Country Life Magazine – February 27, 2024: The latest issue features ‘Britain’s Top Dogs’ – Our favorites, decade by decade…
Previews: Country Life Magazine – Feb 28, 2024
Tag Archives: Country Life Magazine
Previews: Country Life Magazine – Feb 21, 2024
Country Life Magazine – February 21, 2024: The ‘The Fine Arts Issue’ – Artists who say it with flowers and the AI debate; Wig law, daffodils and how does your hedgerow grow?….
Artificial art
With the technology powering artificial intelligence advancing so rapidly, what can artists do to protect their original work?
Blooming marvellous
Michael Prodger examines how flowers have inspired artists for centuries, from the ancient Egyptians up to the present day
On a wig and a prayer
The periwigs that were a 17th-century status symbol are still a mainstay of our legal system, as Agnes Stamp discovers
Hedge of eternity
They have long been used to contain cattle or define boundaries, but hedges can be beautiful, too, argues Charles Quest-Ritson
Trumpet majors
Alan Titchmarsh takes a wander with Wordsworth as he dreams of spring daffodils ‘fluttering and dancing in the breeze’
Norman Foster’s favourite painting
The architect falls under the spell of a gritty, but humorous work
All in a day’s work
Jamie Blackett is ready to man the barricades to scupper plans for an unwanted national park
Brothers in art
John Goodall applauds the restoration of Leighton House in London, which formed the hub of a 19th-century celebrity circle
Man of the world
Mary Miers follows the globe-trotting Sir John Lavery from Ireland to Africa and beyond
Follow your art
An inspiring oil painting was at the centre of a heist with a happy ending, reveals Carla Passino
Where be dragons?
A protective force in China and Wales, but a symbol of greed and evil in England: Lucien de Guise delves into dragon lore
The good stuff
Hetty Lintell celebrates the best of the Art Deco era with earrings old and new, but always modern
Is this London’s most exquisite hotel room?
The astonishing King’s Lodge suite at The Connaught is fit for a monarch, finds Rosie Paterson
Interiors
Amelia Thorpe shares the very best of London Design Week
A seed of an idea
Tilly Ware meets the wild-seed pioneer ‘nurturing the future’
A tower of thorns
Ben Lerwill finds the salt of the earth on the coast of Scotland
Kitchen garden cook
Melanie Johnson on rhubarb
Love and marriage
A real-life couple are in harmony on stage, finds Michael Billington
Previews: Country Life Magazine – Feb 14, 2024
Country Life Magazine – February 13, 2024: The latest ‘How Do I Love Thee?’ – Let me count the ways; Rough collies, red roses and royal caviar; Glass acts – the coolest conservatories; Head start – why real gentlemen wear hats….
The romance of the rose
With its velvety, softly scented depths, the red rose has long beguiled lovers. Charles Quest-Ritson falls under its spell
Thoroughly good eggs
Tom Parker Bowles savours the unctuous delights of caviar from the mother-daughter team at King’s Fine Foods, ethically farmed and utterly delicious
Taking the rough with the smooth
Famed for their loyalty, rough collies are happy finding hidden sheep, bounding up Munros or simply curling up with children. Katy Birchall meets Lassie
In the hat of the moment
Time was when every gentleman of every background wore a hat. It’s time to fall back in love with bowler, beret and bonnet, recommends John F. Mueller
Interiors
Amelia Thorpe admires the most stylish conservatories
Sir Karl Jenkins’s favourite painting
The composer chooses an ethereal Italian scene that literally reflects his own music
Behind the scenes at the cathedral
Fiona Reynolds explores the environs of St Albans in Hertfordshire, from the longest nave in Europe to the River Ver
A Georgian reinvention
With imagination and style, late-18th-century Marlwood Grange in Gloucestershire has been transformed into a family home fit for the 21st century, discovers Jeremy Musson
The good stuff
Hetty Lintell gets a handle on the most colourful handbags
Music to our ears
As the famous opera house at Glyndebourne, East Sussex, turns 90, the gardens are more glorious than ever. Tiffany Daneff admires a symphony of planting
More pudding, pease
Tom Parker Bowles tucks into the succulent, comforting suet pudding, an old favourite that deserves to return to our plates
More than a pretty face
Admired for his portrayal of dewy eyes and diaphanous fabrics, John Singer Sargent rose to the top of the portrait-painting world. Mary Miers follows his career from peripatetic childhood to Society favourite
Previews: Country Life Magazine- February 7, 2024
Country Life Magazine – February 6, 2024: The latest features The Travel Issue – View the world from the very best hotels; The map-makers who broadened our horizons; Out of the ashes – Chillingham Castle rescued and Waxwing explosions and snowdrop heaven….
Travel
- Richard MacKichan rides with the eagle hunters of Mongolia
- Jo Rodgers asks what makes a good hotel great as we introduce Country Life’s inaugural list of the world’s top establishments
- All the latest travel news and new openings with Rosie Paterson
- Nigel Tisdall tails the elusive jaguar in Belize
- Catherine Fairweather is on the strait and narrow in Istanbul
- Richard MacKichan puts the fun back into flying
- Pamela Goodman swims with pigs in the Caribbean
A castle of curiosities
The history of Chillingham Castle in Northumberland is a turbulent and memorable one, peppered with family disputes, imprisonments and a live toad. John Goodall explores
Windows on the world
The urge to chart our surroundings is centuries old. With map in hand, Matthew Dennison ventures forth in search of mammoth tusks and globes
Irruption of the waxwings
Mark Cocker marvels at the exquisite plumage of this European songbird as it flocks to our shores to feed on a glut of its favoured winter berries
Get down on your knees
James Alexander-Sinclair joins the wandering throng as snow-drop lovers descend on Thenford in Northamptonshire to luxuriate in 900 varieties of Galanthus
Joanna Jensen’s favourite painting
The founder of Childs Farm chooses a rural scene to sum up ‘a picture of my England’
Groundhog day
The shortest month can also feel like the longest, delaying the arrival of spring, but what can February tell us about the year ahead? Lia Leendertz reveals all
Thunderous waterfalls and torrents hoarse
From the most dramatic plumes to the calmest cascades, we seek out the corners of the kingdom where water and gravity collide to magical effect
The good stuff
Hetty Lintell says green for go with a selection of stylish and useful khaki travel accessories
Interiors
Sally Stephenson on the secrets of illuminating period houses and Amelia Thorpe’s lighting picks
London Life
- Russell Higham on piazza plans for the Docklands
- Carla Passino meets the man who shaped Mayfair
- Martin Fone reveals the saga of ‘London’s Eiffel Tower’
Kitchen garden cook
Melanie Johnson harnesses the delicious flavours of rosemary
Previews: Country Life Magazine-January 31, 2024
Country Life Magazine – January 30, 2024: The latest issue features How British Rivers Got Their Name; Where to find a really wild man; Miniature collecting and more…
‘Still glides the Stream, and shall for ever glide’
From the Piddle and the Polly to the Yox and the Yeo, the meanings behind the namesof Britain’s rivers run deep, as Vicky Liddell discovers
Call of the wild
The protective, stick-wielding Wild Man that strides through much medieval art has taken on fresh meaning in recent times, reveals Susan Owens
Chainsaw gardening
Taking a blade to our gardens may seem drastic, but a severe pruning sometimes leaves plants and trees in better health, suggests Charles Quest-Ritson
There is wonder in the little things
Huon Mallalieu puts miniatures under the microscope and finds a world of small marvels celebrating power, loyalty and love
Allan Mallinson’s favourite painting
The military historian chooses a moving First World War scene
Murder most pitiful
John Goodall investigates the dramatic events that shaped the history of 18th-century Gilmerton House in Lothian
The devil makes work for idle hands
As dedicated craftspeople fashion a revival in the art of needlepoint, Matthew Dennison can see a pattern emerging
‘Full of a watchful intentness’
John Lewis-Stempel embraces the ‘faerie enchantment’ of the heath as he visits the inspiration for a classic Thomas Hardy novel
Interiors
Matthew Dennison celebrates the Soane chimneypiece that is still hot property after 200 years and Amelia Thorpe’s selections keep the home fires burning
Lord of the rings
Ben Lerwill meets Simon Turner, an arboreal artist who creates wonderful ceramics using the contours and curves of trees
Luxury
Hetty Lintell on high fashion in the Highlands, switching off the stress and astonishing rubies, plus some of McFly drummer Harry Judd’s favourite things
Kitchen garden cook
Melanie Johnson knows her onions, giving an understated kitchen staple a starring role
Ireland’s call
The well-oiled Ireland winning machine can repel France’s strength in depth to retain rugby’s Six Nations Championship, argues Owain Jones
And much more
Previews: Country Life Magazine-January 17, 2024
Country Life Magazine – January 17, 2024: The latest issue features ‘Floral Fireworks’ – The National Collection of Dahlias; The Bridges of Britain; and the Arts-and-Crafts masterpieces of Madresfield Court, Worcestershire…
Floral fireworks
Kirsty Fergusson visits the new home of the 1,700-strong National Collection of Dahlias and reveals which blooms to order now for late-summer colour
The Bridges of Britain
Our greatest bridges span the ages and have the power to inspire both awe and admiration, as Jack Watkins discovers
Cold cures
The beautiful and practical cast-iron Victorian cloche is making a comeback. Tiffany Daneff investigates the revival of the miniature glass house
Twist and shout
Tiffany Daneff visits Morton Hall Gardens in Worcestershire to discover the secret of its owner’s intriguing new clematis-training technique
Why, why, why weigela?
New forms of this easy-to-grow garden shrub have repeating flowers in wonderful colours — no wonder they are hot sellers, suggests Charles Quest-Ritson
Previews: Country Life Magazine-January 10, 2024
Country Life Magazine – January 9, 2024: The latest issue features ‘Walk This Way’ – England’s secret sunken roads; Return of the curly-coated retriever; Tom Parker Bowles on the comfort of pie; Britain’s most poisonous plants, and more…
Curls, curls, curls
The intelligent, powerful curly-coated retriever was favoured by the Victorians and is still winning plaudits as a working breed, discovers Katy Birchall
Rolling in the deep
Ben Lerwill follows in the foot-steps of our ancestors to explore the history of holloways, those sunken and often secret routes criss-crossing the countryside
Little crop of horrors
From hemlock and henbane to giant hogweed, Britain is home to a host of poisonous plants. John Wright reveals how to spot the dangerous and the deadly
Why we all cry for pie
Tom Parker Bowles earns his crust with an ode to the enduring appeal of this humble, yet oh so heavenly savoury creation
Lady Violet Manners’s favourite painting
The broadcaster chooses a poignant work that speaks of absolute parental devotion
A distant horizon conquered
Fiona Reynolds explores the ancient Wiltshire Downs, with her sights set firmly on the far-off landmark of Cherhill Monument
The future as a footstool
The landmark 1980s restoration of London’s Liverpool Street Station is under threat from new proposals, argues Ptolemy Dean
The Midas touch
In the first of two articles, John Goodall investigates the early history of Madresfield Court, Worcestershire, which has been in the same family for 900 years
I can’t believe it’s British butter
Butter is making a comeback in a welcome celebration of our dairy heritage—Jenny Linford meets the artisan makers who are helping to spread the word
The good stuff
Tackle the snow in style this winter with Hetty Lintell’s pick of the best skiing accessories
Sweet dreams are made of these
The gardens at Villa Durazzo-Pallacini in Italy are Heaven on Earth for Charles Quest-Ritson
‘I have seen a very pretty thing…’
Lucien de Guise reveals how you can add a true touch of Ottoman opulence to your home
Interiors
Amelia Thorpe selects the hottest new stoves, fires and range cookers, and Giles Kime examines the growing range of options fuelled by bioethanol
Money for old rope
Deborah Nicholls-Lee looks at how hemp can help in the battle against climate change
Previews: Country Life Magazine – January 3, 2024
Country Life Magazine – January 2, 2024: The latest issue features ‘The Very Best Of Britain’; Marylands, a Surrey country house with a Spanish influence; artist Anne Wright’s miniature Daffodils and snowdrops at her small nursery in North Yorkshire; and how January weather can set the tone for the year to come…
The foul-mouthed Miller and the prim Princess
Geoffrey Chaucer created his Canterbury pilgrims more than 600 years ago, yet his band of travellers speaks across the ages, finds Matthew Dennison
Let’s hear it for Britain
Carla Passino bangs the drum for the British Isles with 50 things to make the nation proud, from code-cracking to clever dogs — and everything in between
Snow magic
Mary Keen is mesmerised by the array of rare and highly collectable snowdrops that artist Anne Wright is breeding at her small nursery in North Yorkshire
Keith Halstead’s favourite painting
The chief executive of the Royal Countryside Fund chooses a work that sparks memories of his childhood in rural Norfolk
Thought for the year 2024
Carla Carlisle enters the new year with a determination to remain positive, fortified by the sentiments of W. H. Auden
A fairy house
The glamour and glitz of 1920s stage and screen is rekindled as Clive Aslet puts the spotlight on Marylands, a Surrey country house with a Spanish influence
Baby, it’s cold outside
In the first of a new series on weather lore, Lia Leendertz reveals how January can set the tone for the year to come
Interiors
The bathroom of a Somerset house is restored with a nod to its historic roots, finds Arabella Youens, and Amelia Thorpe shares ideas for creating your own luxury bathing sanctuary
London Life
Start the year with an exhibition, says Charlotte Mullins, while Carla Passino assesses architect Richard Rogers’s contribution to the London skyline and Gilly Hopper looks ahead to the year’s big events in the capital
Kitchen garden cook
Melanie Johnson on sweet and nutty Jerusalem artichokes
Travel
Mary Lussiana stays at a land-mark luxury hotel in Marrakech while Luke Abrahams explores Athens in the snow and James Fisher dons his skis and discovers the Dolomites
New series: Arts & Antiques
Carla Passino investigates the centuries-long British passion for collecting antiquities and finds that all roads lead to Rome
Previews: Country Life Magazine – Dec 27, 2023
Country Life Magazine – December 27, 2023: The latest issue features ‘This Splendid Land’ – Landscapes, Landmarks, Houses and Gardens; The Art of Knot Tying; Winston Churchill’s interior-design tips; A unicorn in the garden – fantastic beasts tamed…
Figs, wisteria, and the roses that ‘are ridiculously easy to grow’
Country Life’s 10 best gardens stories of 2023
By Toby Keel
Long-standing Country Life contributor Charles Quest-Ritson is literally the man who wrote the book on roses — specifically The RHS encyclopedia of Roses — and back in June, he shared some tips on sharing and planting cuttings which proved enormously popular.
Previews: Country Life Magazine – Dec 13, 2023
Country Life Magazine – December 13, 2023: The latest ‘Double Christmas’ issue features How the Bible’s nativity story has influenced artists; the beauty of the gardens of Rockcliffe in Gloucestershire; In literature at least, the fox will come out on top in almost every brush with confrontation, and more….
Away in a manger
Love, pain, power and hope are all embodied in the Nativity. Michael Prodger examines how the Bible story influenced our greatest artists
The Bishop of Winchester’s favourite painting
The Right Revd Philip Mounstephen chooses an arresting Caravaggio
On the night watch
As darkness falls, the wild things emerge from the shadows. John Lewis-Stempel embraces the night
Prodigy or eccentric?
John Goodall explores Bristol Cathedral, a building of international importance
When Christmas was cancelled
Always winter, never festive: Cromwell’s directive cast a pall, laments Ian Morton
Made with love
Cast your eyes down next time you’re in church to admire the hassock you kneel upon, urges the Revd Colin Heber-Percy
’Tis the season to be busy
There’s no rest for the farmer, the baker or the cheesemonger at this time of year. Ben Lerwill champions the people who make Christmas happen
So, this is Christmas
Queen Victoria would feel quite at home in any of our houses this season, believes John Mueller
It came upon a midnight clear
Come one, come all, says Kate Green, as the villagers gather once more at the big house
The Editor’s Christmas quiz
Pit your wits. The only prize is glory
Luxury
Christian Dior, David Gandy, dinky toys and Sir Chris Hoy’s favourite things
Cold comforts
Frost-dusted and fleece-wrapped, the beauty of the gardens of Rockcliffe in Gloucestershire enchant Tiffany Daneff
It’s a wonderful life
Carla Passino travels the world for Christmas traditions, from Swedish tomte to Japanese KFC
Christmas conundrums
Turkey or goose? Stocking or sack? Port or Sauternes? Giles Kime poses the big questions
Think outside the fox
Clever and agile, Vulpes vulpes is frequently on top in literature. Kate Green turns the pages
Back to black
The Périgord black truffle is worth the price for Tom Parker Bowles
The peel-good factor
The rich scents of citrus permeate Deborah Nicholls-Lee’s Christmas
Sugar, spice and all things nice
Carla Passino builds a gingerbread house
On top of the mirey, merey moor
John Lewis-Stempel tucks his chin into his scarf and sets off into the frozen wastes
Native breeds
Kate Green advocates heritage turkeys
Boomers Daily 