In this issue

The Christmas Double Issue

A High Road To Clean Energy

THE path to ending fossil-fuel emissions by 2050 is ‘ambitious and affordable’, according to a report published last week.

2 mins

Riches not measured in coin

The Cathedral of St Mary and St Ethelbert, Hereford This year marks the 700th anniversary of the canonization of Thomas Cantilupe, Bishop of Hereford. John Goodall looks at the story of this building and the way it was shaped by a remarkable figure

9 mins

Oh sing, choirs of angels

Loosely translated as ‘when the cock crows at dawn’, Plygain carol services have been held in Welsh churches on Christmas Day since the 13th century, as Aeneas Dennison reports

3 mins

Let's talk turkey

They’re easy to rear, they’re friendly and they needn’t only be for Christmas. Kate Green talks to turkey experts, who explain why we should be eating the heritage breeds

6 mins

Remembrance through rose-tinted glass

Hauntingly beautiful, stained-glass scenes keep the memory of our Fallen alive in glorious technicolour. Andrew Green visits country churches to seek them out

7 mins

Rockin' around the Christmas tree

Bombarded as we are in the preceding weeks, for many, it is the ritual choosing and dressing of the tree that marks the start of Christmas, says Jack Watkins

7 mins

Who killed cock robin?

Referred to by Chaucer as ‘Robert redbreast’ and long a cheerful symbol of Christmas, the sweet-songed robin is so combative it will attack its own reflection, reveals Ian Morton

6 mins

Christmas comes but once a year

And when it does, it (mostly) brings good cheer, although some professions certainly enjoy it more than others

7 mins

Born to be wild

Once widespread across the British Isles, there are now fewer than 100 pure Scottish wildcats left. Joe Gibbs considers whether curiosity or interbreeding killed the ‘Highland tiger’

4 mins

Because You're Mine, I Walk The Line

Crunching across winter stubble on a frosty December morning, John Lewis-Stempel gives thanks for the wildlife sustained by the old millet stalks and endeavors to train his labrador to walk to heel, aided by a handful of cheese

4 mins

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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.