CATEGORIES

Welcome home

Despite the trundling tractor and buzzing shears, our ancestors would still recognise the rhythm, ritual and practices of the traditional hill farm, argues John Lewis-Stempel

When the saints march in The Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Albans, Hertfordshire, part II

In the second of two articles, John Goodall examines some of the recent changes made to highlight the saints associated with this ancient church

All gone to pot

Jars, whether elegant in their glazed simplicity or exquisitely painted, starred in London's Asian Art sales, including an exceptionally rare pair that belonged to China's answer to Henry VIII

Food for thought

A SURE sign of winter in our household are evenings in front of the television.

Beyond the beach

Jewels of the natural world entrance the eyes of Steven King, as Jamaica's music moves his feet and heart together

Savour the moment

I HAVE a small table and some chairs a bleary-eyed stumble from the kitchen door that provide me with the perfect spot to enjoy an early, reviving coffee.

Size matters

Architectural Plants in West Sussex is no ordinary nursery. Stupendous specimens of some of the world's most dramatic plants are on display

Paint the town red

Catriona Gray meets the young stars lighting up the London art scene, from auctioneers to artists and curators to historians

The generation game

For a young, growing family, moving in with, or adjacent to, the grandparents could be just the thing

Last orders

As the country-house market winds down for Christmas, two historic properties—one of which was home to the singer Kate Bush-may catch the eye of London buyers looking to move to the country next year

Eyes wide shut

Sleep takes many shapes in art, whether sensual or drunken, deathly or full of nightmares, but it is rarely peaceful. Even slumbering babies can convey anxiety

Piste de résistance

Scotland's last ski-maker blends high-tech materials with Caledonian timber to create 'truly Scottish', one-off pieces of art that can cope with any type of terrain

A touch of frost

As the year draws to a close, look out for the winds blowing us into 2025

Bowler me over

Much to the surprise of those who associate the bowler with post-war City types, the hat's origins are entirely rural, discovers Matthew Dennison

The legacy Henry Cole and the Christmas card

SIR HENRY COLE (1808–82) was an innovative and influential civil servant.

The rocky-pool horror show

An extreme and changeable environment, the seashore is home to horribly fascinating creatures with gruesome habits, so why is it our idea of a blissful holiday spot, asks John Lewis-Stempel

Putting in a Good Word

The home of the Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers Established in 1403, the Stationers' Company was long responsible for regulating the printing industry. Lucy Denton looks at the history of this remarkable institution and its livery hall

What to look for in winter

This is a season that few could genuinely love, yet as the leaves and flowers abandon us, the structure of the countryside is starkly revealed. John Wright takes the time to revel in form over flamboyance

The world turned upside down

THE day after my grandfather’s funeral, my grandmother sold the herd of cows.

Shades of grey

THE first grey-seal pup of winter has been born at Orford Ness in Suffolk, marking the fourth year of successful breeding at the site; the species first arrived there, post pandemic, in 2021, and now numbers some 400 adults.

For idyllic lunches

A HIGHLANDS picnic cottage frequented by Queen Victoria when staying at Balmoral has been saved from Scotland’s Buildings at Risk Register.

A Christmas less ordinary

AT the risk of ‘indecency and tumultuous conduct’—the reasons given in 1813 for shutting down the Christmas market outside Canterbury Cathedral—the precincts of the Kent landmark abound with produce, merriment and song once more this year, for the first time in more than two centuries.

Save our family farms

IT Tremains to be seen whether the Government will listen to the more than 20,000 farming people who thronged Whitehall in central London on November 19 to protest against changes to inheritance tax that could destroy countless family farms, but the impact of the good-hearted, sombre crowds was immediate and positive.

A very good dog

THE Spanish Pointer (1766–68) by Stubbs, a landmark painting in that it is the artist’s first depiction of a dog, has only been exhibited once in the 250 years since it was painted.

The great astral sneeze

Aurora Borealis, linked to celestial reindeer, firefoxes and assassinations, is one of Nature's most mesmerising, if fickle displays and has made headlines this year. Harry Pearson finds out why

'What a good boy am I'

We think of them as the stuff of childhood, but nursery rhymes such as Little Jack Horner tell tales of decidedly adult carryings-on, discovers Ian Morton

Forever a chorister

The music-and way of living-of the cabaret performer Kit Hesketh-Harvey was rooted in his upbringing as a cathedral chorister, as his sister, Sarah Sands, discovered after his death

Best of British

In this collection of short (5,000-6,000-word) pen portraits, writes the author, 'I wanted to present a number of \"Great British Commanders\" as individuals; not because I am a devotee of the \"great man, or woman, school of history\", but simply because the task is interesting.' It is, and so are Michael Clarke's choices.

Old habits die hard

Once an antique dealer, always an antique dealer, even well into retirement age, as a crop of interesting sales past and future proves

It takes the biscuit

Biscuit tins, with their whimsical shapes and delightful motifs, spark nostalgic memories of grandmother's sweet tea, but they are a remarkably recent invention. Matthew Dennison pays tribute to the ingenious Victorians who devised them