Country Life Magazine (July 23, 2024): The latest issue features ‘Talking Dogs’ – The secret language of the shepherd’s friends, Shooting on Lewis and fishing on the Test; Fired up – the foundry that made Trafalgar’s lions; Loving lapwings; Building with oak and summer in Paris….
Whistle while you work
It is mesmerising to watch one man and his dog moving a flock of sheep using a language all of their own. Katy Birchall admires the almost telepathic connection between sheepdog and handler
Who are you calling a peewit?
The pied plumage of the lapwing was once a common sight in our countryside and, as Vicky Liddell learns, moves are afoot to halt the beautiful bird’s decline
Heavy metal
The heat is on for Catriona Gray as she visits the UK’s oldest-surviving art foundry, now forging a successful future hidden away in the Hampshire countryside
The dogs that ask why
Patrick Galbraith is confounded by a case of mistaken canine identity when he embarks on a day of walked-up grouse shooting on the Isle of Lewis
The tale of the Croque Monsieur
Armed with an array of home-tied flies, David Profumo relishes pitting his wits against the wily trout of the South of England’s crystal-clear chalkstreams
From little acorns
We have been building with strong, sustainable and flexible oak since time immemorial — and the art continues to thrive, as Arabella Youens discovers
To Paris with love
The 1924 Olympics were the crowning glory of a golden age for culture in the French capital. Mary Miers looks back to an extraordinary, liberating time
Willie Hartley Russell’s favourite painting
The chairman of the Almshouse Association chooses a striking portrait of a remarkable man
Fitting like a glove
Jeremy Musson applauds the success of Woodford Hill Farm, a new country house perfect for its old Northamptonshire setting
The legacy
He is seldom given due credit, but there would be no modern Olympic Games without William Penny Brookes, finds Kate Green
As different as night and day
John Lewis-Stempel’s detour in Dorset is rewarded by an early-morning encounter with the enigmatic, elusive nightjar
The good stuff
Hetty Lintell is getting shirty with the best summer gents’ linens
West is best
Eleanor Doughty explores the top places for London commuters to buy out west of the capital
The odd couple
Caroline Donald hails the marriage of a 200-year-old villa with a contemporary garden in Kent
Kitchen garden cook
Melanie Johnson on cherries
Bay watch
The bay leaf wins the laurels as a symbol of strength, courage and wisdom, says Ian Morton
Our daily bread
Neil Buttery examines the rise of the Anglo-Saxon Lammas loaf
Boomers Daily 