Ketamine, psilocybin and ecstasy are coming to the medicine cabinet

The formal lawns and topiary of the garden in which Amanda Feilding, Countess of Wemyss and March, is sitting embody a perfect English orderliness; beyond its edge lies a wilderness of Anglo-Saxon moats, sun-dappled woodland and magical stepping-stone trails. This promise of untamed hinterlands puts the grounds of Beckley Park in perfect sync with their mistress. Lady Wemyss is the queen of psychedelics.

Psychedelics have a history which is probably longer than that of civilisation. They have powerful effects on the brain and their lore is rich in anecdotes about effects on mental health, some for better and some for worse. As pharmaceutical companies tried to find new approaches to the brain, the potential of psychedelics might have seemed an obvious road to go down. But law and stigma blocked it. Until five years ago corporate investment in psychedelics as medicines was more or less unthinkable.