Described by biographer Kathryn Hughes as ‘the first domestic goddess’, she remains a byword for domestic efficiency thanks to Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household
Management, the first instalment of which, in 1861, sold 60,000 copies in a year and millions thereafter.
This story is from the May 08, 2024 edition of Country Life UK.
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This story is from the May 08, 2024 edition of Country Life UK.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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All dolled up
Automata made in 19th-century France provided inspiration for the work of American artist Thomas Kuntz and a vintage dolls' house, furnished with period-appropriate pieces, stars in a charity auction
Just keep walking
ALMOST 30 years ago, a chap called Ian Bleasdale wrote a guide detailing all the walks on the Greek Island of Paxos. He and his wife, Elizabeth, had fallen for the island's rugged charms and, after many visits tramping its networks of old paths, decided to share their knowledge with like-minded souls.
Delicious drupes
THERE is a peculiar magic in growing almonds. However often you see their soul-lifting, frost-risking flush of white blossom and however often you collect a basket of homegrown almonds, it's hard to lose the sense of glorious impossibility, that somehow you've cheated geography and climate.
It started with a blank canvas
The garden of Patthana, Co Wicklow, Ireland The home of T. J. Maher and Simon Kirby An exquisite small garden is rich in colour and texture and has been imaginatively extended, as you would expect of a painter's domain, reports Jane Powers
Escape to 'God's own country"
Yorkshire folk are rightly proud of their county's magnificent landscapes and rich architectural heritage, but incomers looking to settle there face strong competition from local contenders for picture-perfect country houses
By the light of the harvest moon
As autumn's whisper reminds farmers to reap their crops, inspect your produce for a suggestion of the winter to come, says Lia Leendertz
Building blocks
We can expect fireworks: Labour’s draft plans for a new planning policy contain subtle, but devastating amendments that bear closer inspection
Friends in low places
As special as orchids, as beautiful as bluebells and as important as oaks, our ground-hugging mosses are worth a look down, says Mark Cocker
Talk of the ton
During the golden age of gossip, the fashion choices of the Regency elite were frequently the scintillating subject of the scandal sheets, finds Susan Jenkins
Slopes of hazard
Skiing, ironically, is the safest thing you can do in St Moritz, says Rosie Paterson, who traces the Swiss resort's love affair with adrenaline-pumping winter sports back to a Victorian bet
