IF only spread counted towards becoming a UK champion tree, the Magnolia campbellii at Lukesland, a former hunting lodge above Ivybridge and two fields below Dartmoor, would well qualify: its branches reach an impressive 95ft across. Alas, there is one at Borde Hill in West Sussex with a wider trunk girth, so it takes the credit, but, in the end, what’s in a title? In full flower in March, Lukesland’s magnolia is a magnificent sight. Although, says Rosemary Howell, such a display is a rare treat in a garden 600ft above sea level: ‘Most years, the flowers start coming out and then it is frosted.’
Good things come to those who wait, however, and Mrs Howell has witnessed the mag- nolia’s display many times. She has known Lukesland since the 1950s, when she would come camping on Dartmoor as a Cambridgeuniversity friend of Brian Howell, whom she would later marry. His parents Howard and Muriel had bought the estate in 1930: ‘It was the Depression, so there were a lot of estates going quite cheaply. They decided on this because my mother-in-law wanted to hunt on the moor,’ explains Mrs Howell, who moved to the Victorian Gothic house in 1975 with her husband. He died in 2003 and she still lives there with her son, John, and his wife, Lorna.
Denne historien er fra March 15, 2023-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra March 15, 2023-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Happiness in small things
Putting life into perspective and forces of nature in farming
Colour vision
In an eye-baffling arrangement of geometric shapes, a sinister-looking clown and a little girl, Test Card F is one of television’s most enduring images, says Rob Crossan
'Without fever there is no creation'
Three of the top 10 operas performed worldwide are by the emotionally volatile Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, who died a century ago. Henrietta Bredin explains how his colourful life influenced his melodramatic plot lines
The colour revolution
Toxic, dull or fast-fading pigments had long made it tricky for artists to paint verdant scenes, but the 19th century ushered in a viridescent explosion of waterlili
Bullace for you
The distinction between plums, damsons and bullaces is sweetly subtle, boiling down to flavour and aesthetics, but don’t eat the stones, warns John Wright
Lights, camera, action!
Three remarkable country houses, two of which have links to the film industry, the other the setting for a top-class croquet tournament, are anything but ordinary
I was on fire for you, where did you go?
In Iceland, a land with no monks or monkeys, our correspondent attempts to master the art of fishing light’ for Salmo salar, by stroking the creases and dimples of the Midfjardara river like the features of a loved one
Bravery bevond belief
A teenager on his gap year who saved a boy and his father from being savaged by a crocodile is one of a host of heroic acts celebrated in a book to mark the 250th anniversary of the Royal Humane Society, says its author Rupert Uloth
Let's get to the bottom of this
Discovering a well on your property can be viewed as a blessing or a curse, but all's well that ends well, says Deborah Nicholls-Lee, as she examines the benefits of a personal water supply
Sing on, sweet bird
An essential component of our emotional relationship with the landscape, the mellifluous song of a thrush shapes the very foundation of human happiness, notes Mark Cocker, as he takes a closer look at this diverse family of birds
