Innholdsfortegnelse for 7-Mar-18 i Country Life

A mid-19th century burr walnut breakfront Wellington chest of diminutive proportions, made in England, circa 1840.To be exhibited at BADA 2018 by Freshfords Fine Antiques, specialists in 18th and early 19th century English furniture and objets d’art since 1987 www.freshfords.com Silver medal awarded for ‘best breeding sow with litter’ by the Queen’s County (now known as County Laois) Agricultural Society, 1863. The recipient R.G. Cosby was a member of the Cosby family who have owned Stradbally Hall since the 16th century. From historic medals and commemorative antiques specialist Timothy Millett Ltd www.historicmedals.com ‘Gimcrack’, published in London in 1817, etching and stipple engraving by George Townly Stubbs, after the painting by his uncle, George Stubbs, which was commissioned by Lord Grosvenor and issued in 1775. From Isaac and Ede, specialists in…

ON March 22, a complete set of bound volumes of COUNTRY LIFE will go under the hammer at Forum Auctions (first ever cover, right), which the auctioneer calls ‘a very rare event indeed’. The collection is being sold by 96-year-old Donald Cameron of Sussex who started in the late 1940s: ‘I was interested in country-house architecture from my teens and I spotted a set of 18 bound COUNTRY LIFE volumes in a second-hand bookshop, which I bought for £15. It took me 30 years to complete the whole set and I have kept it up to date since.’ For Mr Cameron, this was not just an armchair interest. After serving in the Royal Navy, he went up to Oxford and then worked as an insurance broker for 25 years in…

TECHNOLOGICAL advancements that will make the advent of the tractor and the combine harvester look like ‘a minor twist in the rural tale’ are ushering British agriculture into a new era, according to new NFU president Minette Batters. In her inaugural speech last week, Mrs Batters identified Brexit as one of two ‘seismic’ changes agriculture is facing today. While reaffirming the need for frictionless trade with the EU, she said ‘we must now pull together and make Brexit work for Britain’. Far less acknowledged than Brexit, but equally impactful, is technological progress, which is already transforming the sector, according to the NFU president. ‘We are adapting artificial intelligence… and capitalising on space technology and satellites to steer driverless tractors or… target our chemical usage.’ She believes Britain is ‘on the…

WITH the mighty ‘Beast from the East’ holding the countryside in its perishing grip, I can’t help but admire the way the cold snap has caused the frost on my car to fracture into spindly veins of ice, almost as if a delicate web of white lines has been etched into the black paintwork. And, although a light smattering of snow over our little hamlet means the hamstone houses wouldn’t look out of place on a twee Christmas card, I know as I write this that, no matter how many flakes fall in the next few days, it’s unlikely to be as bad as the 2010–11 winter we experienced in Scotland. As the mercury dropped to –17˚C, the spring water froze in the pipe bringing it off the hill to…

THE scene is the shore of the Winal peninsula. A seagull dives on a succulent cockle, but it is far too large for his narrow bill, and he has to drop it before he has gone very far. He makes a second attempt to carry it home, for he is either an epicure wishing to feast in his snug domicile, or else head of a family and anxious to share his gains. It is not till he has made seven vain attempts that he gives up. Carrying it to a stone nearby, he cracks and consumes it on the premises. Not quite so instructive as the story of Bruce and the spider, but at least one may say of the gull, as of many a human brother, ‘Well tried.’…

MAJOR roads are destructive and noisy things, but if the experience of using them can be improved in small ways, and without disproportionate prejudice to their setting, Athena would support the necessary changes. It’s encouraging, for example, to note that the Government is considering opening up new landscape vistas from a number of established trunk roads and motorways. This will reveal more of the beautiful countryside through which these routes pass and, if properly managed, will lighten the heart of many a driver without blighting the lives of those who live alongside them. Athena would also observe that one of the most depressing features of such arterial routes is the extent to which the road verges, hard shoulders and embankments are strewn with litter, either deliberately discarded or shed from…

BY an indenture drawn up on December 9, 1667, the mason Robert Trollope was contracted to ‘make frame erect and build… one new house… for the use of… Sir John Swinburne’ at Capheaton. It was to be built ‘neer unto the ground or place where one old building or castle is now standing’ and was to cannibalise the materials from this medieval building. The Swinburnes, to whose descendants this house still belongs, came into possession of Capheaton in 1270, after which they established themselves amid the close-knit group of families who controlled the political and military fortunes of the Scottish border. Following the Reformation, the family and its various cadet branches remained Catholic, an allegiance that turned to their double disadvantage during the Civil War, when they suffered at the…

When keeping your body healthy earns you a living, it’s important to the best care of it that you can. This is how Yoga instructor Fenella Lindsell discovered the power of turmeric. Fenella, aged 53, from London runs her own yoga business – Yoga Forever. Not only does Fenella run classes for people aged 8-80. She also organises six yoga holidays a year, which combine yoga with other sporting activities. After suffering from a “nagging knee”; Fenella went on the search for a solution and came across Turmeric+. “My practice and style of yoga is quite physically demanding, and I demonstrate a lot of positions as well as hopping up and down to adjust my students during classes!” “In addition to yoga I play tennis for our local club, run…

Of all the decorative trends that have been in vogue during the past 50 years—be it Scandi, mid-century, Minimalism or industrial—none has been as powerful or as enduring as that of the English country house. Exported all over the world, it’s a near indeterminable alchemy that informally blends elements such as mixing brown furniture with contemporary objects, layers of pattern and textiles, kilims, ikat lampshades and comfortable sofas. There are, thankfully, few rules to country-house interior design. It’s a broad church of tastes that, with every new generation of decorators, is being reinterpreted and producing some surprising and delightful results.…

IT could be the best of times, it could be the worst of times. Who knows what the future holds for British agriculture? Has it ever been so prominent in politics? On the plus side, Brexit could free farmers from some hated EU regulation. It’s difficult to think which regulations will actually be scrapped, except those relating to subsidies that farmers will no longer receive, but Defra Secretary Michael Gove’s promise of a lighter inspection regime is heartening. Farmers shouldn’t be repeatedly inspected, often by different bodies checking the same facts. It will at last be possible to market British food as British, not just conforming to British standards. Institutions such as schools and police could be instructed to buy British before foreign produce. Maybe makers of Kentish sparkling wine…

RURAL businesses have welcomed proposals to roll out high-speed broadband and 4G coverage across the countryside, although some have warned that funding ‘should not come at the expense of agriculture’. Speaking at the NFU conference last month, Defra Secretary Michael Gove compared broadband to essential utilities such as electricity and clean drinking water and said it was ‘unjustifiable’ that provision was ‘so patchy and poor in so many areas’. He suggested investing some of the money that the UK will no longer pay to the EU after Brexit. Nonetheless, cautions CLA President Tim Breitmeyer, ‘the agriculture budget is there to support farming and protect the environment. [The] Government must use investment from other sources to improve digital connectivity.’…

THE conscientious folk at Greener UK, a coalition of 13 organisations—including the Woodland Trust, RSPB, CPRE and National Trust—that have grouped together to ensure Brexit does not result in the loss or weakening of environmental protections, are watching the Government with eagle eyes, awaiting imminent proposals for a new environmental watchdog. ‘The European Court can hand out strong penalties if governments break environmental laws,’ explains Tom West, law and policy advisor at ClientEarth, a not-for-profit environmental-law organisation. ‘Although the recent air-quality cases show that UK courts can step in when required to by EU law, we need a powerful environment watchdog after Brexit to fill the gap.’ This watchdog will be a ‘world-leading… independent, statutory body’ to hold the Government to account, according to Defra Secretary Michael Gove. However, there…

AN online farm-shop directory, thought to be the only one of its kind, has been created—www.fabulousfarmshops.co.uk. There is a section for each county, with a map, and it’s free for farm shops to request a listing. The website will also detail events, special offers, competitions and recipes, as well as features, and producers can advertise on it. Co-founder Claire Mortimer plans to take on the daunting task of visiting all the farm shops of England and writing reviews, which will be shared on the Fabulous Farm Shops website and on social media.…

IT’S amazing the difference that a little snow makes to my morning. London’s road and rail network may be gridlocked, but it makes school mornings at home so much easier. Instead of fooling around for ages in their pyjamas, the children leap out of bed and dress, eager to get outside. We even managed a pre-breakfast outing one morning, enjoying the fresh snow before a single car ruined its virgin expanse. So eager was the breakfast conversation about the weather afterwards that I didn’t have to prohibit books at the table. Out and about on the streets, meanwhile, it’s clear from greetings and smiles that everyone is touched by the freshness and beauty of the weather. All this has added pleasure to a week otherwise coloured by the surreal and…

A nip and a tuck Q My neighbour’s hedges are causing havoc. I’ve asked him to keep them under control and even volunteered the services of our gardener, but he declined and my request seems to have fallen on deaf ears. They’re completely blocking our light—do you think he’d notice if we gave them a trim? M. L., Derbyshire A There are laws about this stuff, but we don’t want to fan the flames by going down that route—there’s no going back if you do—and driving copper nails into the roots can make the results a little mangy. Is he on his own? Why not offer to take him out for the day, to Levens Hall, Powis Castle, Blickling estate or Abbey House Gardens, Malmesbury, on a jaunt? The…

Letter of the week You’ve got mail ENJOYED your article on war- I time carrier pigeons (February 21) and it reminded me of these lovely birds being put to another use. Soon after the war, boy’s prep school Pembroke House reopened in Kenya’s Great Rift Valley, 75 miles from Nairobi. In those days, there was no telephone connection between the school and Nairobi, so when a sports team went to play against a rival in the capital, they took with them a couple of carrier pigeons. If the team won, they attached a note to a bird advising the school of this and released it. The pigeon reached home well before the vehicle carting the team, so pupils would assemble on the drive and cheer their heroes home—no…

Fergal Keane is a foreign correspondent with BBC News and an author ‘In 1932, my grandmother, May Hassett, and her fiancée, Paddy, my future grandfather, went to see McCormack sing at the Eucharistic Congress in Dublin. On that day, in front of an estimated one million people, McCormack sang the Panis Angelicus. “You could hear a pin drop,” she recalled. His music was a permanent feature of my childhood. The melancholy of his expression in Orpen’s painting fills me with nostalgia for my grandparents’ home, where I was embraced with love and unending kindness. As McCormack sang in one of his most famous performances: And my heart still hears/ The distant music of your voice/ I hear you calling me/ Though years have stretched/ Their weary lengths between… ’…

An exhibition of images runs at The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London TW9 until March 11 ( https://igpoty.com )…

SITUATED in an ex-farmyard on the edge of the village of Bruton, Hauser & Wirth Somerset has become a West Country phenomenon. Opened in 2014, it has quickly established itself as a little slice of urban cool in the midst of rural quietude—urbe in rus, one might say. With its conceptualist art focus and a funky bar/restaurant that attracts country-dwellers of a certain age with hipsterish pretensions, the place infuriates some, but delights many more, as it attracts members of the glitterywelly brigade not just from Somerset and neighbouring counties, but from Cornwall, Wales, the southern Cotswolds and London—the last thanks to a direct (if infrequent) train service from Paddington. An additional bonus is the garden at the back by Piet Oudolf, designed in his signature style of sculpted drifts…

THE internet is awash with the websites of architects, interior designers, builders and garden designers, but which have a track record and the sensitivity required to work on a country property, whether it’s in the UK or abroad? There are obviously many more than those listed on these pages, but these are the practitioners whose reputation and recent work demonstrates that they have an understanding of both classic and contemporary houses fit for the challenges and demands of modern life, from Georgian country houses and Modernist villas to French châteaux and Alpine chalets. Architects The appetite for constructing a country house from scratch has never been greater. As family life in the 21st century revolves ever more around large, open-plan spaces and there is a greater demand for privacy and…

New-build country houses and extensions to listed or historically sensitive buildings require professional attention and specialist knowledge. It’s worth spending just as much time choosing your builder as you do your architect. Our recommendations for firms specialising in country houses are based on their craftsmanship and expertise in the fields of conservation, restoration and time-honoured building skills. Collectively, the companies boast several hundred years of experience and many of them count skilled artisans within their teams. Testament to the strength of their reputation is that many of them are commissioned to work not only in the British Isles, but also by clients based overseas, who require the assurance of excellence.…

COLD’S all right,’ the farmer says. ‘I don’t mind it cold. You can dress for it. Wet’s what I don’t like.’ I don’t like it so much, either. Not much of a view and all that business of hopping about by field gates that have been poached by cattle, losing a boot and rain down the back of the neck. To what end? Paw prints on the sofa. Now the skies are pale and frost has stiffened the clods and frozen the water into icy parings in the hoofprints. The bank behind the house is a gathering riot of primroses and the days are lengthening; light still poured through the west window when we arrived at Sherborne Abbey on Sunday. Evensong is the loveliest of Anglican services. It’s also one…

Children They may be able to zoom and swipe on smartphones, but technology means that children are starting school without the hand strength or dexterity to use a pencil, say paediatricians Water voles Ratty needs urgent help if he's to survive, say the Wildlife Trusts, who report a 30% decline Millennials They're on course to become the fattest generation in history-those born between the early 1980s and late 1990s are much more likely to be obese than their parents, says the latest analysis…

THE last four surviving Battle of Britain pilots will be immortalised in paint by Jeremy Houghton, who, as former artist in residence at Windsor Castle, Highgrove, London Fashion Week and Wimbledon, has depicted everyone from The Queen to Roger Federer. The pilots are Geoffrey Wellum, Tom Neil, Paul Farnes and Tim Elkington—three of whom flew Spitfires, one a Hurricane—and the series, ‘The Last of the Few’, will be auctioned online in May to raise money for the Air Cadets Organisation (ACO) (www.jeremyhoughton.co.uk). Mr Houghton is also painting some of today’s flying heroes in charge of the Red Arrows and Typhoons, as well as the last surviving British member of the Dambusters raid, George ‘Johnny’ Johnson ( Country Life , July 5, 2017). ‘What has struck me during the time I’ve…

THE price of hot cross buns could soar this Easter, because of a global raisin shortage. The wildfires in California late last year, where most imported raisins and sultanas in Britain come from, created a crop loss of 275,000 tons and prices have risen by 42% since September. Some forward-thinking bakeries, such as Bettys in York, have large stocks of dried fruit in place, but others are expected to use ingredients like chocolate and orange peel as substitute. This year’s Christmas puddings could also be hit, but we suspect that shortage won’t cause such outcry.…

The nature of things Eurasian lynx THE lynx is a powerful hunter with large paws that do a turn as snow-shoes during the winter (The missing lynx, January 24). Then, she keeps as warm as a polar bear by wearing a thick padded coat of tawny colours, dabbed with dark spots and streaks, in an effort to blend in with the season’s bare tree trunks that span the deciduous and mixed forests of Europe and much of Asia. Yet her face is curiously reminiscent of a domestic tabby cat, albeit one with dark ear-tufts, which serve her acute hearing, and long cheek hair, which gives her a sort of ruff. Shy and stealthy, this charismatic carnivore can bound across deep snow in pursuit of a mammalian meal; her thick…

I've written in passing about the 2008 vintage in Bordeaux on this page before, but a recent comprehensive tasting held at the offices of BI Wines & Spirits in Hatton Garden provided an excellent opportunity to review the wines of this year-one for which the term ‘Cinderella vintage' could have been invented. Generously, the company offered samples of 75 wines including all the first growths, Pétrus and Le Pin. Those last were pretty impressive-especially my favourite, Haut Brion-but I fear these are wines bought mainly for investment and status these days. Why you should be drinking them Not only was 2008 the year of the financial crash, it also featured a rather dismal summer in Bordeaux, with no great hopes of an outstanding vintage. However, the grapes came…

A DREAM mid-winter break in London: the Charles I show at the Royal Academy (stupendous—don’t miss it) and Elgar’s Cello Concerto with Andreas Brantelid at the Royal Festival Hall (alas, you’ve missed it). Then the train back to Suffolk. Because I’m not a commuter I feel a frisson of excitement, the relief that something still works. At Cambridge, a quartet of teenagers gets on. As they search their pockets for tickets, one boy confesses that on the journey to Cambridge he made an origami horse out of his ticket, forgetting he would need it at the exit. The chorus of ‘Duh!’ makes me smile. Then the conversation moves in a darker direction. ‘Did you see the students in Florida on YouTube walking out of the school with their hands on…

More ways with cauliflower Whole roasted cauliflower with cheddar, Parmesan and broth In a lidded saucepan that will hold a whole cauliflower, fry half a finely sliced white onion in a splash of olive oil until translucent. Add a clove of crushed garlic and a sprig of rosemary. Put a whole cauliflower on top of the onions and pour in 300ml of chicken stock and 100ml of white wine. Leave to simmer for about 30 minutes. Transfer the cauliflower into an ovenproof serving dish, pour the stock and onions from the saucepan over it (removing the rosemary), drizzle with 100ml of double cream and grate cheddar and Parmesan over the top. Roast in a hot oven for about 10 minutes or until the top is golden. Serve immediately. Cauliflower…

There are few more beautiful words in English than ‘summer afternoon’ and, to many, the scene that is conjured is one set on a lush, green lawn surrounded by borders filled with highly-scented roses, lying in the dappled shade of a mature cedar tree. None of this happens by accident. A beautiful country house is as much about its surroundings as it is about its architecture and it takes the skill of the very best garden designer to create or develop a setting which achieves that perfect harmony between house and garden. Previously unremarkable spaces can be transformed, hitherto unexposed views can be opened up, outdoor dining spaces under wisteria-covered pergolas established, romantic corners created with an arbour swathed in roses or vines and unsightly walls softened by a tangle…

MY friend, English teammate and occasional partner David Gold reached the semi-final of prestigious Spingold at the American Summer Nationals in Toronto. Here are two deals featuring his fine, logical declarer-play. Our first is from the round of 16. West leads the ten of Spades and everybody plays small. At trick two, West cashes the King of Spades and at trick three, he switches to the nine of Clubs. Plan the play. It would have been so easy to finesse, thinking ‘I need one of two finesses to work, assuming I pick up Hearts (both finesses, if I don’t pick up Hearts)’. But if declarer had finessed the Queen of Clubs (as the Italian World Champion did at the other table), he would be reliant on picking up Hearts (the…