Founding fathers

In COUNTRY LIFE's 125th year, Editor-in-Chief Mark Hedges pays a visit to Lindisfarne, the castle owned and restored by the magazine's founder as his Northumberland retreat

- Mark Hedges

WHEN I first became Editor of COUNTRY LIFE back in 2006, I was deeply thrilled to have been offered the job I most coveted in publishing. COUNTRY LIFE had been a triumphant success for more than a century and was one of the most recognizable publications in Britain. It had always been the most eclectic of magazines and, remarkably, was-and still is the only perfect-bound title produced weekly in the country. What I didn't know about was its history and, in particular, the man who founded it, Edward Hudson.

His picture hung above the desk in my office, staring down with a tired expression at my labours, but, as time went by, I found that I wanted to find out more about him, the man whose vision had provided me with my dream job.