CATEGORIES

One tuber to rule them all

Accused of inflaming passions, encouraging flatulence and generally being a bore, life without the humble yet delicious potato is unthinkable, swears Tom Parker Bowles

No going back

By the time the monarchy was restored in 1660, the ravages of the Civil War had wrought so much damage on our mighty oaks and imposing castles that the landscape had changed forever, says Anna Keay

Desert Island Discs

Britain’s greatest masterpieces

A fresh look at the 1980s

Later this month, COUNTRY LIFE will explore the interior decoration of a misunderstood decade

Always eat your greens

Much maligned thanks to the malodorous green sludge served up at school dinners, cabbage should be celebrated for its versatility and enjoyed steamed, then slathered in butter, says Tom Parker Bowles

A symphony in timber

The Carpenters’ Company, Throgmorton Avenue, EC2 One of the most remarkable Modernist interiors of post-war London was created by a City Livery Company to celebrate its craft, as John Goodall explains

A certain harmony of colour

Short and slight, monocle-wearing James McNeill Whistler was a dashing, combative character who sought parallels between music and painting, says Caroline Bugler

The COUNTRY LIFE Top 100

Planning to restore, remodel or re-build a country house? Or to establish a new garden? For the sixth year, we have chosen experts with the knowledge, experience and creativity required to get it right

Mad women go out in the rain

The rain-soaked, deserted Cheddar Gorge proves exhilarating

Like a moth to a precious tapestry

A campaign to save heritage fabrics from one of our most destructively proliferating insects is going well

Shear brilliance

So fine is this topiary collection, one might think it dates back to the 18th century, yet it has been created over the past 20 years by a former antique dealer with little interest in gardening

If the blackcap fits

Small, shy and chubby with a neat black cap, this effervescent bird sings its heart out in spring. Jack Watkins meets the blackcap, also known as the March nightingale

Ripe for the picking

Character cottages for less than £1 million

The store-cupboard superstar

Nothing beats griddled sardines fresh from the sea, but, tinned, these iridescent beauties can be feasted upon year-round, celebrates Tom Parker Bowles

Golden moments

It is 90 years since Golden Miller won the first of a record-breaking five victories in the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Jack Watkins looks back at other equine heroes of the race and assesses Al Boum Photo’s chances of making history at this year’s Festival

Happy families

Home is where the heart is at three family-sized properties that have not been seen on the market for decades

Dressed all in white

As attractive to artists as it is to moths and butterflies, the ‘White Period’ of heavenly spring blossom is upon us and John Lewis-Stempel couldn’t be happier

Charity begins at home

Built for the clergy, the military, retired estate workers and, most commonly, for the poor, almshouses are as important today as they ever were, finds Clive Aslet

A most welcome return

An award-winning restoration project has addressed serious structural problems within an important Palladian house and brought it back to life as a modern family home. Oliver Gerrish reports.

Power to the people

Long gone is the Thames-side wasteland– a new neighbourhood is thriving and the transformation of its centrepiece, Battersea Power Station, completes in September

To the point

An echo of a forgotten age, arrowsmith Will Sherman and his mongrel Bodkin spend their days in a Victorian forge surrounded by medieval weaponry. Ben Lerwill pays a visit

‘Sharp in detail, clean in colour'

Known as ‘the boy’ and only 39 when he died on active service in the Second World War, Eric Ravilious had already accomplished so much, thanks to his fastidious eye for mundane detail

This is me

In a bid for immortality, painters through the ages have returned to the face they know best. Yet these self-portraits are not necessarily a window into the artist’s soul, believes Matthew Dennison

In the thick of it

Wading through mud and rueing February for its fickle nature, with frost one day and rain the next, John Lewis-Stempel takes a moment to admire the heron’s ability to keep clean in the mire

Plantaholic heaven

The Coach House, Ampney Crucis, Gloucestershire The garden of Mr and Mrs Nicholas Tanner. It’s no surprise that the garden belonging to the organiser of The Specialist Plant Fairs is filled with very special plants, but it is the way they are displayed that really makes the site distinctive.

By royal example

A grand house ‘practically in the palace gardens’ of Hampton Court and another on the site of a royal hunting lodge in Oxfordshire show how to live the good life

Southdown sheep

ONE of the most charming passages in Gilbert White’s The Natural History of Selborne is his letter to Daines Barrington of December 1773, reflecting on how, despite having travelled the Sussex Downs for more than 30 years, he still investigated ‘that chain of majestic mountains with fresh admiration year by year’.

Love or lustre?

Inspired by the East Anglian countryside, a potter, poet and songwriter is reinterpreting shimmering Persian lustreware for the modern age, finds Lucien de Guise

Building on history

Harrow School, London HA1 The property of the Keepers and Governors of the Possessions, Revenues and Goods of the Free Grammar School of John Lyon within the Town of Harrow on the Hill. As the school celebrates its 450th anniversary, John Goodall looks at its early history and principal buildings

Think big

The old advice always used to be to plant small and wait, but recent innovations mean that gardeners can plant outsize trees with confidence, says Charles Quest-Ritson