1 What a difference a small change can make. Once he had traded his original mitre, bishop's robes and grey steed for reindeer, a sleigh, a red suit and a snappier name, Father Christmas became the world's greatest festive export, just about pipping to the post Mariah Carey's All I want for Christmas is you. However, across much of northern Europe, including the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland and Hungary, good old St Nicholas still fills stockings with nuts and tangerines on his name day, December 6, rather than at Christmas. And, at least in parts of Switzerland, if you have been lazy or naughty, 'he takes you away in a big black bag,' says Lisi Ashbridge, who lives in Marlborough, Wiltshire, but is originally Swiss. Terrifying, really.'
2 As an alternative to a large whitebearded man that comes at Christmas, how about a lot of little white-bearded men that come at Christmas? In Sweden, tomte, as adorable as they are mischievous, appear everywhere, from curtains and tables to counters, walls and windowsills, and family members often wear tomte costumes. Dressed up or not, Swedes also eat copious amounts of ham during the festive season-served alone, with cheese, with meatballs and, in the ultimate porkfest, with sausages.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة December 13 - 20, 2023 (Double Issue) من Country Life UK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
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هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة December 13 - 20, 2023 (Double Issue) من Country Life UK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Tales as old as time
By appointing writers-in-residence to landscape locations, the National Trust is hoping to spark in us a new engagement with our ancient surroundings, finds Richard Smyth
Do the active farmer test
Farming is a profession, not a lifestyle choice’ and, therefore, the Budget is unfair
Night Thoughts by Howard Hodgkin
Charlotte Mullins comments on Moght Thoughts
SOS: save our wild salmon
Jane Wheatley examines the dire situation facing the king of fish
Into the deep
Beneath the crystal-clear, alien world of water lie the great piscean survivors of the Ice Age. The Lake District is a fish-spotter's paradise, reports John Lewis-Stempel
It's alive!
Living, burping and bubbling fermented masses of flour, yeast and water that spawn countless loaves—Emma Hughes charts the rise and rise) of sourdough starters
There's orange gold in them thar fields
A kitchen staple that is easily taken for granted, the carrot is actually an incredibly tricky customer to cultivate that could reduce a grown man to tears, says Sarah Todd
True blues
I HAVE been planting English bluebells. They grow in their millions in the beechwoods that surround us—but not in our own garden. They are, however, a protected species. The law is clear and uncompromising: ‘It is illegal to dig up bluebells or their bulbs from the wild, or to trade or sell wild bluebell bulbs and seeds.’ I have, therefore, had to buy them from a respectable bulb-merchant.
Oh so hip
Stay the hand that itches to deadhead spent roses and you can enjoy their glittering fruits instead, writes John Hoyland
A best kept secret
Oft-forgotten Rutland, England's smallest county, is a 'Notswold' haven deserving of more attention, finds Nicola Venning
