CATEGORIES

Their stars still shine brightly

Last month, the stage lost three greats, but at least there are tentative green shoots of revival for their profession at some theatres

The Straw Ride by Lucy Kemp-Welch

John McEwen comments on The Straw Ride

Seizing the moment

Auctions and galleries open as long as they can, with international curiosities and thought-provoking artworks on display

Midlife crisis

Spencer’s love life was complicated and ultimately doomed, but it produced some remarkable paintings, reveals Tim Richardson

In search of the bony horseman

Herring-like in appearance, the shad was once one of our favourite fish, feasted on by the royal household. Now, it is one of our rarest, discovers Catriona Gray

Hot stuff

DO you think Roald Dahl was the only person in the land to pronounce the flower’s name correctly? Dahlias were not named after him, but after Anders Dahl, one of Linnaeus’s Swedish pupils in the late 18th century. Not a bad accolade, I reckon. Young Dahl must have been pretty hot stuff to deserve such an honour.

Design in a virtual world

The rise of the design webinar is spreading interiors knowledge far and wide

Antrim Coast and Glens

NORTHERN IRELAND still enjoys a largely undeveloped coastline, and the combined counties of Antrim and Derry include no fewer than three almost contiguous coastal AONBs. The most celebrated, perhaps, is that associated with the Giant’s Causeway, but there is also the spectacular cliff-lined headland of Binevenagh and, the largest of the three, Antrim Coast and Glens, between Larne and Ballycastle.

Tinker, tailor, soldier, spy

A suspected spy, Harold Godwinson, William Gladstone and a British Army colonel all have ties to these two Wiltshire homes

Survivors from another age

Two National Trust properties bask in a glorious Indian summer’s day

‘Access to green space should be a right'

The Nature writer on a lost civilisation, HS2 and the stress of having an opinion

Walk on Wye

Eulogised by Gilpin, Wordsworth and Coleridge and immortalised on canvas by Turner, the sylvan charm of the River Wye Valley is one of Herefordshire’s best kept secrets, says John Lewis-Stempel

My favourite painting Simon Gillespie - David with the Head of Goliath by Artemisia Gentileschi

John McEwen comments on David with the Head of Goliath

The last royal hall

Hampton Court Palace, Surrey, part I In the care of Historic Royal Palaces In the first of two articles illustrated with specially commissioned photographs of the interior taken at the end of lockdown, John Goodall looks at the remarkable history of Henry VIII’s celebrated great hall at Hampton Court

A road to remember

London’s premier design district is home to some of the world’s leading interior-design and furnishing shops, but its refined façades belie a bohemian past, finds Carla Passino

An empire of concrete

The National Trust is getting hung up about the presentation of houses and the British Empire. The real challenge of the moment, argues Simon Jenkins, is the future of our countryside and the assault on the planning system

Beautiful Britain Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty

Llyn Peninsula

A RIGHT ROYAL TRAGEDY

Charles I met a sticky end, but his taste for the finer things in life left a lasting impression on London, finds Jack Watkins

Britain's Brilliant Bogs

This unique habitat, millennia in the making, provides a home for numerous rare flora and fauna and is, at last, being recognised for its many benefits, reports Mark Griffiths

Paws for thought

Mary Miers enjoys a touching show of canine imagery that highlights our relationship with ‘the only thing on earth that loves you more than himself’

The millers' tale

Running one of the UK’s last working watermills has been a 25-year labour of love for a couple keen to pass the business to a new generation, as Paula Lester reports

South Devon

THE rolling hills here are softer than their Cornish cousins. Many are home to sheep and cattle that occasionally frequent the beaches below, others to row upon row of quivering golden crops that envelop you in their warmth.

The plants of dreams

Wildegoose Nursery, Munslow, Shropshire An abandoned walled garden in Shropshire gave nurserymen Jack and Laura Willgoss the blank canvas they needed to create a striking contemporary showcase for the plants they grow. Natasha Goodfellow reports

My shot of a lifetime

From a sky-high goose to a grouse bursting from the heather, everyone can recall their most memorable shot and the companions (human and canine) they were with at the time, says a wistful Adrian Dangar

Clash of the titans

With the age-old rivalry between labradors and spaniels–whether springer or cocker–showing no sign of abating, Katy Birchall asks the dogs themselves which breed makes the pawfect companion in the field

Go country and western

A wealth of fine properties in the West Country offer all the peaceful seclusion you could wish for

Don't snap, sketch

Trading our constant snapshots for a sketchpad could be the perfect way to slow down and remember to observe the world around us, says David Gillett

A theatre of history

In the second of two articles, John Goodall tells the story of the revival of Sudeley Castle as a shrine to English history and Henry VIII’s last wife, Katherine Parr

There'll Always Be An England, Won't There?

What would we save if England caught fire? Clive Aslet set himself the near-impossible task of choosing 100 ‘crown jewels’. Here, he explains the rationale for some difficult choices

A little slow on the uptake

More likely to give you a knowing blink than a death stare, the gentle slow worm is actually a lizard that has long been misunderstood and terrorised for its snake-like appearance, says Simon Lester