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The stork cometh
A visiting stork causes great excitement, but no babies, and a cold spring holds the farm back
My favourite painting Lady Caroline Percy
Ancient Rome: Agrippina Landing with the Ashes of Germanicus by Turner
If music be the food of love
The summer opera season of picnics and Puccini is upon us. Henrietta Bredin advises how best to enjoy this year’s offerings
When it all goes pear-shaped
Not to be confused with cider, the art of perry-making is more than a craft–it’s an English passion. Ben Lerwill meets some of our best producers of fermented pear juice
I vow to thee, my 'very stinking herb'
Having trodden the fine line between love and hate, Tom Parker Bowles finds that what once tasted vile is now sweetly seductive: yes, he has fallen in lust with coriander
Slowly does it
Oxleaze Farm, near Lechlade, Gloucestershire The home of Mr and Mrs Charles Mann | The making of this Cotswold garden has taken place bit by bit, as time and circumstances have allowed, and the results are immensely satisfying, says Kendra Wilson
Turning fantasy into reality
What do hotels have to teach us about designing a bedroom?
Putting the house in order
Having vowed to ‘commit more fishing’ this year, our correspondent plunges into his gallimaufry of flies and collection of good-luck charms in an attempt to restore a semblance of order to his tackle room
Quintessential Cotswolds
The market in this delightful corner of England is as robust as ever
Get set
From Daylesford Organic to the Soho Farmhouse, western England’s AONB still seems like the place to be
For whom the fairy bells toll
Sometimes unfairly dismissed as ugly, edible wood sorrel, once known as fairy bells, is not only blessed with pretty white flowers, it’s also capable of predicting rain, says John Wright
The world's my oyster
On the 150th anniversary of the death of British explorer David Livingstone, Ben Lerwill asks why intrepid British men and women have long been–and still are–fond of venturing to the farthest corners of the globe
Tell me when the whistle blows
As Elton John’s Rocket Records celebrates its 50th anniversary, Steve Sutherland remembers the very boozy launch party, held in the unlikely, but charming Cotswolds setting of Moreton-in-Marsh
A nursery of inventions
7, Park Street, Cirencester, Gloucestershire | A Cotswold townhouse echoes the remarkable career of its restorer and creator, Rory Young. Alan Powers reflects on his influence and enthusiasms as embodied here
'What makes me happy is a project'
The nonagenarian writer on a brush with the Almighty and Harold Pinter as critic
All's wool that ends wool
From warm cloaks for the Roman army to many handsome churches, much of England’s might and wealth once rested on the back of the Cotswold sheep’s ‘golden fleece’, says Charles Harris
My heart is in the Highlands
Edwin Landseer’s visit to the Duchess of Bedford’s retreat in Badenoch sparked a passion for the Highlands that led to his best work and created a romantic vision of Scotland, finds Mary Miers
Unexpected baggage
THE definition of a guilt trip, courtesy of that great knower-of-all-things, Mr Google, is intentionally to manipulate another person to feel guilty about something they may (or may not) have done. But what about the guilt trip that is 100% your own fault and involves overseas travel?
Best of British
From Scotland to Cornwall, Britain’s bounds are bursting with new hotel openings. Friends of COUNTRY LIFE wax lyrical about some of their favourites
Ready when you are
WE gardeners are used to taking every measure available to us when sowing seeds. We study the back of seed packets, listen to the weather forecast, check a phone app, stare at the sky; tea leaves may even be read in the search for optimal sowing.
Who will wear the Badminton crown?
Badminton Horse Trials, which takes place on the weekend of the coronation, has long been associated with the Royal Family. Kate Green previews this year’s special event
Conquering the goddess of the sky
Seventy years ago, on the eve of the Queen’s coronation, Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the summit of Everest. Octavia Pollock considers the legacy of their achievement and what it meant for British mountaineering
New farmers on the medieval block
The ancient strip-farming methods pioneered in the Middle Ages are alive and kicking–and as effective as ever–in the north Nottinghamshire village of Laxton, as Ivo Dawnay discovers
Toast with a corona
Bolivar thinks the perfect way to celebrate a coronation is with a fine cigar
Fit for a king
Short of acquiring a royal palace, there is ‘nothing of this grandeur or provenance so close to central London’
Marks of distinction
The garden at Tichborne House, Tichborne, Hampshire The home of Mrs Anthony Loudon | Contemporary hedging and naturalistic planting echo the ancient field patterns and hedgerows in the brilliant remaking of this historic garden, says Tiffany Daneff
A lake for all seasons
Lake Como has been a popular summer-holiday destination since antiquity, but it’s increasingly worth holding off for autumn, when the crowds disappear and foraging begins, says Rosie Paterson
The king of collections
The Royal Collection, a record of our monarchs’ personal tastes over 500 years, is one of the last great European assemblages to remain intact, says Huon Mallalieu
A weekend to remember
You’ve already seen Big Ben and the Natural History Museum–so what next? Jo Rodgers describes her dream long weekend in London
The Regency reinvented
Great House, Dedham, Essex The home of Michael and Lucy Archer | In the first major work of his career, the architect Raymond Erith subtly transformed the Regency idiom to create a design poised between past and present, as Alan Powers explains