In this issue

Thank you for the music: why we must save songbirds now.

The 2020s: let’s make them roar
Philistines, four-posters and the Holy Grail..

Silence of the birds

Tom Streeter, chairman of SongBird Survival, talks to Kate Green about his charity’s ambition to halt the decline of the delightful small birds that provide the countryside’s musical backdrop

5 mins

The old English manner - Ogston Hall, Derbyshire The home of David and Caroline Wakefield

The characterful re-working of an ancient family house in the 1850s integrated its varied elements into an impressive and coherent whole. John Martin Robinson reports

7 mins

An ode to my mother's farm

On a frosty January morning, John Lewis-Stempel builds a ‘dry hedge’ in tribute to the old ways that once abounded on the Worcestershire farm where his mother grew up

4 mins

You're gonna hear me roar

At the dawn of a new decade, Ysenda Maxtone Graham sets out her wishlist for the 2020s and Victoria Marston discovers the icons that made the 1920s such a roaring success

4 mins

I spy with my little eye

Being immortalised as a Spy caricature in the pages of Vanity Fair was once a gentleman’s dream, observes Eleanor Doughty

5 mins

Land of myth and legend: sorcerers, seers and saints

Strange things happen every day and, sometimes, there is only one explanation–a touch of magic. In the last of three articles, Amy Jeffs recalls the stories of Merlin, the Holy Grail and a miraculous salmon

4 mins

If walls could talk

Two castles, one in England and one in Scotland, offer history, escapism and a touch of the unexpected

4 mins

Boeing, Boeing, gone

Major flight paths criss-cross over plenty of covetable areas of the UK. Eleanor Doughty explores what it’s like to live with a 747 soundtrack and whether it affects property values.

3 mins

Pergolas, pillars and pencil cypress - Le Clos du Peyronnet, Menton, France The garden of William Waterfield

Charles Quest-Ritson visits the legendary English Riviera garden

6 mins

Beyond the tears

The brilliant, innovative photographer at the forefront of Surrealism was much more than merely Picasso’s mistress, says Matthew Dennison

3 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.