh
Alan Fred Titchmarsh, MBE, DLis an English gardener, presenter, and novelist. After working as a professional gardener and a gardening journalist, he established himself as a media personality through appearances on gardening programmes. He has developed a diverse writing and broadcasting career...
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth2 May 1949
nice years ideas
I get nice letters, but really I have no idea. I just try to enthuse people. You've been married for 31 years.
nice wine glasses
Depends on the evening. A good red wine is nice in cold weather. A Claret or a Rioja. I've got a good gin we make from damson plums. And you can't beat a glass of champagne every now and again.
years worry people
I don't like people being rude. Bad manners and arrogance make me cross. People making others feel uncomfortable. And I really don't like it in restaurants when people are rude or patronising to waiters. I feel like saying, 'They're not your slave'. But my knees only shake around once every five years. You're safe, don't worry.
ancient ancient-history
I love Paris for its wide boulevards and cafes, and Rome for the ancient history, as seen at the Forum.
home blow jewels
I love Chatsworth, Winchester Cathedral, Edinburgh Castle... Every time I'm in the vicinity of something old and worth looking at, I try to go. You don't even have to leave your home town to see some places. How many Londoners have seen the crown jewels? Not many, and they'll blow you away, I promise.
fun school reason
It's never much fun at school - it's just dates. Then as you get older, for some reason, you get more interested.
thinking car racing
I think I was always realistic - well, not the Percy thing, that was ridiculous - but I never dreamed of being a racing car driver or anything.
beautiful clothes interesting
Georgian England, to see those wonderful houses being built. And the clothes were interesting too, although I wouldn't want to wear a wig. It's also the most beautiful period of English landscape gardening. They had famous gardeners like Capability Brown.
sweet book drs
Oh, and I have to mention one lady who does all of my book covers in cross stitch and frames them. Muriel. She's amazing. I just received one for my latest, Love And Dr Devon, actually. It's very sweet of her to do it.
dark winter owl
I had the heaviest paper round in Ilkley, West Yorks, and if you look at my shoulders one is still lower than the other. I also did a milk round for a day. It was awful. I was a very surly milkman, because it was very cold, very dark and very early. I am a lark, not an owl, but not in winter when it's chilly. Apart from that I went straight into gardening at 15.
holiday sleep winter
My wife and I always have a winter holiday that I call the "fly and flop". In January and February, you don't want culture, you just want to get your bones warm and eat, drink, sleep. We usually go to the Caribbean.
fall years lovely
Julia Roberts was really rather lovely. I had to interview her on Pebble Mill At One years ago. You learn not to be starstruck if you're trying to get a decent interview out of someone. If you fall apart it's counter productive.
people
Alan Bennett and Judi Dench are amazingly talented people who don't let you down when you meet them.
appreciate people pity
I've covered a lot of the British countryside and the UK from top to bottom and side to side. It's such a pity more people don't appreciate what's on their doorstep.