Home truths

Cash-paying downsizers will have to compete with families hoping to upsize for these three charming homes under 2 million

How to light a period house

Careful planning is the secret to illuminating historic spaces, says lighting designer Sally Stephenson of Owl Lighting

Irruption of the waxwings

Once thought to have presaged the First World War, these exquisite European songbirds are a blessing to our shores, says Mark Cocker

Windows on the world

The desire to chart the world around us is an impulse as old as time and some map-makers' efforts have an astonishing longevity, reveals Matthew Dennison

A castle of curiosities

Chillingham Castle, Northumberland The home of Sir Humphry Wakefield Bt and the Hon Lady Wakefield A castle saved from the brink of ruin is now a memorable home. John Goodall reports

The money's in the honey

PEOPLE in Britain are eating less bread. Last year, sales were down by more than 4% and prices went up by more than 16%. That’s bad news for the bakers, but it is also very bad news for those who produce jam and other spreads. Cutting down on toast means customers cut down on jam and marmalade, which have lost nearly 5% of their market share. For soft-fruit growers, this is a serious blow, exacerbated by the huge increase in their costs.

A river runs through it

The meandering waterwaysif Britain—in this case the Lyvennet, Eden, North Tyne and Taf—have seen it all, from glamping pods and rewilding to medieval village takeovers

My favourite painting Ashley Campbell

Charlotte Mullins comments on Iris

Spin when you're winning

It might be the January blues, but James Fisher is not feeling confident for England’s chances in India

Seed drill

I STILL find it magical that seeds carry all the information needed to become a full-grown productive plant. Our task is to ensure that this nugget of potential falls into the right place at the right time in the right way.

Wall to wall abundance

The Walled Garden at Whithurst Park, West Sussex The home of Richard Taylor and Rick Englert Growing your own is one thing, says Tiffany Daneff, but building your own walled kitchen garden from scratch is a quite remarkable achievement

The sweet spot

A house under £1.5 million usually offers good, family-sized proportions, while avoiding a jump to 12% Stamp Duty

All bark and some bite

A vital source of food, a pharmacy and a haven for wildlife, a tree’s living skin is a surprisingly sophisticated surface, says John Lewis-Stempel

It's the little things

AS well as Lindisfarne Castle, COUNTRY LIFE’s former offices on Tavistock Street, London WC2, and numerous country houses in the Home Counties, Sir Edwin Lutyens is known for designing a miniature, four-storey Palladian villa given by the nation to Queen Mary in 1924. This year, the Royal Collection Trust celebrates the 100th anniversary of Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House with a reimagined display at Windsor Castle, which opened last week.

Wildly out of whack

THE Government is far behind in its goal to halt Nature’s decline and ensure 30% of land and sea is protected by 2030, finds the latest damning report from the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP).

When God closes a door...

TODAY, the National Churches Trust launches its manifesto calling for urgent action to rescue the UK's church buildings. Every Church Counts offers a blueprint for how churches can be saved for the future,' explains National Churches Trust chief executive Claire Walker. 'With hundreds facing closure across the UK, a national plan is urgently needed... We are calling on Government, heritage organisations and Christian denominations to work together.'

The evidence of your eyes and ears

Podcasts are taking over. James Fisher finds out what they are, where they came from and what to listen to

Rooms with a cru

Successive lockdowns taught us to make the most of our homes, from the addition of everything from home offices to gyms. However, a wine room offers a much more sybaritic experience, finds Amelia Thorpe

Where grace is laced with muscle

Real or fictional, horses have the power to change lives, society and mass opinion. Red Rum, Frankel, Black Beauty, The Pie: Paul Hayward considers his top 12 transformational equine stars

Country-house Clawdo

Was it the leopard in the dining room, the jackdaw in the kitchen or the ferret in the nursery? Bronwen Riley presents a whodunnit of the worst-behaved pets

Nationhood and corporation - Australia House, the Strand, London WC2

An imposing home for the newly federated Commonwealth of Australia sought through its design and materials to celebrate themes of union with Britain and national self worth, as G. A. Bremner explains

So much more than a walk in the park

After 75 years, the job required of national parks has changed. They now need to be hothouses of Nature recovery, and it’s time we got on with it

All roads lead to Rome

Thomas, 14th Earl of Arundel, amassed the first large collection of classical sculptures in the 17th century. Britain's passion for antiquities has endured to this day, albeit with a different approach, as Carla Passino discovers

To ski or not to ski

'Falling over was easy, even on the flat; getting up was disastrous;

La dolce Dolomites

There's more to skiing than the French and Swiss Alps, says James Fisher, who goes in search of new adventures in the Italian mountains

There's no time like the ancient present

Athens, cradle of civilisation, is enjoying a rapid renaissance, says Luke Abrahams, and the best time to visit is right now

At the turn of the century

La Mamounia in Marrakech has a storied past. As it turns 100, Mary Lussiana returns to reflect on its successes and guess what the next few years might hold

Jerusalem-artichoke chowder with mussels and chive oil

'Sweet and nutty with a hint of artichoke, peel them with a spoon as you would ginger'

It's a mash up

'Floury-fleshed 'Kestrel' is better than any I've tried'

On the hour, every hour

The Greenwich Time Signal has been a ubiquitous part of BBC Radio for a century, but few know what it really is and where it came from, says Rob Crossan