Hi, my name is Leigh and I run The Victorian Cottage. My wife Hayley and I acquired The Cottage in 2018 as a project for the future to put down roots in the Dorset countryside. Work is still ongoing on The Cottage but it now has the addition of its own kitchen garden with greenhouse, fruit trees and resident chickens, plus two allotments just down the lane - a move into beekeeping maybe next on the list!

I am a completely self taught cook, my first cook book bought for me at the age of 4 by mum, which I still have. I am inspired by the landscape in which I live as well as taking inspiration from countries further afield and recipes of the past. I aim to showcase simple, honest, home cooking made from naturally abundant, local and sustainable produce from around the Dorset area in which I live - from farm through to coast.