CATEGORIES

Prepare to be WOW!ed

FOLLOWING the success of the inaugural project last year, WOW! house will return to Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour, from June 5.

Curlew on the move

SOME 120 curlew eggs were transported to the South of England last week, the largest translocation of the threatened species ever undertaken.

Art is all around us

Wherever you are in Britain, youre never far from an interesting gallery. Here we present an eclectic round-up of 45 places to see art outside the big cities

Friends and allies

EVERY month or two, another new scientific paper shares the next increment in our understanding of how plants communicate. I love that. Every day, quiet interactions occur, most beyond our gaze; some harmonious, others less so. The tip of this iceberg of interaction is companion planting, where we take advantage of one plant's qualities to benefit others. This can take many forms.

A shimmering return to form

Spring has been slow in coming this year, but when the gates opened, the nurserymen, gardeners and designers once again achieved the seemingly impossible task of creating horticultural magic in SW3, says Tiffany Daneff

Natural flair

Town Place, East Sussex The garden of Mr & Mrs Anthony McGrath Charles Quest-Ritson visits a garden shaped by intellect and clothed in beauty

When the shoe no longer fits

Sometimes our homes can get too big for us, meaning it’s time to downsize. Here, we speak to those involved with the process

Hidden Herefordshire

The launch onto the market of three landmark country houses reveals why the county is increasingly seen as a quiet alternative to the Cotswolds

Interiors: The designer's room

This Chelsea bedroom by Paolo Moschino is an essay in timeless elegance

Taking good care

The best way to ensure that a much-loved collection of rugs maintains its appearance is restoration and regular cleaning

A right royal Derby day

Seventy years after Elizabeth II so nearly had a coronation Derby winner, Jack Watkins looks at royal connections with the great race

Heaven only knows

Our ancestors may have been God-fearing, but they weren't above misbehaving in church. Carla Passino delves into records of parish life and discovers a host of miscreants, from naked Quakers to veil-less women and squealing clerks

A little bird told me

After years of decline, the Dartford warbler has returned to the area of old Kent where it was discovered 250 years ago, reviving a feud over its name, finds Russell Higham

As we walk in fields of gold

In a scene straight out of a Constable painting, John Lewis-Stempel luxuriates in a wheat field embroidered with wildflowers, as noughts and crosses of swallows and starlings traverse the mellow May skies

Let's stick together

The countryside is for everyone and the problems facing it—and farming and the environment—will not be solved if the different factions continue to squabble, points out Julian Glover

Native breeds Hereford

THE docile Hereford cow, with its kind white face and striking mahogany coat, is probably the native breed that has spread most expansively across the globe-the first exports to the US were in 1817 and importers have included the King of Norway and the Sultan of Oman.

A rare place to rest

A modest farm steading has been stylishly transformed into the heart of a magical landscape and garden. John Goodall admires the sympathy and humour of the project

The money's on the wall

Charlotte Mullins imagines how best to spend a spare £10,000 on art and takes a look at five artists worth investing in right now

My favourite painting Beatrice Grant

The Annunciation, detail from the Polyptych of St Anthony by Piero della Francesca

A case of mistaken identity

A painting has been misattributed not once, but twice, and British dealers head for New York

The end must be good

ABATTOIR closures are causing chaos to farming and food businesses across the country, a survey has revealed

Farming to the fore

A LANDMARK food summit intended to tackle issues such as foodprice inflation, supply-chain issues, domestic investment and self sufficiency in food production has received mixed reviews

Where the wild orchids sing

The enchantingly beautiful native orchid is, tragically, one of Britain’s most endangered wildflowers, but it’s still possible to see them if you look in the right places

Stop the clock

THE best gardening days start with many possibilities, but no fixed plan

Move over Mrs Beeton

Credited as ‘the mother of the modern wedding cake’, the 18th-century housekeeper, caterer and confectioner Elizabeth Raffald should be better remembered for her great contribution to British cuisine, contends Neil Buttery

Making a modern castle

Castle Drogo, Devon, part II A property of the National Trust, In the second of two articles, Clive Aslet looks at the challenges of building a 20th-century castle and the recent work of the National Trust to restore it

Give it a west

Devon, Cornwall and Somerset are as desirable as ever

The kraken wakes

After what seems like the longest winter ever, the West Country market has suddenly gone into overdrive

Let's pull together

We all love to see a heritage train chugging through the landscape, but without the extraordinary volunteer dedication, many would be rusting in the sidings. Melanie Bryan selects some nostalgic journeys and Kate Green finds her local Somerset line thriving

The original Nature boy

Shakespeare wasn’t only the greatest playwright of our history, he was an avid ornithophile, a green man and a master of transposing the true power of Nature onto the page