In this issue

Swing low, sweet basset hound
Toy stories: why grown men still play soldiers
Zest for life: grow your own citrus fruits

Where a giant walked

You can see from Wales to Gloucestershire from The Wrekin

3 mins

The Life of the Robin

THE robin regularly tops the vote in public surveys to find Britain’s national bird. The reasons aren’t hard to imagine. A Christmas-card staple, the bird is familiar and attractive. It has a sweet song, endearingly heard at times of the year when other birds are silent and often in the evenings or late at night, seduced by the glow of streetlights. A regular garden visitor, it’s loved for its tameness. It can be trained to take food from the hand, and may even enter the home to feed or perch on an armchair.

4 mins

Do your ears hang low?

Incorrigible and exasperating, vocal yet always entertaining and seemingly almost human, the basset hound is a force of nature, says devotee Flora Watkins

7 mins

A modest manor

Rippington Manor, Cambridgeshire The home of Peter and Gay Johnson A delightful 16th-century manor house is revealed to have an unexpectedly complex history and an unusual story to tell. John Goodall explains

9 mins

A blaze of colour

A great window of heraldic stained glass by A.W.N. Pugin has been restored at Alton Towers in Staffordshire. John Goodall reports on this dazzling project.

2 mins

The designer's room

Interior designer Sarah Brown has created a perfect townmeets-country kitchen in her Chiswick home

1 min

Why old is gold

The deeper designers dig into our decorative past, the more gleaming nuggets they unearth

2 mins

Ready when you are

With renovations and materials in such high demand, high-spec historic houses, such as these three in Hampshire and West Sussex, should be snapped up

5 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.