Game, setter, match

An affectionate free spirit in a glamorous feathered coat, the English setter comes in Robin Reliant or Ferrari mode

Stirring the pot

On the last weekend before Advent, families gather to make Christmas pudding-but they probably don't serve it with roast beef.

Native breeds

Did you know?

Classicism in the Deccan

The restoration of the former British Residency in Hyderabad has helped encourage local craftsmanship, as the architect involved

My favourite painting Gavin Plumley

The Druids: Bringing in the Mistletoe

Clarity not carte blanche

Developers need clarity as to where they can build, We need to zone our countryside to prevent conflict and the erosion of this limited and precious resource

Speak like a Georgian

The 18th century was a golden age of slang, with a phrase for every body and bodily function, from 'fubbs' for curves to 'fizzle' for quiet 'emissions', finds

Ariddle wrapped in a mystery

The late Robert Kime chose his pieces as much for their history as for their quality, but the stories of some of the works sold in the phenomenally successful dispersal of his collections may never be fully revealed

Off the beaten cycle path

I RECENTLY returned from the Taurus Mountains in southern Turkey after a magical week with The Slow Cyclist, a specialist tour operator I know well from previous travels in both Transylvania (Romania) and the Mani Peninsula (Greece).

Home from home

There's nothing better than settling in on holiday. Here are our favourite out-of-theordinary private homes and villas available to book in Europe and beyond in 2024

Down with the Durrells

On Corfu, a silent war is raging between developers and the allies of a way of island life immortalised by Gerald Durrell. Away from the big resorts, Jo Rodgers discovers that it is still possible to travel off the beaten track with children in tow

A nightingale sang...

Formal elements have provided firm foundations for a garden that is planted for wildlife and surrounded by newly established woodland, reports

America's 51st state

Glamorous American bars were once a familiar sight in London, catering to US and British citizens alike, but only two of the historic ones remain. On the eve of Thanksgiving, Robert Crossan goes in search of both

Defying gravity

Norman Foster gave London dizzying skyscrapers, head-turning apartment blocks and a bridge of light, as well as championing compact city living and piloting aeroplanes. Carla Passino meets the man with his head in the clouds

Anything but flat

The appetite for apartment living is on the up. Here are some of the capital's best new-builds

Whatever the weather

Sometimes, it's best to forget all about the warm embrace of a winter-sun holiday, argues Emma Love, and cuddle up in the cold, at home and abroad

10 ways to insulate a period property

Modern technology might offer sustainable, cost-effective heat sources, but the best-value unit of energy is the one you don't lose through your roof, floors, walls and windows. Tim Moulding, a eighth-generation builder, suggests ways to keep an old building warm

The comforts of the kitchen

The onset of winter has its compensations, not least the chance to indulge in the flavoursome indulgence that is slow cooking, says Tom Parker Bowles

An ode to winter

The silence, subtle beauty and certainties of a British winter combine to make it a breathtaking season of cold and cosiness, says

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