Entertainment
Country Life UK
A bolt from the blue
Once considered so sacred that Druids consecrated their weapons with its starflower petals before battle, borage deserves greater regard, says Ian Morton
6 min |
June 30, 2021
Country Life UK
Treasure island
Arabella Youens revels in the history, food and culture of the largest Balearic island, now earning a justified reputation for sophistication
4 min |
June 23, 2021
Country Life UK
The Plants That Came From Afar
Steven Desmond searches for beloved garden staples that originally came from foreign lands and suggests where you can see them in their old homes
4 min |
June 23, 2021
Country Life UK
A plain house
Stormont Castle, Belfast Home to the Northern Ireland Executive and the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister A century ago, the Stormont estate was chosen as the seat of the government of Northern Ireland. In the first of two articles, John Goodall looks at the history of this decision and the castle now at the centre of politics
8 min |
June 23, 2021
Country Life UK
It's a kind of magic
Widely thought to be a form of witchcraft, water divining relies on a pair of rods and ‘the uncanny reaction of the human nervous system’ to factors unknown. Yet it is still employed by water companies today, discovers Catriona Gray
5 min |
June 23, 2021
Country Life UK
Pale into significance
More than 130 years ago, fears over the little egret’s fate–and our obsession with its plumed feathers– helped to form the RSPB. Now, this exotic migrant is making a comeback, reports Jack Watkins
4 min |
June 23, 2021
Country Life UK
Better than ever
Two glorious estates have been lovingly brought back from the brink
5 min |
June 23, 2021
Country Life UK
Dear Mr Stillman...
The finest example of a classically inspired 20th-century American garden, at Wethersfield in the Hudson Valley, is at last being given the attention it deserves. Jane Garmey recounts its extraordinary story
6 min |
June 23, 2021
Country Life UK
Enter the dragon
Fizzing over water like a fairy aeroplane, the swooping and hovering bejewelled dragonfly is one of the insect success stories of the 21st century–and, as a rule, it won’t bite you, says Jack Watkins
7 min |
June 16, 2021
Country Life UK
Fowl play
TO garden with hens successfully, one has to understand hens. Regardless of their breed and reputed egg-laying numbers, all chickens are ancestral woodland birds at heart, at their happiest when nestling in the leaf litter under a canopy of twigs and leaves where they feel safe.
3 min |
June 23, 2021
Country Life UK
The last Modernist
A striking muse filled with irrepressible joy, it wasn’t until a decade after her husband’s death that Rose Hilton truly flowered as an artist, believes Ian Collins
4 min |
June 23, 2021
Country Life UK
The rewards of loyalty
The royal confidante on finding fame late in life
5 min |
June 23, 2021
Country Life UK
Oh, deer–are they out of control?
With most of our six deer species increasing in range and numbers, Joe Gibbs considers what can be done to bring populations back to more manageable levels
7 min |
June 16, 2021
Country Life UK
Thoroughly modern mansions
In the 1930s, COUNTRY LIFE found one of these four Home Counties beauties ‘stimulating’ (although Betjeman wasn’t keen); another has water canons and ‘intelligent’ technology
4 min |
June 16, 2021
Country Life UK
Virtual temptation
Circumstances have forced the Masterpiece fair online, from which we display a small sample from the 1,000 or so items on offer
1 min |
June 16, 2021
Country Life UK
In a bit of a bind
Although treasured by children for the pop of those white trumpet flowers, bindweeds are no friend to gardeners, says Ian Morton
6 min |
June 16, 2021
Country Life UK
There's no place like home
Picture-perfect cottages in the Home Counties
3 min |
June 16, 2021
Country Life UK
As others see us
Watercolour paintings served as an important visual record of Victoria and Albert’s lives–both of whom were keen and knowledgeable collectors– as well as a comfort in times of sorrow, says Huon Mallalieu
7 min |
June 16, 2021
Country Life UK
Rosa ‘Gertrude Jekyll'
BRITAIN GREATEST MASTERPIECES
5 min |
June 16, 2021
Country Life UK
Reaching towards the horizon
The inspiration for the garden of The Manor, Priors Marston, Warwickshire, was to create a landscape to meander through, with talking points along the way, reveals Tiffany Daneff
6 min |
June 16, 2021
Country Life UK
All ages of England
Elton Hall, Huntingdonshire, part II The seat of Sir William and Lady Proby In the second of two articles on this remarkable country house, John Goodall looks at the history and changing face of the buildings from the Middle Ages to the 19th century
9 min |
June 16, 2021
Country Life UK
An English classic
The recent auction of John Evetts’s Wormington Grange collection is the perfect excuse to revisit the unostentatiously beautiful furniture of Georgian great Gillows, says Rufus Bird
7 min |
June 16, 2021
Country Life UK
A Shaw thing
It’s a joy to have live performances and richness of text, with a mix of the old and the new, the political and the musical
5 min |
June 16, 2021
Country Life UK
The Spark In Our Bonfire Hearts
Lit to warn of Viking invasion, to celebrate a Diamond Jubilee or merely to indicate bathtime, beacons are a time-honoured method of sending a message, says Jeremy Hobson
5 min |
June 09, 2021
Country Life UK
Our Little Princess Lilibet
Fond of dogs, ponies and a tortoise called Madame Butterfly, The Queen has described her childhood as a ‘happy atmosphere of love and fairness’, although, as Matthew Dennison observes, she and her sister were afforded little privacy
9 min |
June 09, 2021
Country Life UK
A vision in green
Restoration of the historic gardens at Holcombe Court, Devon, has been a slow and thoughtful process that harnessed the individual qualities of the entire garden team to great effect, says Tiffany Daneff
6 min |
June 09, 2021
Country Life UK
The art of revival
Elton Hall, Huntingdonshire, part I The seat of Sir William and Lady Proby, In the first of two articles, Jeremy Musson looks at the exemplary revival of both a house and its outstanding collections on the eve of its handover to the next generation
9 min |
June 09, 2021
Country Life UK
Sculpting reality
This year is the tercentenary of Grinling Gibbons, a sculptor whose proverbial skill in wood carving has never ceased to command admiration. John Goodall looks at his career and art
3 min |
June 09, 2021
Country Life UK
The jeweller, the baker, the bicycle maker
How many times have we repeated the phrase ‘Buy British’ on these pages? Here, the COUNTRY LIFE team recommends its 66 favourite makers and businesses
10+ min |
June 09, 2021
Country Life UK
Come out of your shell
With delicate flesh that’s far harder to extract than that of a lobster, the humble crab is a hard-shelled hero that never fails to delight, says Tom Parker Bowles
4 min |