Character Profile: Charlotte (Charlie) Patcham

We first meet Charlie Patcham when Alice, the heroine of Summer at Tillingford Hall goes to visit her in Bath, where she’s living a bohemian lifestyle in a garret-like flat share with a distant view of the Royal Crescent. She’s a vegan with a single purple streak in her long, dark hair, and hangs out with new-age travellers – Tristan and Ama – at the fictional George and Dragon pub.

Charlie Patcham (DeepAI)

Charlie and Alice met at University College London where they were both studying History of Art. Charlie had been at a boys’ school and enjoyed rediscovering her feminine side with mousy Alice who loved reading Jane Austen and wearing lacy numbers from the whimsical British designer, Alice Temperley (when she could afford them).

After her degree, Charlie studied landscape and garden history and had trainee jobs at various historic houses before taking over as head gardener at the newly founded Bath Physick Garden. Charlie has a poor relationship with the trustees of the charity that runs the garden. She’s struggled to motivate staff and volunteers (and herself) so that the garden hasn’t lived up to its early promise.

By the time we meet Charlie again in Christmas at Tillingford Hall, she’s stuck in a rut and is presiding over a sorry, run-down mess which has become a target for vandals. She spends a lot of time with her ‘alternative’ friends, smoking dope and not doing much with her life, but when her part-time lover Tristain invites her to join him and Ama in a polyamorous squat it’s a bit of a wakeup call.

When Alice and Guy offer her the chance to work at Tillingford Hall she knows it’s a great opportunity but she’s not sure she’s got what it takes. When Guy tells her that her ex, Sebastian, is going to be working there, she decides the job isn’t for her.

But when things go wrong at the Bath Physick Garden and she suddenly finds herself homeless, the job at Tillingford Hall suddenly looks appealing.

Charlie is clever, but not always very kind or wise. She’s still struggling to deal with growing up in a strict Christian family with four brothers and having been the only girl at the choir school where her mother was headmistress. She needs to learn to learn who she can trust and open herself up to the people who care about her. She also needs to be nicer, more forgiving and a bit less prickly.

In the end the resilience – and the musical skills – Charlie picked up at school stand her in good stead as she saves the day at Tillingford Hall.