Royal connections

The love of sporting pursuits is commemorated in kingly and canine portraits, as a cautious estimate proves far off the mark

Putting a face to a name

Art meets anatomy as our ancestors are brought back to life through facial reconstructions, discovers Michael Murray-Fennell

Labour of love

Laura Freeman is captivated by an exhibition that explores the different ways pregnancy has been represented in portraits, from Holbein to social media

Around Britain in 50 foods

The British Isles boasts some distinctive–and distinctly eccentric–foods. Kate Green and Melanie Bryan feast their way around the country

Paper pictures

Caroline Bugler is thrilled by an exhibition that traces Picasso’s entire career through his work on and with paper

No troubles at t'mill

Feel the rush of two exciting mills in Hampshire and Gloucestershire

Crikey, what crocus!

The Garden at Little Court, Hampshire A natural at gardening, Patricia Elkington typically underplays her role in the creation of one of the finest displays of crocus in the country, says George Plumptre

‘For the use of schollars and those affected'

The buildings of a wealthy medieval college were transformed during the 17th century into a school and what is now Britain’s oldest surviving public library. Steven Brindle isits a remarkable survival

The forgotten Brontë sister

To mark Anne Brontë’s 200th birthday, Charlotte Cory looks back at the life and works of this ‘runt of the literary litter’ and finds she was by no means meek and mild

Letters from Hillside

In the first of a new quarterly series from his Somerset home, plantsman-designer Dan Pearson considers the role of the gardener in the landscape

Daring to grasp the thorn

Could this be the best way to train roses ever, asks Val Bourne

A year of cut flowers

To find out how to fill your vases with homegrown flowers from now until December, Juliet Roberts talks to Becky Crowley at Chatsworth in Derbyshire

You're gonna hear me roar

At the dawn of a new decade, Ysenda Maxtone Graham sets out her wishlist for the 2020s and Victoria Marston discovers the icons that made the 1920s such a roaring success

The old English manner - Ogston Hall, Derbyshire The home of David and Caroline Wakefield

The characterful re-working of an ancient family house in the 1850s integrated its varied elements into an impressive and coherent whole. John Martin Robinson reports

Silence of the birds

Tom Streeter, chairman of SongBird Survival, talks to Kate Green about his charity’s ambition to halt the decline of the delightful small birds that provide the countryside’s musical backdrop

Pergolas, pillars and pencil cypress - Le Clos du Peyronnet, Menton, France The garden of William Waterfield

Charles Quest-Ritson visits the legendary English Riviera garden

Land of myth and legend: sorcerers, seers and saints

Strange things happen every day and, sometimes, there is only one explanation–a touch of magic. In the last of three articles, Amy Jeffs recalls the stories of Merlin, the Holy Grail and a miraculous salmon

If walls could talk

Two castles, one in England and one in Scotland, offer history, escapism and a touch of the unexpected

I spy with my little eye

Being immortalised as a Spy caricature in the pages of Vanity Fair was once a gentleman’s dream, observes Eleanor Doughty

Boeing, Boeing, gone

Major flight paths criss-cross over plenty of covetable areas of the UK. Eleanor Doughty explores what it’s like to live with a 747 soundtrack and whether it affects property values.

Beyond the tears

The brilliant, innovative photographer at the forefront of Surrealism was much more than merely Picasso’s mistress, says Matthew Dennison

An ode to my mother's farm

On a frosty January morning, John Lewis-Stempel builds a ‘dry hedge’ in tribute to the old ways that once abounded on the Worcestershire farm where his mother grew up

Land Of Myth And Legend: Origins

We’ve all heard of Zeus, the Minotaur and Icarus, but what of Gogmagog, Albina and King Bladud? In the first of three articles, Amy Jeffs explores the origin myths of the British Isles

Good Things Come To Those Who Wait

After three years of stalling, the English country-house market picked up again in 2019

52 Weeks To Remember

Whatever the time of year, there’s always something uplifting to do at a National Trust property.

The living legend

Barnaby Rogerson admires a bewitching array of objects that trace a 3,000-year old obsession

Take me to Neverland

Intelligent, devoted and adept at working all country, the flatcoated retriever is the Peter Pan of the dog world with a tail that never stops wagging

Life and sole of the party

Like a gentleman heading for supper at his London club, the assuredly aristocratic Dover sole enjoys a quiet life and is best served simply, says an adoring Tom Parker Bowles

Stick a pin in it

Baroness Hale’s sparkling spider took the internet by storm–and rightly so. The chameleons of the jewellery box, brooches are versatile, glamorous and prized by royalty. Now, they’re back in vogue

Roll on, Beethoven

He was the composer who ripped up the rulebook and freed music for generations to come. Pippa Cuckson salutes the tortured genius of Ludwig van Beethoven as the world celebrates his 250th birthday this year