Country Life Magazine (October 1, 2024): The latest issue features…

Mud-gilded places

In the first of a new series exploring England’s varied landscapes, John Lewis-Stempel discovers a paradise for wildlife amid the bleak desolation of the estuary

Pretty Chitty-Bang-Bang, we love you

Mary Miers reveals the origins of Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang, as Ian Fleming’s beloved magical flying car prepares to turn 60

Travel

• Rosie Paterson digs out some private hideaways
• Steven King experiences how the other half lived as he stays in the homes of some illustrious names
• A trip to Tuscany is the perfect tonic for Pamela Goodman

The rest is history

Michael Hall examines the noble art of history painting through the output of such masters as van Dyck, Rubens and Fuseli

Inigo Lambertini’s favourite painting

The Italian ambassador picks a profound classical work of art   

Homesick for the olden days

Carla Carlisle takes a wistful look at history and admits we didn’t realise we had it so good

A Georgian triumph

John Goodall reveals the eight winners in this year’s Georgian Group Architectural Awards

Handsome and genteel

In the second of two articles, Jeremy Musson charts the revival of George Washington’s Mount Vernon mansion in Virginia

The legacy

Carla Passino hails the founders of the peerless Wallace Collection

Our last hurrah

October is the time for filling up winter stores, says Lia Leendertz

Bury me in a willow-shaped coffin

English osier beds are enjoying a revival, finds Jane Wheatley

Another string to the bow

Harry Pearson meets Britain’s master luthier Roger Hansell

The good stuff

Hetty Lintell goes wild for jewellery      

Interiors

Bright and beautiful paint and wallpaper, with Amelia Thorpe

London Life

• Rosie Paterson follows the V&A’s precious cargo
• Samantha Cameron is in the hot seat
• Jack Watkins relives Primrose Hill’s Death Pyramid plan
• John Goodall asks whether enough is enough for the capital’s skyline

The world on the doorstep

Caroline Donald visits the gardens of China, Italy and Africa without leaving Seend Manor in Wiltshire

Kitchen garden cook

Melanie Johnson on quince

Foraging

John Wright gets imaginative in the kitchen with sweet chestnuts

The show must go on

James Fisher can’t see beyond an England cricket win in Pakistan