CATEGORIES

A Nose for Nature -With an uncanny ability to detect elusive species in the wild, dogs are poised to play a vital role in conservation and biosecurity.

Ꮓiba seems to be the perfect colleague: hard-working, efficient and fun to be around. However, Ziba isn't a person; she's a conservation detection dog, especially trained to sniff out the presence of rare bats and birds. The sixyear-old German shorthaired pointer is one of an increasing number of dogs helping to conserve wildlife. Similar to sniffer dogs employed to detect drugs or explosives, these detection dogs are using their extraordinary sense of smell to identify anything from great crested newts to pine martens.

Duck and Cover - With a comical and heart-warming call, the eider or 'cuddy duck' is a convivial bird that was highly favoured and protected by Northumberland's patron saint, says

Anyone who has spent time on the rugged, castle-fringed coast of Northumberland will be familiar with the call of the eider duck. The male emits a fluty 'ahoooh' that sounds amazed and a little censorious. The female responds with a throaty cackle-Dame Barbara Windsor to the drake's Kenneth Williams, if you like. There's something good humoured, fond and comforting in the eiders' calling. It evokes feelings of nostalgia even in those hearing it for the first time.

Not to be sneezed at

The ritual and performance of snuff, the 'titillating dust' that has fuelled creativity and enhanced social situations since the 16th century, is still popular today, discovers

Where her tears fell, asters grew

Small-flowered asters, with their quiet beauty and clouds of starry blooms, are the final shout of autumn, advises

You had me at Merlot

The British wine industry is growing at a rate of Nebuchadnezzars, altering the palate of the countryside market, finds

And they're off!

Four historic country houses with long-standing racing credentials come to the market in prime sporting areas of Berkshire and Oxfordshire

Hooked on classics

A new generation of designers is learning the language of Greek and Roman architecture, finds

England at its best

The Exmoor National Park Authority is celebrating its 70th birthday. Kate Green recounts what makes this 'high country of the winds', of deer, dark skies, tough ponies and resilient farmers, so special

Once upon a time in the west

Having returned to the fabled Grimersta lochs and streams of Lewis for the first time in 40 years, our correspondent finds himself reliving the glory

Meet the tusk force

The Chinese water deer, with its distinctive tusks and delicious venison, has thrived here since escaping from deer parks in the 19th century. Paula Lester stalks one for her supper

This perfumed arcadia

Home to the iconic skylark, the chalk downlands are as colourful and botanically diverse as rainforest. John Lewis-Stempel explores England's oldest manmade habitat

Murder on the palace floor

The Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh The official residence in Scotland of His Majesty the King

A berry timely harvest

AS summer leans into autumn and either end of the day anticipates the season to come, I occasionally find myself checking the slowly colouring fruit of the Chilean guava hedge that edges one of the perennial beds.

The rest is history

Narrative art that explored religious, mythological, historical or allegorical subjects took a while to become established in Britain, but, when it did, it was in its grandest form, on the largest scale and for a very long time, finds Michael Hall

The show must go on

England travel to Pakistan for a three-match Test series. James Fisher contemplates the sublime and the ridiculous

If walls could talk

Is it possible to take on the genius or character of those who have slept in your bed before? Steven King stays in homes with illustrious past owners to find out

That old chestnut

For the unimaginative Briton, chestnuts roasting on an open fire is the only way to go. Yet these sharp little nuts can elevate your baking game, assures John Wright

The world on the doorstep

England, Africa, Italy or China-it's possible to travel the world without leaving this imaginatively designed garden, which divides into four distinct geographical sections. Each one has resonance for the owners, reports Caroline Donald

To build or not to build

When it comes to the skyline, do we need to know when to say 'enough is enough', asks John Goodall

Pyramid scheme

In a city as large as London, the problem of where to lay the dead to rest is ever-present. One extraordinary unfulfilled scheme would have made space for five million, finds Jack Watkins

Best foot forward

Some of the country's finest estate agents let Annabel Dixon in on the secrets of prepping a country house for sale.

Nice work in the West

With hybrid working now a fact of life, four special houses in Devon and Cornwall are well equipped to more than pay their way

Pretty Chitty-Bang-Bang, we love you

As our fine four-fendered friend turns 60, Mary Miers relives the adventures of the magical flying car and reveals the little-known story of its creation.

Another string to the bow

For British luthier Roger Hansell, a chance teenage encounter led to a lifetime devoted to making the perfect violin, discovers Harry Pearson

Bury me in a willow-shaped coffin

In the osier beds of Worcestershire and Somerset, the wind is still playing in the willows destined for baskets, 'fedging' and custom-made coffins, finds Jane Wheatley

Mud-gilded places

Part water, part earth and a habitat of constant movement, the bleak and desolate estuary environment is an acquired taste. Yet this monochrome minimalism can be paradise, finds John Lewis-Stempel

Handsome and genteel - Mount Vernon, Virginia, US, part II A property in the care of Mount Vernon Ladies' Association

In the second of two articles, Jeremy Musson reports on the recent campaign to restore the memorable interiors of George and Martha Washington's country home

Love in a dry climate

Garden design in the Arizona desert is a matter of adapting to the weather and the terrain and being clever with cacti. The spectacular results fill Kendra Wilson with awe

The spread of Johnny Appleseed

DRIVE along a country lane at this time of the year and you may see an apple tree growing out of the hedgerow.

All that meat and no potatoes

More than merely super-sized burgers and fries, American food is a mouthwatering reflection of the nation's cultural diversity