CATEGORIES
From Adder's Copse to Gallows Down
A quiet part of the North Wessex Downs is redolent with history and wildlife
Self-Portrait as the Allegory of Painting (La Pittura) by Artemisia Gentileschi
Charlotte Mullins comments on Self-Portrait as the Allegory of Painting
You give me cabin fever
AM I the only one to feel a little challenged by the pervasive use of the word ‘porn’ on social-media sites or in book titles?
Out of Andalucía
You don’t have to venture halfway round the world for a good safari, says Sophia Constant, who trials three different horseback adventures in Spain
King of the jungle
In echoes of Rudyard Kipling’s seminal collection of short stories, Rupert Uloth journeys to India and Suján Sher Bagh in search of his own Shere Khan
A real grass act
The great British lawn is a marvel born of our wet weather, gardeners’ determination and the Industrial Revolution. Whether you like it neat and smooth or with daisies poking through, it remains a paragon of beauty, says Steven Desmond
Give a fig
A FIG eaten straight from the hand of the grower in a market on the Greek island of Santorini ruined me for figs for 20 years. So juicy and luscious was that fruit, and the 11 that followed it on that balmy evening, that all others I bought in this country—picked ahead of the glorious ripeness that figs are born to—felt like leather on the tongue.
Crackling with good ideas
Tilly Ware visits Highlands, a relatively new garden surrounding an old house in East Sussex that is thriving in the care of innovative head gardener Chris Brown, who is introducing a rare and wonderful collection of plants Photographs by Mimi Connolly
Bring home the bacon
London’s streets are chockful of independent and alternative food shops. You just have to know where to look, says Emma Hughes, who rounds up some of her favourites
The fickle finger of fate
Once as reviled as he is now revered, John Nash stumbled, rose and fell again. Carla Passino retraces the life of the man with the face of a monkey
A roost for every bird
These properties in our capital will cater to everyone’s tastes
Curious connections
The walls of these storied properties have quite the tales to tell
In the mix
Kit Kemp and her daughter Willow are bringing the dinner table to life
What lies beneath
Minuscule springtails vault at the base of rough grass, ants march robotically to pursue their mission and, at night, female glow worms light the way with their abdomen. John Lewis-Stempel discovers the life in a meadow’s underworld
Sealing the deal
Fishermen might fear their competition, but most of us are enthralled by their huge eyes and eerie calls. Joe Gibbs goes seal-searching and tries to understand why one British species is declining as another thrives
'My sun one early morn did shine'
Whether a fiery blaze or a gentle blush, sunrise brings life, hope and a time to be at one with Nature. Six early risers tell Ben Lerwill what dawn means to them
Secret splendour
No 15, Kensington Palace Gardens, London W8 | After a period of institutional use and abandonment, a house created for a merchant and philanthropist in the 1850s has been turned back into a family home. Clive Aslet reports
A woman of genius
I KNOW people’s tempers from their faces,’ claimed preeminent 18th-century pastel portraitist Rosalba Carriera and images reproduced in Angela Oberer’s engrossing illustrated biography of the artist—the latest in Lund Humphries’s ‘Illuminating Women Artists’ series—testify to her out-of-the-ordinary insight
Weaving her magic
A childhood spent among raspberry bushes sparked Laura Ellen Bacon’s passion for sculpting the massive, organic willow sculptures that now grace some of Britain’s grandest country houses
Stars back in the limelight
Two rediscovered Rembrandt pendant portraits and a work by Sweerts are top lots among the Old Master paintings on offer at Christie’s
The man who dared to plant a shrubbery
OVER the past few decades, there have been regular declarations in the gardening media that shrubs are making a big comeback
Wave power
A modern kitchen extension was the catalyst for a bold new flower garden
A county of contrasts
Location, location, location… three properties currently on the market in Cheshire highlight the contrast in style, taste and price of a country house
The benefit of hindsight
Hugh Petter’s transformation of a house in Jersey demonstrates how a deep understanding of local architectural traditions is the secret to creating a seamless blend of old and new
Of fish and men
Visionary fisherman Mick May set up a charity to give cancer patients the opportunity to find some peace in fishing. A year after his death, our correspondent joins the trustees for a day in pursuit of trout to honour his friend’s memory
Nothing but sunshine and a sea breeze
A game of beach cricket with captains and kings leaves Steve King with hazy memories, but the all-encompassing glow of a perfect game despite losing by three wickets)
A question of balance
In the age of industrialised agriculture, can our intervention ever truly nurture ecological harmony? We cannot better Nature, but we can enhance it
'Deer need to be managed'
WHEN asked how many wild deer there are in Britain, British Deer Society (BDS) chief executive David McAuley replies ruefully: ‘Too many.’ The charity, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary, aims to ‘educate and inspire’ the public about deer, but also to impress upon them that they need management
Swiftly does it
The one bird you might never see at rest, swifts feed, drink and socialise on the wing, flying thousands of miles and almost never touching down. Yet the future of these near-perfect birds is up in the air
'There's something regal about them'
Once the scourge of gamekeepers, lurchers have since leapt to dizzying heights of desirability and w make endearing family pets