You're a dark horse

The desired steed of great conquerors, as well as a symbol of strength and courage, the black horse-whether mythological, literary or real-has long galloped across our minds, says

Stranger things

Burning barrels, hare-pie scrambles, bottle kicking and horn dances: no one does eccentric quite like the English. Harry Pearson explores our weird, wonderful and sometimes distinctly dangerous folk festivals

A local revival

A local initiative has returned a major country house from a building in danger to a well-loved and intensively used property. John Martin Robinson reports

Far from black and white

BOVINE TB (bTB) should not be a political issue', the NFU has warned, in response to Labour proposals to ban culling licences from 2024.

Welcome back, old friends

All the favourites are back, from Sondheim's songs to a newly inventive Gilbert and Sullivan, Pygmalion and Private Lives with two mature actors

Pot shots

I HAVEN’T nosed around behind other people’s garden sheds, but I suspect that, if I did, I would find, as I do behind mine, a jumble of precariously stacked old plastic pots. I try to create some kind of order by stacking similar sizes together, but such is the range of shapes and sizes that disorder soon returns. Most can’t be recycled; nurseries and garden centres don’t want to reuse them for fear of spreading disease and one never needs them in the garden, however enthusiastic one is about propagating plants. I think we’ll be stuck with them until plastic recycling improves.

Plant theatre

Charles Quest-Ritson joins the legion of garden enthusiasts who make the pilgrimage to the dramatic plant nurseries at Larch Cottage in Cumbria

Beethoven's homage to Nature

Although Beethoven was German by birth, it was the Austrian countryside that influenced many of his greatest works and provided respite from the torment caused by his deafness. Russell Higham visits the Viennese woodlands that inspired his music

Rooms with a view

Amsterdam's historic canal houses offer vertical living at its very finest

Georgian grandeur

The enduring appeal of Georgian architecture in all its guises is highlighted by the recent launch onto the market of three important historic houses

Give fleece a chance

Wool month is the time to consider sleeping in bedding sourced from a local flock

Following in the footsteps of John Macnab

The Editor and The Judge set forth to Speyside in a bid to bag a Macnab-a salmon, a stag and a brace of grouse in one day-from the purple heather-clad hills that rise above the fabled river in the Scottish highlands

Come hell or high water

A miracle of Nature, the salmon braves body changes, hungry seals and forbidding waterfalls on its extraordinary journey to and from its spawning grounds. But now, warns Simon Lester, it may be facing one challenge too many

'Stubborn little bearers of total joy'

Norfolk terriers may be small and feisty, but their immense courage, intelligence and sheer joy of life have won over everyone from members of the Royal Family to Formula 1 champions

Having a field day

From following hounds beneath snow-flecked skies to fishing for trout by shimmering water meadows and landing a Macnab, Adrian Dangar has enjoyed a lifetime of adventures as a respected huntsman and sporting correspondent

The Englishness of English architecture

A major new survey of architecture in Britain and Ireland from 1530 to 1880 will be published this autumn. Its author, Steven Brindle, teases out the qualities of one of its most elusive central themes

Totally foxed

The new Scottish law on hunting is a cunning catch-22 situation, but not one designed to help the fox

Farmers need better friends

THERE are very few agricultural constituencies in England today— the growth of towns and suburbs has meant that they dominate the truly rural areas. Once, there were seats all over the country where the farming vote really mattered. In Norfolk, Suffolk and Lincolnshire, the West Country and the Welsh Borders especially, candidates would have to make an effort to woo the country electorate. The House of Commons would always have members seriously interested in farming and able to speak up with authority, but that has changed radically as constituencies are reordered to reflect population changes.

Farmers see red over green plan

A NEW ‘environmental module’ proposed by the farm-assurance scheme Red Tractor has drawn heavy criticism from farmers after it was announced last week. The scheme, known as the Green Farm Commitment (GFC), will enable ‘farmers to make commitments and track their own progress across five key areas for environmentally focused farming: carbon footprinting; soil management; nutrient management; waste management; and biodiversity’, according to the organisation. Farmers reacted with fury to the proposal, accusing supermarkets of passing the cost of them reaching net zero onto farmers.

Scents and sensibilities

Oxford Song, which starts this weekend, is an imaginative festival combining sound, vision and smell-in short, a feast for the senses. Henrietta Bredin reports

We reap what he sowed

Trespassing into an overgrown garden set botanical illustrator Miles Hadfield on a quest for horticultural conservation. Today, many of our most magnificent grounds owe their survival to his efforts, finds Katherine Cole

Colour supplements

Overgrown trees had blocked the sea view on this steep south-facing slope, where Jane Powers discovers a secret garden brimming with light and fiery autumn tints

Conference calls among the cattle

The commute and the office has changed forever. Deborah Nicholls-Lee speaks to those turning the countryside into a different type of workplace

Tales of the unexpected

A thriving farm and the site of a Victorian double murder lead the market this week

Revolution or evolution?

The renewed popularity of cottages is spawning dramatically different approaches

The secret of the super cottage

There's no reason why a small house shouldn't feel like a big one

Street life

This autumn, a host of new shops has opened its doors on London's Pimlico Road, heralding a fresh chapter in the history of this inspiring district, finds Amelia Thorpe

Nine centuries of service

This year, two connected institutions in the heart of London celebrate their 900th anniversary. In the second of two articles, John Goodall looks at their foundation story

Pull a rabbit out of the hat

Whether seasoned with thyme and cider baked into a juicy pie or grilled over coals until perfectly crispy, rabbit makes for some magnificent dishes. It's madness that we no longer enjoy it as we once did, laments Tom Parker Bowles

Doing it by the book

Our desire to buy online may have blighted many high streets, but, happily, plenty of independent bookshops are still thriving against the odds. Catriona Gray picks seven of her favourite stores off the shelf