Having previously lived in Guyana, Canada and The Bahamas, Sonja Clark moved to the Isle of Man in 1987. She is married to Colin Clark, a Chartered Accountant and Lecturer, has two grown up children, and is a grandmother to a fine young boy. A former secretary and teacher of both crafts and cookery, she is also an accomplished hand-weaver.

Since she commenced running "The Grove Conservatory", her intimate cafe/restaurant, five years ago, cooking has occupied more of her time than weaving.

Sonja brings to her cooking the same feeling for colour and texture that she demonstrates in her weaving.

She hopes you will enjoy her book of recipes, and even more, that you will have success and fun in cooking them!

The Grove House near Ramsey was developed in the mid 19th century by Duncan Gibb, a Liverpool shipping merchant, as a summer retreat for himself and his family.

This modest sized Victorian villa presents a series of period rooms containing mostly original furnishings and fittings, a costume room, and general displays which include the accumulated possessions of three generations. At the rear, the complex of outbuildings would have mainly served the substantial adjoining farmland and contains early vehicles and agricultural equipment including a restored horse-powered threshing mill.

The existence of the Grove today owes much to the desire of Duncan Gibb’s granddaughters, the Misses Janet and Alice Gibb, that their lovingly preserved legacy be maintained as a period museum after their demise.

Riverside Publishing,
Riverside House,
Off Glen Road
Laxey
Isle of Man
IM4 7AT
Tel. 01624 861751
Tel. 01624 816791