In this issue

Sweeping statements
Old snowdrops are enhanced by snowy new plantings at Benington Lordship, Hertfordshire, finds Kathryn Bradley-Hole.

Ancestral Modernism
Old and new are imaginatively blended in the Dalrymples’ Leuchie Walled Garden, East Lothian, discovers Mary Miers..

A bridge too far for rare gulls

KITTIWAKE nests have been removed from a bridge in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, after concerns that the birds’ excrement was damaging the structure.

2 mins

Ahoy, sailors of the first Elizabethan age

A RARE Elizabethan ship was dis-covered in a Kent quarry last year, it was revealed last week. The ship was uncovered in April 2022 by a team from CEMEX, which was ‘dredging for aggregates’ at a quarry on the Dungeness Headland.

1 min

Still tottering

IN January 1993, in these very pages, a new cartoon strip appeared. It told the tales of a certain Lord and Lady Tottering and life in magnificent Tottering Hall.

1 min

Can the tide be turned?

SLOWLY, but increasingly surely, Rishi Sunak is pulling back on the forays of his predecessors as he seeks to re-establish his party as a credible force in British politics. He may not succeed, but he has brought a sense of reality to the Government. It isn’t, of course, a quick fix. The spoilers are still in the wings.

2 mins

My favourite painting Kate Mavor

Charlotte Mullins comments on Munni

2 mins

Of Constable and clouds

A walk in the painter’s Suffolk stronghold triggers new appreciation of his depiction of big skies

3 mins

The Shell Country Alphabet

THE middle decades of the 20th cen-tury were a time of much curiosity about the appearance of Britain, its countryside and townscapes, its landforms and archaeology, as well as contrasts between the regions.

3 mins

Ancestral Modernism

Leuchie Walled Garden, East Lothian A home of Sir Hew and Lady Dalrymple A Modernist home created during the 1960s within the walled garden of a historic house stylishly blends the contemporary and the historical.

8 mins

The roads most travelled

In driving cattle, sheep and geese to market over the centuries, drovers shaped many of the routes we still use today. Gavin Plumley charts their harsh journeys across the country

6 mins

The remains of the day

Described by John Clare as 'Eden in such an hour' and 'the weakening eye of day' by Thomas Hardy, the twilight hour is a bewitching time for John Lewis-Stempel

6 mins

The fork in the road

Once viewed with suspicion, forks remained the preserve of royalty until nearly 200 years ago. Matthew Dennison takes a stab at the king of cutlery, which changed the way we eat

5 mins

Happy to be in the soup

Whether it's a laborious bouillabaisse, a sophisticated French consommé or a citrusy avgolemono, no dish is as comforting or democratic as soup, says Tom Parker Bowles

3 mins

A roaring trade

It's not only the energy crisis that is creating unprecedented demand for stoves: clean-burn technology, app-based controls and new designs fuelled by alternatives to wood are also transforming possibilities

3 mins

Land ahoy

The market for Scottish estates is changing, as the demand for 'natural capital' soars

4 mins

Empty promise

Lucy Denton asks why we have so many uninhabited dwellings and what we can do to save them

4 mins

Sweeping statements

The garden at Benington Lordship, Hertfordshire The home of Mr and Mrs Richard Bott Snowdrops have grown here for centuries, but recent plantings have greatly increased their variety and spread, says Kathryn Bradley-Hole

4 mins

Eat your new greens

Whether you are looking for new flavours to tickle your tastebuds or something different. to grow in your garden, little beats obscureand sometimes strange-looking-vegetables, says Mark Diacono

5 mins

Freezing points

THE Book of Ecclesiastes reminds us that for every-thing there is a season— a time to be born and a time to die. Gardeners know that there is a time to sow and a time to reap.

4 mins

That's got my bird name written all over it

Many, such as cuckoo and rook, might be onomatopoeic and others, including lapwing, owe their moniker to the nature of their flight, explains Derek Turner, as he takes a bird's eye view of avian nomenclature

4 mins

Rediscovery points to an Italian master

A well-travelled Bronzino, perhaps a self-portrait, is set to make waves in New York

4 mins

Read all stories from Country Life UK

Country Life UK Magazine Description:

Country Life; architecture, gardens, countryside, property, the very best of British life Published by IPC Media. Country Life, the quintessential English magazine, is undoubtedly one of the biggest and instantly recognisable brands in the UK today. It has a unique core mix of contemporary country-related editorial and top end property advertising. Editorially, the magazine comments in-depth on a wide variety of subjects, such as architecture, the arts, gardens and gardening, travel, the countryside, field-sports and wildlife. With renowned columnists and superb photography Country Life delivers the very best of British life every week.