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Country Life UK Magazine - July 09, 2025

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In this issue

Meet the coastal superheroes John Lewis-Stempel celebrates the depth and breadth of seabirds spotted over British waters, from the dive-bombing gannet to the pick-pocket herring gull Back to Brideshead Britain’s historic country houses are the much-loved stars of a host of films and television dramas, often leaving big-name actors in the shade, finds Ben Lerwill The Experts’ Experts Designers and architects from COUNTRY LIFE’s Top 100 throw open their contacts books to reveal the specialists they turn to when seeking inspiration for a country-house project

Are you there God? It's us monks

NEWLY rediscovered music sung by medieval monks will echo evocatively through Buckland Abbey for the first time in five centuries.

2 mins

Be brave, be unpopular

THE Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, turns out to have been right all along! There was one optimistic conclusion in last week's definitive report from the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) on the serious effects of air pollution: the number of preventable deaths caused by toxic air has fallen from 40,000 a year to 30,000 in less than a decade.

2 mins

My favourite painting Peter Jones

Salvator Mundi, attributed to Leonardo da Vinci

1 mins

SAVE at 50

On the 50th anniversary of SAVE Britain's Heritage, Simon Jenkins, a trustee since 1975, looks back on the past half century of successes and failures

8 mins

Meet the coastal superheroes

From a heroic long-distance swimmer to a producer of spectacularly eerie sound effects, the seabirds seen swooping and diving over British waters have all manner of singular skills, says

7 mins

Back to Brideshead

What do an enigmatic Caped Crusader, a sopping-wet Mr Darcy and Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell have in common? Believe it or not, British country houses, says Ben Lerwill, as he set-jets around the countryside

7 mins

Suits you!

From knee-length numbers to a scandalous suit denounced by the Pope, the colourful history of swimwear has been brought to life by a glamorous London exhibition. Deborah Nicholls-Lee dives in

6 mins

The Experts' Experts

COUNTRY LIFE'S Top 100 designers and architects reveal the outstanding specialists on whom they rely

9 mins

It’s all about the view

As the second-home market continues to stall, buyers looking to secure a permanent home by the sea have some exciting coastal properties to consider

6 mins

Like a duck to water

There's no denying the appeal of waterfront property, which now sells for some 51% more than its inland equivalent, finds Knight Frank. Annabel Dixon explores the shore

3 mins

Sheer bliss

The garden at Ash Park in the South Hams, Devon The home of Chris and Cathryn Vanderspar

5 mins

À la recherche du temps perdu

LAST month, I revisited our old house in France. We lived on the Cherbourg Peninsula for 14 years and made a garden where we never ran out of space to plant more trees and shrubs.

3 mins

A smell by any other name

Reminiscent of love and with an unmistakable odour of death, the little stinkers of the natural world might incite repulsion, but they are only doing their job, pleads

3 mins

Heavy petal

A new book on botanical bas-reliefs—exquisite casts of plants—is a testament to one artist's relationship with the natural world. Catriona Gray meets her

3 mins

I've got chills, they're multiplying

Descended from the thirst-slakers that cooled Arabian nights, sorbets are a beguiling way to embrace the colours and flavours of the season, salivates

3 mins

Long live the queen

In July 1575, Robert Dudley enlisted mythological figures to convince Elizabeth I to wed him. Exactly 450 years later, artist Lindsey Mendick reveals how and why she reinterpreted their encounter in her installation for Kenilworth Castle

8 mins

Tyger, tyger burning bright

When Tipu Sultan resisted Britain's colonial expansion, he was painted as a bogeyman and, after he fell, his kingdom was looted with shocking rapacity, but his legacy has long awed the British—not least William Blake and John Keats, as

6 mins

Call it a knight

Armigers from the Tudor and Stuart era had their moment last month, with a seal ring linked to Royal Exchange founder Sir Thomas Gresham and a ruffler once owned by philanthropist Sir Edwin Rich causing a stir at auction

4 mins

In the footsteps of a doomed queen

THIS is a Scottish book, through and through.

3 mins

The answer is hoverin’ in the wind

The rise and rise of raptor species has been a major success of the past half century, but it may well have been the downfall of the common kestrel

3 mins

The loneliness of the deep-sea diver

HERE are a dozen beaches within walking distance of where we live. The furthest is Long Strand.

2 mins

Read all Stories from Country Life UK

Country Life UK Magazine Description:

Publisher: Future

Category: Lifestyle

Language: English

Frequency: Weekly

Country Life; architecture, gardens, countryside, property, the very best of British life Published by IPC Media. Country Life, the quintessential English magazine, is undoubtedly one of the biggest and instantly recognisable brands in the UK today. It has a unique core mix of contemporary country-related editorial and top end property advertising. Editorially, the magazine comments in-depth on a wide variety of subjects, such as architecture, the arts, gardens and gardening, travel, the countryside, field-sports and wildlife. With renowned columnists and superb photography Country Life delivers the very best of British life every week.