WALKING WITH MASTERPIECES

Art is breaking free from the traditional gallery and its emergence on our streets and in our parks is changing the way we live, says Clive Aslet

This green and pleasant village

This slice of south London is an underrated arcadia, but for how long, asks Carla Passino?

Updating a legacy

Turvey House, Bedfordshire The home of Charlie and Grace Hanbury Never previously described in COUNTRY LIFE, this fine neo-Classical house has recently been adapted and refurbished by the seventh generation of the family that built it. Jeremy Musson reports

‘Mother Dear... remember me in your prayer'

A mammoth new work recounting the First World War, week by week, isn’t merely a chronicle of pain and suffering, says co-author Margaret-Louise O’Keeffe–it is a rich tapestry of courage, camaraderie and love

The problem with house building...

Housing development is conditioned by concerns that have nothing to do with creating attractive or sustainable places to live. Clive Aslet explains this scandalous situation and suggests what we might be able to do about it

‘It's very close to the human voice'

The four great cello concertos will feature in the same Proms season for the first time in history. Pippa Cuckson discovers why this mellow instrument evokes such emotion

What a relief

Generations have sworn by dock leaves to take the sting out of a brush with nettles, even if modern medicine disagrees

It's all going south

Our fishing correspondent ventures to England for a series of forays on venerable chalkstreams, where he bags a few brown trout and a lot of nostalgia

On the wings of love

Once oblivious to butterflies, Robin Page became so entranced by their delicate beauty that he embarked on a year-long safari to tick every British species–as well as some foreign visitors–off his list

Picture perfect

The market’s blooming in the South of England with three historic manor houses

From out of the shadows

Barbara Hepworth fought hard for recognition in her lifetime, and privacy after her death. Now, with an exhibition celebrating the 10th anniversary of the museum in her name, it’s time to reassess her life and work

I may be some time

The author on early sadness and late-blooming fiction-writing success

Adventures in wonderland

From the new Italianate walled garden, paths and bridges lead on through the endlessly exciting garden of Colebrook House, Blockley, Gloucestershire

A question of style

When building a new house, the biggest choice is between classic and contemporary. Eleanor Doughty talks to the owners of newly built houses and finds that the answer lies in combining the best of both

‘We tell the story of England'

The chief executive of English Heritage on charity status, education and a broader view

The verge of the world

In 1927, the house and garden where Charles Darwin lived for nearly 40 years were saved for the nation as a monument to his research and ideas. John Goodall investigates

The Pursuit of Love

Britain's greatest masterpieces

One night stand

An increasing number of sprawling historic houses is available for rent for short stays, finds Eleanor Doughty

Pigeon pie with Mrs Crocombe

Audley End’s Victorian cook has become a YouTube sensation. Eleanor Doughty signs in for a lesson with her

The one true Canaletto of the north

Being the nephew of Antonio Canaletto was both a blessing and a curse for Bernardo Bellotto, whose brooding landscapes eventually emerged from his uncle’s formidable shadow, as Michael Prodger observes

Forever England

These quintessentially English estates are the perfect places to revel in the beauty of this green and pleasant land

Busman's holidays

Historians and archaeologists select the English Heritage property that would be their first choice for a day out

In it to win it

Foregoing chocolate, running every day and riding out multiple lots before starting her day job as Chief Sub-Editor of COUNTRY LIFE mean that Octavia Pollock is ready to race to victory in next week’s Magnolia Cup at Glorious Goodwood

A real pleasure

In the hands of English Heritage, the care and restoration of the striking mid-19th-century garden of Brodsworth Hall, South Yorkshire, is producing truly impressive results, writes Tiffany Daneff

Of Bankruptcy And Birds

The fam-ily motto of the Marquess of Aberdeen is fortuna sequatur, or ‘let fortune follow’. However, reading Simon Welfare’s tale of the 1st Marquess’s reversal of his heraldic exhortation, it is difficult not to believe a more appropriate motto would have been ‘no good deed is left unpunished’.

The soothing island

From forest bathing to beach moonwalks, Jersey is the perfect place to find solace in Nature, says Antonia Windsor

To a skylark

Hailed by Shelley as a ‘blithe spirit’ and evocatively celebrated in one of our most revered pieces of music, this brave little bird needs more farming friends, finds Ian Morton

‘Essentially a working terrier'

Comedic and affectionate with endless energy, it’s not hard to see how Border terriers steal hearts, be it Lorraine Kelly’s or Sir Andy Murray’s –but beware the prey drive, warns Katy Birchall

Strawberry fields forever

Plump, buxom, sweet, juicy and with curves in all the right places, the strawberry is the very quintessence of an English summer for Tom Parker Bowles

Holding out for a hero

The battle for Trafalgar Park raged for a century and the Wiltshire estate now comes to the market after a victorious restoration