THE DEFENDER Burghley Horse Trials is an institution, this year running from Thursday, 31 August until Sunday, 3 September. It started almost by accident in 1961, following the last-minute transfer of a three-day event from Harewood after a suspected foot-and-mouth outbreak. Today, the competition is one of only seven prestigious CCI5* events in the world. Burghley also boasts the biggest first prize in the sport of eventing, as this year’s winner will take home £110,000. It is heaven for the horsey and hound crowd (the event tends to herald the start of the hunting year, as stubbles are cut and hounds begin their early mornings) and just as essential as a high point on the social calendar.
Find great larks in the beer tent, cardmelting shopping and, for serious eventing fans, a chance to get the inside track on the competition in the Celebrity Talk Area. All of this takes place in the incomparable setting of Burghley House and its splendid parkland. One day at the event is never enough but luckily you can catch up on the action with Burghley TV, as it’s impossible not to get distracted while you’re there. We wish all the riders luck.
FOUR-LEGGED ATTRACTIONS TEA & THE TROT-UP (30 August)
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Rory Stewart - The former Cabinet minister and hit podcast host talks to Alec Marsh about the parlous state of British politics, land management and his deep love of the countryside
The gently spoken 51-year-old former Conservative Cabinet minister is a countryman at heart. That's clear: he even changes into a tweed waistcoat for the interview, which takes place at his London home and begins with a question about his precise career status. Having resigned from the Commons and the Conservative Party in 2019, the former diplomat and soldier has reinvented himself, first with an unconventional but promising run as an independent for the London mayoralty (abandoned because of COVID19 in 2020) and then as a media figure, co-hosting one of the country's most popular podcasts, The Rest Is Politics, alongside Alastair Campbell, the former Labour spin doctor.
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