Entertainment
Country Life UK
Through the glass starkly
Swamping a building with natural light can create more problems than it solves
2 min |
February 09, 2022
Country Life UK
St George's, Bloomsbury
IT may seem a contrarian’s choice to pick St George’s, Bloomsbury, London W1, as Nicholas Hawksmoor’s masterpiece ahead of his East End wonder, Christ Church, Spitalfields. The latter, the subject of a high-profile conservation campaign in the 1980s, has been variously described by architectural writers as ‘the grandest’, ‘most stirring’ or ‘stupendous’ of Hawksmoor’s creations.
4 min |
February 09, 2022
Country Life UK
Lend me your ear(wig)
Once believed to be adept at entering our ears so as to lay eggs in the brain, sending us mad, no creature was more unfairly condemned by its name than the earwig, laments Ian Morton
6 min |
February 09, 2022
Country Life UK
Seed funding
PEOPLE don’t grow plants from seed as much as they used to. It’s a pity, because this form of propagation is a good way to stock a large garden on the cheap.
4 min |
February 09, 2022
Country Life UK
Over the hills and far away
Beatrix Potter transcended a lugubrious childhood to emerge as a highly original writer and illustrator, whose cherished characters– inspired by the Nature around her–have more than stood the test of time, believes Matthew Dennison
8 min |
February 09, 2022
Country Life UK
Nature and food– how to have it all
Caring for the natural environment and food production are not binary activities, says Jamie Blackett, who presents the findings of his research on a thorny subject, the current ‘rewilding’ zeitgeist
5 min |
February 09, 2022
Country Life UK
International velvet
First woven in Damascus in the late 7th century, sumptuously sensual velvet has long been a trapping of prestige, indulgence and luxury, says Michael Montagu
5 min |
February 09, 2022
Country Life UK
High art, low behaviour
Works from a roguish 18th-century MP’s Dorset estate far exceed expectations at Lawrences of Crewkerne
4 min |
February 09, 2022
Country Life UK
Candles in the wind
Eremurus, also known as desert candles and foxtail lilies, make a wonderful show and are easy to grow if you give them the right conditions, says John Hoyland
5 min |
February 09, 2022
Country Life UK
Beauty needs vigilance
The Chilterns retains a gentle charm, despite the proximity of motorways and HS2
3 min |
February 09, 2022
Country Life UK
Who is Maris Piper?
If you ever wondered exactly why those potatoes are called Maris Piper and how Aston Martin came by its ‘DB’ model prefix, Eleanor Doughty has all the answers
5 min |
February 02, 2022
Country Life UK
There's gold in them there hills
From Scottish kings to political protest, there’s more to Muswell Hill than its height, finds Carla Passino
6 min |
February 02, 2022
Country Life UK
The Thirty-Nine Steps
Britain’s greatest masterpieces
4 min |
February 02, 2022
Country Life UK
The little master
One-hundred-and-fifty years after the painter’s birth, Jack Watkins considers the artistic endeavours of Sir William Nicholson, best known as the father of abstract artist Ben Nicholson, but whose work displays a satisfying warmth, mastery of technique and an old-school, painterly finish
6 min |
February 02, 2022
Country Life UK
Take the inside out
Outdoor fireplaces are an increasingly popular way to cosy up your garden. Eleanor Doughty gets to the hearth of the matter
2 min |
February 02, 2022
Country Life UK
Pride of place
Two country houses with a fascinating history and beautiful surroundings have flourished after careful restoration by their current owners
4 min |
February 02, 2022
Country Life UK
Fancy is as fancy does
Originally known as ‘pudels’ or ‘puddles’, curly-coated standard poodles were first bred in Germany to retrieve game from water and, as Matthew Dennison discovers, some still cut a typically stylish dash in the field
7 min |
February 02, 2022
Country Life UK
Creating the Cambridge college
In the first of two articles, John Goodall looks at the early history of the college that helped defined the tradition of academic architecture in Cambridge
9 min |
February 02, 2022
Country Life UK
HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT
Many will have wondered what lies behind the huge windows of the Victorian-era studios on one of London’s busiest roads. Rosie Paterson takes a peek
5 min |
February 02, 2022
Country Life UK
Blooming lovely
Seize the moment to plant a lilac–the scent of their generous flowers is more than enough reason why every garden should have one or, ideally, several, believes Charles Quest-Ritson
7 min |
February 02, 2022
Country Life UK
Under the Tuscan sun
In contrast with the arid landscape of the Val d’Orcia, the exuberant gardens created by Cecil Pinsent for the writer Iris Origo at La Foce, Tuscany, Italy, are all the more astonishing
6 min |
January 26, 2022
Country Life UK
The main attraction
The Greek islands have been a go-to holiday destination for decades, but what about the mythical and sometimes misunderstood mainland?
5 min |
January 26, 2022
Country Life UK
Plaster of paradise
Recent restoration and revival offers the perfect opportunity for a reappraisal of this house and its magnificent plasterwork interiors.
8 min |
January 26, 2022
Country Life UK
Through the looking glass
On a bleak January day, John Lewis-Stempel boards a train from London to Herefordshire and admires the wealth of wildlife on view through the carriage window
4 min |
January 26, 2022
Country Life UK
The women shaping a new countryside
Throughout history, formidable women such as Cleopatra and Lady Eve Balfour did much to nurture the land. Camilla Akers-Douglas talks to four present-day matriarchs who are helping to boost the rural economy in very different ways
8 min |
January 26, 2022
Country Life UK
Over the Moon
A Tintin drawing makes a record in Paris and a not-too frightening Bacon will be at the Royal Academy
5 min |
January 26, 2022
Country Life UK
Not such a Scilly idea
Beloved by The Prince of Wales, who shares his Scottish home with them, and thriving on Tresco and Arran–where they supposedly arrived in a laundry basket–red squirrels have a particular penchant for island life
7 min |
January 26, 2022
Country Life UK
The designer's room
Interior designer Sarah Fortescue has transformed the drawing room of a house on her family’s Cornish estate with colour and pattern
1 min |
January 26, 2022
Country Life UK
Everybody say cheese
The millennia-long tradition of cheesemaking in Britain and Ireland, having weathered many storms, is as vigorous as ever thanks to the great cheese renaissance. Ned Palmer takes a dairy-driven tour
9 min |
January 26, 2022
Country Life UK
In search of beauty
A publisher, innovator and shrewd businessman with strong connections to the Liberal political establishment, Edward Hudson was the visionary founder of COUNTRY LIFE 125 years ago. Clive Aslet revisits his remarkable life
7 min |