Inside spectacular garden makeover at Beckhams’ mansion that left Victoria in tears as David guest edits Country Life
CITY boy David Beckham has spent the best part of a decade becoming a country gent — and is now proudly sharing his new lifestyle in an iconic magazine.
He has turned a Cotswolds farmhouse into the perfect family home and is pictured wandering its idyllic sprawling grounds with his working Cocker Spaniels Sage and Olive.
The father of four, nicknamed Goldenballs in his playing days, has planted hundreds of trees, put up 27 bee hives and created a lake with duck house and wooden jetty.
In a special edition of Country Life, he tells how he keeps chickens and has a vegetable plot, where he tends onions, radishes, carrots and kale.
East London-born David tells how he counts fellow converts Vinnie Jones and Guy Ritchie among his country friends.
But he recalls: “My earliest memories of doing anything in the countryside are when I was a Cub, then a Scout, and we used to go camping in Epping Forest.”
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His kitchen fitter dad Ted and hairdresser mum Sandra did not have much time for gardening — though grandad Joe would tend to the roses, often damaged by the young David kicking a ball about.
The 50-year-old former Manchester United and Real Madrid star’s interest in country pursuits grew after meeting Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels director Guy, 57.
The ex-England skipper even made a cameo appearance in Ritchie’s 2017 flop King Arthur: Legend Of The Sword.
David says about Guy: “He’s a modern-day caveman, who has made me fall far deeper in love with the countryside and helped me to understand it even more than I did before.
“Sometimes, we sit for hours around a fire, just the two of us, and talk late into the night.”
Ritchie’s sweeping 1,100-acre estate Ashcombe House in Wiltshire is the inspiration for what David is trying to achieve.
And it was during late nights at the homely Georgian property that Becks got to know footballer-turned-actor Vinnie, who has appeared in a number of the director’s projects.
Guest editing 128-year-old Country Life, David admits: “When I was playing, he was one of those footballers you did not want to go near on the pitch.
“He would either grab you, throw you or kick you!
Sometimes, we sit for hours around a fire, just the two of us, and talk late into the night
David Beckham
“Back then, that was his thing and he made a successful career before becoming a pundit, when he did criticise me.
“I didn’t think he liked me. But when I met him later at Guy’s place, we didn’t stop talking.”
‘Solace in the country’
Former Wimbledon hardman Vinnie, 60, has a 147-acre farm in Petworth, West Sussex.
David adds: “He bought me a walking stick he’d made for me and he’s now a great friend, who, like me, has found solace in the country later in life.”
The three stars are now happiest in tweeds and welly boots, a world away from the glamorous lifestyles which made them famous.
Vinnie used to booze too much but tells how he prefers a teetotal life.
He comments: “You’ve got to commit. Do it on a Monday.
“Everyone who has done it says, ‘I wish I’d done it before’.
“You never hear anyone regret giving up booze.”
For the main article in the magazine — marking its 1,000th edition with a 288-page gold embossed issue — David, his tattooed hands poking from his cuffs, gives TV gardening expert Alan Titchmarsh a tour of the family estate
He and fashion designer wife Victoria, 51, bought the farm near Great Tew, in Oxfordshire, for £6million in 2016. It is now estimated to be worth twice that sum.
They have turned a 26-acre plot with one maple tree and a few derelict barns into a landscape of wildflower meadows, native trees and shrubland that form a home for insects and birds.
Proud David reveals: “I can still remember the morning when Victoria and the children were all due to arrive to see the refurbished barns for the first time.
The moment she walked in, she burst out crying
David Beckham
“It was still a complete mess. One of the guys, who was helping with the building work, and I were literally running around laying the rugs, sweeping up and getting all the dust out.
“Then I waited at the front door with a glass of wine for Victoria to arrive.
“And, the moment she walked in, she burst out crying because she couldn’t believe how perfect it was.”
Now the couple often serve their home-grown ingredients in meals served for friends and family.
And in the magazine, David gives the Queen’s son, Tom Parker Bowles, a taste of his culinary skills.
David, originally from Leytonstone, tells Tom: “There’s something so nostalgic about mashed potato, liver, bacon and lots of gravy.
“It’s one of those British comfort classics that my mum used to make for me and was also my grandad’s favourite dish.
“My gran was also a great cook, and it was always a treat going down to the pie and mash shop in Chapel Market.
“If I had to choose my last meal, it would be pie, mash, liquor and jellied eels.”
Previous guest editors of the Country Life have included King Charles, and the most featured face on the cover in the past was the late Queen Mother.
In his cover shot, David looks every bit the rural gent, leaning on a ram’s horn cane and dressed in a tweed jacket.
American celebrities such as Beyonce, Jay-Z and Ellen DeGeneres have since followed the Beckhams to the Cotswolds — and it is easy to see why.
- David Beckham’s Guest Edit of Country Life is available now.
