CATEGORIES

A glass half full

The days are getting longer, so why not maximise the light in a conservatory, orangery or vinery?

Wood you rather

These properties show off the elegance and timelessness of our most abundant natural resource

Bride and seek

Wedding-dress shopping should be a joy and nowhere is it more so than at Miss Bush, one of the oldest and most established bridal boutiques in the UK, whose 35 years' experience shows in its expert dress curation and personal service, tailored to empower brides from their first appointment to walking down the aisle

The proof is in the pudding

From humble origins as a medieval sausage, the pudding went on to become the pinnacle of British cuisine, burgeoning into a delectable panoply of syllabubs, flummeries and tipsy cakes. Tom Parker Bowles tucks in with gusto

Flipping heck!

As Shrove Tuesday approaches, Debora Robertson tucks into the humble pancake's centuries-old past and considers why this traditional feast day survived and 'Collop Monday' did not

As high as a red kite

Having nearly died out as recently as 40 years ago, the red kite has made a remarkable comeback thanks to a concerted conservation effort, but is it about to become a victim of its own success, asks Eleanor Doughty

A palace for education

In the first of two articles, John Goodall looks at the origins of Winchester College and the inspiration for its superb medieval buildings

Native breeds: Aberdeen Angus

THE Aberdeen Angus is one of Britain's most successful cattle more than a breed, it's a brand', as a slogan goes-widely exported and commercially valuable.

British Museum by Sir Robert Smirke

\"Smirke was unflinching in his admiration for Greek architecture, which he described as \"magnificent without ostentation\" \"

Girl in Boater (Portrait of Florence Carter-Wood)

Charlotte Mullins comments on Girl in Boater

Not completely foxed

Scottish hunting law has been tightened, but it may not all be bad news

Town & Country

Swathes of countryside, including the Vale of Aylesbury as seen from the Chilterns, will be affected by the construction of HS2

Take a bough

Among their deceptively inert branches, trees shelter feathered Pavarottis, scuttling beetles, opportunistic fungi, and fierce owls. John Lewis-Stempel recounts a day in the life of an oak and the creatures that call it home

A monument to enthusiasm

Fawley Hill, Buckinghamshire, part II The home of Lady McAlpine and the late Sir William McAlpine In the second of two articles, Marcus Binney looks at a home filled with remarkable collections and striking interiors that reflect its creator's enthusiasms and interests

Water, water everywhere

After days of incessant January rain, the chicken paddock has turned into a quagmire, ghost ponds have resurfaced and a sheep has come close to drowning. But, even in a downpour, John Lewis-Stempel finds glimmers of beauty

The Cruel Sea

IN 1952, Ealing Studios boss Michael Balcon acquired the film rights to The Cruel Sea, Nicholas Monsarrat's grimly realistic 1951 novel about Royal Navy convoys operating in U-boat-infested waters during the Battle of the Atlantic (1939-45).

A different approach to renewal

THE Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, opened its doors to the public just over 25 years ago, in October 1997. Since then, the museum’s signature building of limestone, titanium, and glass, by Frank Gehry, has become an internationally recognised symbol of the city.

It's time to unite

IN a nation where traditional political loyalties have become very weak, our political leaders seem increasingly out of touch when they argue about the things on which they fundamentally agree.

One-year reprieve for ENO

THE English National Opera (ENO) will receive £11.46 million from Arts Council England (ACE), it was announced last week, a few months after it was revealed that it would lose its £12.8 million annual grant from ACE unless it moved out of London.

Dartmoor deal

A NEW agreement has been reached to allow wild camping to continue ‘with immediate effect,’ says the Dartmoor National Park Authority.

Winds of change for King Charles

PROFITS from a wind-farm deal on the Crown Estate will be used ‘for the public good’ rather than go to the Sovereign Grant, The King has asked. It was announced last week that six new offshore-wind-energy lease agreements, worth £1 billion a year, have been agreed.

Bonfire of the vanities

A BILL repealing all the remaining EU laws still on statute books by the end of the year has been described as ‘not democratic’, ‘inefficient, and possibly incompetent’ by critics. The Retained EU Law Bill was passed last Wednesday by 59 votes, despite efforts from MPs in both the Conservative party and Opposition to defeat it. The bill will likely face opposition in the House of Lords.

Eat cake

AMID the dispiriting news last week—that teachers are to go on strike, that the tragedy of Ukraine is relentless, that heating prices surge as it freezes outside and so on—came the pronouncement from the chairwoman of the Food Standards Agency that a cake lying temptingly on a shelf in an office is akin to passive smoking.

Still tottering

IN January 1993, in these very pages, a new cartoon strip appeared. It told the tales of a certain Lord and Lady Tottering and life in magnificent Tottering Hall.

Ahoy, sailors of the first Elizabethan age

A RARE Elizabethan ship was dis-covered in a Kent quarry last year, it was revealed last week. The ship was uncovered in April 2022 by a team from CEMEX, which was ‘dredging for aggregates’ at a quarry on the Dungeness Headland.

My favourite painting Kate Mavor

Charlotte Mullins comments on Munni

Rediscovery points to an Italian master

A well-travelled Bronzino, perhaps a self-portrait, is set to make waves in New York

That's got my bird name written all over it

Many, such as cuckoo and rook, might be onomatopoeic and others, including lapwing, owe their moniker to the nature of their flight, explains Derek Turner, as he takes a bird's eye view of avian nomenclature

Freezing points

THE Book of Ecclesiastes reminds us that for every-thing there is a season— a time to be born and a time to die. Gardeners know that there is a time to sow and a time to reap.

Eat your new greens

Whether you are looking for new flavours to tickle your tastebuds or something different. to grow in your garden, little beats obscureand sometimes strange-looking-vegetables, says Mark Diacono