There is something movie set-esque about Compton Abbas airfield, tucked away as it is in the depths of the Dorset countryside. Hidden amongst swatches of cornfields and neighbouring dairy farms, the airstrip, which was established in 1962, allows light aircraft the most scenic of small runways that open up to the skies over Blackmore Vale and out to the sea. Seemingly untouched by time, it is a plane-lovers paradise and, since 2022, it’s belonged to the blockbuster British moviemaker, Guy Richie.
Arriving on a stunning sunny Friday, I am met by the determined acceleration of a vintage T6-Texan and the heady smell of BBQ smoke. The tiny runway is fringed with eager plane spotters, all loving their front-row view of biplanes turning and taking off just feet away. The airfield – located in the Cranborne Chase Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty – pulls in crowds from around the world. But it was Guy Ritchie whose interest was most readily piqued, and he purchased it as soon as he got the chance. “I’ve always been curious about the airfield and the planes flying over me from it,” he tells me. “I live just a mile down the road. Curiosity seems to have got the better of me, so I did buy it a few years ago and I have plans for it.” And, while he may have plenty up his sleeve, one plan has already come to fruition: his new smokehouse restaurant, Lore of the Sky, which perches right alongside those gorgeous old planes and is now open.
Hot on the heels of his urban Mayfair eatery, Lore of the Land, this new rural sibling is designed to bring the character and flavour of a Texan-inspired menu into the heart of Wessex. Richie, who never does anything by halves, imported a stunning state-of-the-art J&R Oyler Smoker from the heart of Texas for his new restaurant kitchen, on which his chefs are cooking up authentic Texan BBQ and oak-smoked pork belly. It is only the second of its kind in Europe (and the first in the UK), but, as Richie tells me, “in Texas, they do the best BBQ smoked meat in the world. If you can’t beat them, join them, and that includes sourcing the best, most authentic equipment.”
With his new restaurant offering, Richie hopes to transform what is already a hotspot for aviation lovers into a destination for food lovers. “My real love of food comes from the primal alchemy of cooking over smoke, charcoal and wood”, he explains. “It is endlessly fascinating and inexplicable to me. You can cook a steak 999 times, and it only becomes more interesting on the thousandth.” Fans of Stanley Tucci’s latest book, What I Ate in One Year, will recall the actor’s awe at joining Richie for lunch at home in Dorset with brother-in-law and fellow actor, John Krasinski. His innate respect for the director’s talent behind the camera is matched only by his admiration for Richie as a furniture designer and creator of cooking appliances, the likes of which, Tucci admits, he has never seen before. As he writes comically: “Well, that is not entirely true. I had seen similar ones before – in the Beckham documentary. The cooling tent and the iron, steel and copper-clad barbecue equipment that old Becks was practically making love to, and I’m obsessed with, was designed by Mr. Richie himself.” The steak the men cook and enjoy together is, in Tucci’s words, “one of the best steaks in both quality and culinary execution that I have ever had.” And, while Lore of the Sky doesn’t feature cooking apparatus made by Richie himself, he has carefully sourced what he considers the finest there is, proving his kudos as a man of great food and not just film. The result is incredible BBQ fare that can be enjoyed with a staggering view through floor-to-ceiling glass, each giant shard framed with handsome steel.
Richie tells me his “childhood memories of fishing on the [River] Nadder” near Salisbury drew him back to Dorset as an adult. The peace and tranquillity of the county (minus the hum of those biplanes, of course) are a far cry from the central London gang-horror many of us are currently enjoying in his latest Apple TV hit, Moblands. Dorset clearly offers a sanctuary and space for a man who never seems to stand still for even a second. I am curious what else he has up his sleeve for the airfield, what other gastronomic plans he may have, but in classic Richie style, he tells me there are “none that I am ready to share just yet!” Watch this space.
Address: Ashmore, Nr. Salisbury, SP5 5AP
Website: loreofthesky.com