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Country Life UK Magazine - May 28, 2025

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In this issue

The legacy
Kate Green hails Beatrix Potter, who gave the nation 4,000 acres of Lakeland, not to mention Peter Rabbit and Mrs Tiggy-Winkle.

The gift of second sight
Hundreds of guide-dog puppies are bred and trained for a life of loyal service. Katy Birchall charts their incredible journey from litter to life-changer.

We’re going on a stag hunt
Claire Saul urges us to ignore the stag beetle’s intimidating appearance and do everything we can to ensure this gentle giant’s long-term survival.

Kiss like a bee

MOST people who care about the countryside are deeply alive to the current plight of bees in Britain; the collapse in numbers is partly as a result of pesticide use, partly loss of habitat.

2 mins

Britain at its blooming best

WHAT a welcome recovery: this year's Chelsea Flower Show was really back on form.

2 mins

Wanderer above the Sea of Fog by Caspar David Friedrich

Charlotte Mullins comments on Wanderer above the Sea of Fog

2 mins

A village of rare beauty

The historic buildings of a Transylvanian settlement have been restored and preserved with the help of several foundations and backed by The King’s personal enthusiasm. Jeremy Musson reports on this remarkable place

8 mins

The first lady of the Herdwicks

When she died, Potter was set to be the first female president of the Herdwick Sheep Breeders Association; she was a great supporter and breeder of the local fell sheep-during the 1930s, her ewes dominated the prizes at shows-which she believed to be integral to the local, traditional farming practices. She might perhaps be dismayed at the de-stocking of livestock that has since taken place on parts of the uplands

1 mins

The gift of second sight

Tubby little bundles of joy, guide-dog puppies may be irresistibly sweet, but they've been expertly engineered to perform life-changing duties

5 mins

Going a ganging

The ancient custom of 'beating' willow wands around parish perimeters is still performed today—minus the medieval brutality

3 mins

So goes the merrie month of May

With returning swifts screaming across the rooftop and golden buttercup pollen gilding his Wellingtons as he strides across the cow meadow, John Lewis- Stempel marvels at the many pleasures of May

4 mins

We're going on a stag hunt

The stag beetle’s intimidating appearance belies its vulnerability, says Claire Saul, as she discovers what we can do to help them survive

4 mins

Throwing caution to the wind

Spring is the time to see the muscular and noble goshawk, usually as elusive as a ghost circling and swooping through the sky

3 mins

Put a knot in it

It no longer matters if you're not a surgeon or a comedian: after the dark days of endless leisurewear, bow ties are back

5 mins

Classic good looks

One of the most photographed stands at last week’s Chelsea Flower Show was COUNTRY LIFE’s ‘outdoor drawing room’, a tranquil Italianate loggia designed by Isabella Worsley

2 mins

Treasures of the East

East Anglia appears to be full of wonders, from carriage driving and an escaped puma to a Harrods pavilion and ancient forests, as these houses show

6 mins

Natural bounty

With an expanse of sandy beaches, 125 miles of lock-free Broads waterways, sea colonies and nature reserves, there's plenty of Nature to enjoy in Norfolk. Arabella Youens picks some charming houses on the market

2 mins

The beauty’s in the detail

When the interior designer Isabella Worsley conceived Country LIFE’s ‘outdoor drawing room’ at last week’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show, she worked with English stone specialist Artorius Faber to create bespoke architectural features, including windows, a chimneypiece, a water trough and floor from stone sourced from its own quarry in Dorset

2 mins

A famously good show

From tiny spots of the soft yellow buttercup to towering tree ferns from Co Kerry, SW3 was filled with interest large and small, finds Tiffany Daneff

3 mins

Of pepper and pigsties

\"He was able to identify plants by the smell of their leaves'

3 mins

Going flat out

Gun Hill Farm, near Burnham Overy Staithe, Norfolk A dramatic, yet difficult site has been boldly redrawn using plants that blend into the distinctive East Anglian landscape

4 mins

Eton mess strawberry blondies

Food Article

1 mins

As trusty as a brown trout

In the first of a new series celebrating our best-loved piscine species, COUNTRY LIFE’s fishing correspondent salutes the elegant and reputedly magical Salmo trutta

3 mins

From hero to zero

Ancient India gave the world its number system, anticipated Galileo's heliocentric theory by a millennium and spread its culture from Egypt to Siberia—only to be almost entirely forgotten. It's past time to restore it to its rightful place in history

8 mins

All in the family

Carlo Bugatti believed that any object could be a work of art, paving the way for his children, elegant Rembrandt and genial Ettore, to sculpt supple, predatory panthers and craft automotive masterpieces. Charles Harris traces their lives

5 mins

East is east

Camels and souks, Jerusalem and Petra are once again capturing people’s imagination, as a crop of sales earlier in the spring demonstrates

3 mins

The age of calamity

IT'S now more than 60 years since the publication of May McKisack’s classic account of the 14th century, which appeared in the acclaimed ‘Oxford History of England’ series of volumes.

2 mins

Flushed with desire

\"Here they are, dissolving in laughter at his random predicament, the damsel and the dripping baronet

2 mins

Read all Stories from Country Life UK

Country Life UK Magazine Description:

Publisher: Future

Category: Lifestyle

Language: English

Frequency: Weekly

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.