CATEGORIES

The new English country house

Increasingly, flexible lifestyles are creating a fresh type of English country house that is a hybrid of home and office, with plenty of guest accommodation. Arabella Youens asks leading experts about the changing nature of the far-flung rural idyll

Further from the madding crowd

This year has shown that a five-day-a-week commute isn’t as vital to our working lives as we once thought. Now, the prospect of a part-time approach to commuting is creating a chance to head further afield. Julie Harding offers 20 destinations beyond a short train journey

The return of the bolt hole

From The Albany on Piccadilly to Bertie Wooster’s bachelor pad in Mayfair, the London pied-à-terre has had many incarnations. Could the rise of a part-time commute herald a new golden era, asks Clive Aslet

The workers' revolution

Thanks to broadband, the countryside is on the cusp of change, of a kind not seen since the advent of the train and the car, says Mark Hedges

Down to a tea

Most Britons would consider themselves fairly talented consumers of tea, but to be considered an expert, you would need to sample one million cups at 125mph. Roderick Easdale meets the professional tea tasters

Beauty in Nature

The Fraser Mortuary Chapel, Arbroath, Angus In the care of Angus Council In the second of two articles on the Scottish revival architecture of Patrick Allan-Fraser in Arbroath, John Goodall looks at the extravagant mortuary chapel he designed for the town cemetery

A newcomer's guide to the country village

For the uninitiated, the unwritten rules and subtle nuances of rural life can be baffling. Giles Kime offers city dwellers advice on everything from the parish magazine to the village pub

Green Fingers And A Business Head

The new RHS president on his own garden and what he will bring to the role

Where the writers roamed

Let the scenery and wildlife of these four Scottish estates inspire you

You don't bring me flowers...

The ancient craft of pressing blooms may not be as popular as in its Edwardian heyday, but the pastime is well worth revisiting, suggests Claire Jackson

The march of the tartan terriers

Scotland boasts five famously distinctive terrier breeds, all loyal, intelligent and amusing. Kate Green celebrates their heritage and appealing characters

Someone's been eating my porridge

Like Goldilocks, we simply can’t get enough of the stuff. Emma Hughes goes in search of the perfect bowl of porridge oats

Life is but a dream

Freed from the shackles of Scottish lockdown, The Prof ventures south to ‘kick some fin’ in pursuit of brownies on his annual chalkstream fix

Training for the Arts

Hospitalfield, Angus The property of the Patrick Allan-Fraser of Hospitalfield Trust Replete with late-Victorian collections and furnishings, Hospitalfield is today home to a cultural organisation for artists and education in the Arts. John Goodall looks at the driving personality behind a remarkable survival

Riding the winds

Attadale Gardens, Wester Ross After their almost total destruction by storms, the gardens at Attadale were brilliantly revived by Nicolette Macpherson and continue to thrive, finds James Truscott

Interiors: The designer's room

Henriette von Stockhausen has brought a relaxed feel to a reception room of a house in the Highlands

At daggers drawn

Once essential elements of every brave Highlander’s armoury, deadly dirks and sgiandubhs provided protection against foes, the elfin race and broken oaths, reveals Joe Gibbs

The Great British Food Revival

Buying local, seasonal produce isn’t merely a charming notion. It’s a philosophy with the power to save our communities, our health and the environment, urges top chef Raymond Blanc

Scenes and splendour

The Laskett Gardens, Much Birch, Herefordshire Kathryn Bradley-Hole looks back on a remarkable half-century of garden-making as Sir Roy Strong begins a new chapter in his life

The last Bonaparte emperor

St Michael’s Abbey, Farnborough, Hampshire Exiled from France in 1870, Napoleon III and his son lie buried in England. In the second of two articles, Anthony Geraghty explains how their Mausoleum, which remains a flourishing monastery, is inspired by French and Spanish precedent

The day the music died

The scheduling of live Proms concerts is cheering, as are other individual enterprises, but this masks a desperate situation for musicians both professional and amateur. Are we heading for a silent winter, asks Pippa Cuckson

Two go wild in Wales

Retracing George Borrow’s footsteps to discover his ‘wild hills of Wales, the land of old renown and of wonder’, father-daughter duo John and Freda Lewis-Stempel ask: ‘Is Wales still wild?’

Man revealed

Situated on the Isle of Man’s southernmost tip, the Sound is the perfect vantage point to soak up views of the Irish Sea and perhaps catch a glimpse of a passing dolphin or a seal basking in the sun. If you happen to go there at night, make sure you stop for a spot of stargazing—the Sound Restaurant’s car park is an official Dark Night Discovery site

Land of plenty

Award-winning producers across the Isle of Man keep things local by using the island’s bountiful supply of ingredients in their recipes, says Holly Kirkwood

Into the wild

From cycling to riding and foraging, Octavia Pollock explores the great outdoors on the Isle of Man

Home, sweet home

Years ago, interior-design duo Gemma Wasley and Zoe Guilford left their native Isle of Man to establish their careers. Now back on the island, they tell Arabella Youens how coming home has transformed their life

A Manx welcome

From Howard Quayle MHK, chief minister, Isle of Man

Old wine into new skins

In its 150th year, the Metropolitan Museum in New York has unveiled a new display of 10 galleries devoted to British furniture and decorative arts, with 700 objects on show. Clive Aslet is impressed

Holy mackerel!

Using a sprat to catch a mackerel– sleek, muscular beauties, much prized for being tasty, cheap, ecologically sound and packed with goodness–is easy for even self-confessed hapless fisherman Tom Parker Bowles

Who do ewe think you are?

Condemned as dimwits, could ovines really be the brainiacs of the barnyard, capable of fear, boredom, happiness band identifying Fiona Bruce? John Lewis-Stempel delves into the secret life of sheep