CATEGORIES

From out of the shadows

Barbara Hepworth fought hard for recognition in her lifetime, and privacy after her death. Now, with an exhibition celebrating the 10th anniversary of the museum in her name, it’s time to reassess her life and work

I may be some time

The author on early sadness and late-blooming fiction-writing success

Adventures in wonderland

From the new Italianate walled garden, paths and bridges lead on through the endlessly exciting garden of Colebrook House, Blockley, Gloucestershire

A question of style

When building a new house, the biggest choice is between classic and contemporary. Eleanor Doughty talks to the owners of newly built houses and finds that the answer lies in combining the best of both

‘We tell the story of England'

The chief executive of English Heritage on charity status, education and a broader view

The verge of the world

In 1927, the house and garden where Charles Darwin lived for nearly 40 years were saved for the nation as a monument to his research and ideas. John Goodall investigates

The Pursuit of Love

Britain's greatest masterpieces

One night stand

An increasing number of sprawling historic houses is available for rent for short stays, finds Eleanor Doughty

Pigeon pie with Mrs Crocombe

Audley End’s Victorian cook has become a YouTube sensation. Eleanor Doughty signs in for a lesson with her

The one true Canaletto of the north

Being the nephew of Antonio Canaletto was both a blessing and a curse for Bernardo Bellotto, whose brooding landscapes eventually emerged from his uncle’s formidable shadow, as Michael Prodger observes

Forever England

These quintessentially English estates are the perfect places to revel in the beauty of this green and pleasant land

Busman's holidays

Historians and archaeologists select the English Heritage property that would be their first choice for a day out

In it to win it

Foregoing chocolate, running every day and riding out multiple lots before starting her day job as Chief Sub-Editor of COUNTRY LIFE mean that Octavia Pollock is ready to race to victory in next week’s Magnolia Cup at Glorious Goodwood

A real pleasure

In the hands of English Heritage, the care and restoration of the striking mid-19th-century garden of Brodsworth Hall, South Yorkshire, is producing truly impressive results, writes Tiffany Daneff

Of Bankruptcy And Birds

The fam-ily motto of the Marquess of Aberdeen is fortuna sequatur, or ‘let fortune follow’. However, reading Simon Welfare’s tale of the 1st Marquess’s reversal of his heraldic exhortation, it is difficult not to believe a more appropriate motto would have been ‘no good deed is left unpunished’.

The soothing island

From forest bathing to beach moonwalks, Jersey is the perfect place to find solace in Nature, says Antonia Windsor

To a skylark

Hailed by Shelley as a ‘blithe spirit’ and evocatively celebrated in one of our most revered pieces of music, this brave little bird needs more farming friends, finds Ian Morton

‘Essentially a working terrier'

Comedic and affectionate with endless energy, it’s not hard to see how Border terriers steal hearts, be it Lorraine Kelly’s or Sir Andy Murray’s –but beware the prey drive, warns Katy Birchall

Strawberry fields forever

Plump, buxom, sweet, juicy and with curves in all the right places, the strawberry is the very quintessence of an English summer for Tom Parker Bowles

Holding out for a hero

The battle for Trafalgar Park raged for a century and the Wiltshire estate now comes to the market after a victorious restoration

Onto the court

Winner of a team gold medal at the Commonwealth Games, Jersey-raised netball superstar Serena Guthrie talks to Arabella Youens about her island childhood

An island called home

Holly Kirkwood unearths some of the best properties for sale in Jersey

Around Jersey in eight landmarks

Penny Byrne explores the island’s history through some of its most fascinating monuments

A Greek revival

Taitlands, Stainforth, North Yorkshire Restored by Emma and Martin Sharp An exemplary restoration project has created a modern family home from a fine neo-Grecian country house that has been in institutional use since the 1940s. John Martin Robinson admires the result

WALK THE LONDON LINE

Our capital city is more inviting for walkers than you might expect, with meadows, towpaths, unexpected sculpture and great houses to draw the eye. Octavia Pollock sets off to explore

The Tale of Peter Rabbit

I DON’T know what to write to you, so I shall tell you a story about four little rabbits, whose names were Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail, and Peter,’ wrote Beatrix Potter in 1893, in a letter to a little boy, the five-year-old son of her former governess, who was suffering from scarlet fever. A decade later, these lines, only slightly adjusted, formed the opening to what has become one of the bestselling, most fondly remembered books in children’s literature.

My favourite painting Lorna May Wadsworth

Cornelis van der Geest by Sir Anthony van Dyck

‘Keep the momentum going'

The new Historic Houses president on leaky roofs, lobbying Government and VAT

Interiors The designer's room

The new kitchen of Lisa Mehydene’s Cotswold barn was deliberately designed to appear old

Far from brassed off

Those who play in a Northern brass band have a lung capacity similar to that of an Olympic athlete and, as Rebecca Oliver discovers, they’re not likely to run out of puff any time soon