CATEGORIES

There's gold in them thar schools

Some of the most significant treasures and curiosities in British history, from Henry VII's golden cope to Alan Turing's reports, lie not in museums or galleries, but, unexpectedly, within independent schools, reveals Madeleine Silver

Clear in the attic

Intriguing chairs, tables and bookstands peppered the Holkham sale at Sworders, but, for me, a lacquered-brass stick barometer in a mahogany case stole the show

Survival of the exceptional

The addition of VAT on fees will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back’, not only for stretched parents trying to do the best for their children, but for smaller schools and what they can offer. Lucy Higginson finds out how they are mitigating the damage

As good as gold

The glittering, jewel-like works by early-14th-century Sienese painters reflected the splendour of the city’s heyday and went on to influence courtly art as far afield as Britain and Bohemia, as Mary Miers discovers

Bitter together

Peppery, rocket-like and best eaten raw, this warming winter weed adds a decorative flourish to any humble salad, finds John Wright

Knock on wood

Our beloved, bark-drumming woodpeckers are guardians of ancient broad-leaved woodlands, busy ecosystem engineers and keen consumers of ant porridge, discovers Vicky Liddell

Timeless bridal jewellery

Bespoke wedding jewellery crafted by G. Collins & Sons will bring extra sparkle to the happy couple's special day and beyond

A glimpse of the sublime Russborough House, Co Wicklow, Ireland A property of the Alfred Beit Foundation

The redecoration of a drawing room offers a fascinating insight into the aesthetic preoccupations of Grand Tourism in the mid 18th century, as John Goodall explains

Lights, camera, action!

Renting your house out for filming can be fun, occasionally alarming, a good revenue stream and might even increase its value, finds Annabel Dixon

A pocket of Middle England

Idyllic Midlands counties appear to have been left alone by the hordes-all the better for those who live there

Little gems

A small space can be just as appealing as a large one. All that's required is some decorating derring-do, discovers Arabella Youens

Bay and vanilla crème brûlée custard tart with poached pears

In a large bowl, use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs and then stir through the icing sugar.

A brush with snowdrops

Tilly Ware meets the artist and galanthophile John Morley in his Suffolk garden, home to the oldest snowdrop nursery in the country

My favourite painting Sir Stephen Hough

Portrait of a Carthusian by Petrus Christus

What goes up, must come down

The welcome sight of a Cumbrian dry-stone wall on a murky February day offers John Lewis-Stempel solace, as he navigates the spooling, rocky path down from one of the Lake District’s cloud-capped peaks Illustration by Michael Frith

The legacy Ralph Allen and Bath

THREE men are said to have created the City of Bath: Beau Nash made it fashionable, John Wood made it beautiful and Ralph Allen made it possible.

An officer and a gentleman

Once so popular they were labelled the 'English terrier', numbers of smooth fox terriers have dwindled to worrying levels. Yet these smart and charming little dogs could rival the labrador if better known, devotees tell Flora Watkins

You belong with me

Drawing on his experiences as a troubled schoolboy, a burnt-out BBC screenwriter and an ‘awkward' parish priest, the Revd Colin Heber-Percy reflects on the value of being lost-and found in the forest of life

The electric limeade acid test

IN early March, in the way of a stop-motion picture jump, the bleached deathliness of winter lanes are punctuated as if from nowhere with electric limeade alexanders plants.

Shaping the view

Shaping the view The Cart House, near Boddington, Northamptonshire A Modernist garden was exactly the right choice for this newly converted agricultural building

Snakes and snails and puppy-dog tales

Two kindred spirits made it their lives’ work to collect the smallest great poems of the world’s literature’, preserving for children the nursery rhymes, games and fairy tales no longer handed down by their mothers

The ghost of golden daffodils

The flower remains the national emblem of Wales, but how many today are aware of the true Welsh or Tenby daffodil

Kentish variety

Renovations, showjumping and archbishops lend character to two period properties

History triumphs over invention.

A brilliantly acted historical play about two world leaders squaring up to each other outstrips two over-produced versions of Greek mythology, despite their imported Hollywood stars

The lure of Venice

Vedute, the kaleidoscopic views of the maritime republic made popular by Canaletto, so enchanted the British that they not only collected them in large numbers, but soon began painting their own shimmering visions of the city

Power games and the battle for beauty

The Government’s plan to cover the countryside in ugly pylons with seemingly no regard for aesthetics must be vigorously challenged

Mad as a box of frogs

With genes that bear an uncanny resemblance to our own, our amphibious frog friends have aided medical advances and captivated many cultures with their mystical powers, discovers Ian Morton

Follow the yellow brick road

\"IN the 100th year since the death of the man who saved the daffodil I from extinction, the RHS hopes to safeguard the bulb from the perils of a changing climate.

Picasso's mystery lady

A MYSTERIOUS woman has been discovered A under underneath Picasso's Portrait of Mateu Fernández de Soto (1901).

Centuries of starlight

ROYAL MUSEUMS GREENWICH has been awarded a £1.25 million grant from to transform the visitor experience at the Royal Observatory.