Innholdsfortegnelse for 9-May-18 i Country Life

‘ The Principality has spent the past couple of years reinventing itself ’ SINCE time immemorial, the marriage of acting royalty to actual royalty has been guaranteed to get the juices flowing. When Grace Kelly retired from Hollywood to marry Prince Rainier III in 1956, the world fell head over heels for the couple and their union helped transform Monaco from a small gambling spot on the Mediterranean to the destination of choice for an exclusive, glamorous crowd. Fast forward to 2018 and the world’s media has gone wild for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. As Royal Wedding fever peaks, the talk is of little else but this trend-setting couple. And where did the lovebirds choose to celebrate New Year’s Eve? Monaco. This may have come as a surprise to…

PROMISING glitz and a dash of scandal, the 70th edition of the Cannes Film Festival, the world-renowned event that kicks off the summer season on the French Riviera, is here (until May 19). The following days will see 200,000 film folk and A-listers descend on the small town for trading, networking, parties on billionaires’ yachts and palatial villas and, of course, dazzling poses on the red-carpeted steps of the Palais des Festivals on Promenade de la Croisette. Which supermodel will steal the show? What film will win the Palme d’Or? Who will behave badly at the bar of the Du Cap? Such questions will keep the eyes of the world fixed on Cannes, the world’s oldest film festival, which began in 1946. As Jonathan Gray of Beauchamp Estates (00 33…

IMAGES offering a taste of British healthcare before the foundation of the National Health Service (NHS) in 1947 have been made available online by Historic England. A collection of more than 4,000 black-and- white photographs, taken between 1938 and 1943 and ranging from terrifying masked figures practising gas decontamination on patients to grinning nurses trialling fitness cycles, were a recent surprise discovery by staff at the organisation’s national archive in Swindon. The photographs, which were taken by the Topical Press Agency, all have meticulously typed captions recording details of location, equipment and procedures. Funding by the wellcome Trust has enabled the digitisation of some of the images, which are now available for public viewing for the first time (www.historicengland.org.uk/medical) in the NHS’s 70th year, as part of a long-term conservation…

ON Monday, it’ll be 80 years to the day that Errol Flynn first appeared on the not-so-silver screen in Lincoln-green tights and with a natty feather in his cap in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). The hero of English folklore, whose legend dates back to the 15th century and is often associated with May Day celebrations, has lost none of his allure through various retellings. On a similar theme, but with rather fewer Academy Awards, the cult-favourite parody Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993) celebrates its 25th anniversary this July.…

DEBATE over the importance of books in a changing world has prompted award-winning theatre company Les Enfants Terribles to create a series of installations at the National Trust’s Blickling Hall, Norfolk. ‘The Word Defiant!’ focuses on books that have been banned, burned, superseded, redacted, flooded or neglected and is inspired by titles in the Jacobean hall’s library, which is in the throes of a five-year conservation programme after years of being plagued by damp and death watch beetle. Displays include a cascade of books flowing from the bookcases and maps and A–Zs spilling onto the floor (until October 28). The project, which aims to draw attention to the need for conservation, is part of Trust New Art, a programme of Contemporary Arts at Trust properties, which began in 2009 in…

TRACKING is the prehistoric skill of reading stories from the footprints of animals—some academics argue that it was humanity’s first science. We can identify animals from the print shapes, but we discover more intriguing facts when we ask what this creature was up to. The best way to learn how to answer this is to cheat. Find terrain that suits investigation: soft mud, sand or fresh snow. Watch an animal you know, perhaps a dog, cross this ground and note when it does anything different—changing direction, speed or behaviour. Now, look at the prints. You know what happened because you saw it: the tracks will reflect it. When an animal accelerates, it throws material backwards. When it stops, a small rim forms at the front of the print. A sudden…

Bridget Macdonald: Bright Clouds of May is at Campden Gallery, Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire, until May 28 (01386 841555; www.campdengallery.co.uk)The works in Bridget Macdonald's new exhibition are mostly of the countryside around her home in the Malvern Hills or the Isle of Wight, where she spent her childhood. She calls their sources ‘a blend of observation, memory and imagination', borrowing the show's title from the poet Edward Thomas, whom she admires for ‘his delicate descriptions of nature and his search for timelessness beyond the immediate scene'. Images of trees recur; the hawthorn is in blossom, the elders flowering. Several images depict sheep or cattle-a painting of the magnificent black bull with his cows she encountered when walking along the cliff near St Catherine's Lighthouse; The May Bull (right), one of many…

ONCE a very familiar springtime feature of our grassy farmlands, the Northern lapwing is a gregarious and handsome plover variously known as the toppy-knot, horneywick or wallopy-week, although its most popular name is simply peewit. A delicate wader with two dozen related species worldwide, our lapwing is widely distributed across Eurasia and nests in some 40 countries. A bird of the open spaces—frequenting ploughland, rough pasture and estuarial flats—its numbers have suffered a sharp decline in recent years, largely to do with changes in agricultural practices, but also predation. There are an estimated 140,000 breeding pairs in Britain, with a sizeable influx of winter migrants from the continent. Lapwings are protected and, last year, Chris Packham outraged countryfolk with an entirely false assertion (which he later retracted) that they were…

RP may be the best-known form of spoken English around the world, but it's estimated that it's spoken by only 3%–4% of the population of the UK Words for ‘bread roll' vary dramatically across the country. It is, variously, a cob in parts of the Midlands and the North, a batch in Coventry, a barm cake in Lancashire, a scuffler, breadcake or teacake in Yorkshire and a morning roll in Scotland. Bap is the favoured term in the South-East and elsewhere Mardy, a Midlands/north of England word for ‘moody', reached a wider audience thanks to the Sheffield band Arctic Monkeys' single Mardy Bum (2006) With his strong Norfolk accent, turkey farmer Bernard Matthews gave the nation the catchphrase ‘Bootiful' in the 1980s D. H. Lawrence's work is rich with the…

‘ I’m worried that food production is taking a back seat as people plan for a green future’ MY family farm is in a flat, unremarkable part of east Bedfordshire, but, over the years, we’ve planted spinneys and hedgerows and improved the drainage—it’s our home and we love it. That makes the future of farming deeply personal for me, but, as we leave the EU and develop a new food and farming policy, it should matter to everyone. Defra has been consulting on the policy and that has sparked a fierce debate about the role of farming and farmland. Patrick Holden, former director of the Soil Association, wants anyone using artificial fertilisers to be stripped of support, which would devastate domestic production. Many others are jumping into the debate,…

ON Thursday, May 17, COUNTRY LIFE readers are invited to an event in the great room (above) at Christie’s that will explore the exciting possibilities of creating legacies for future generations. The panel, hosted by COUNTRY LIFE’s interiors editor, Giles Kime, will include leading experts in the world of antiques and design, such as Orlando Rock, chairman of Christie’s; the Parisian art dealer and collector, Marella Rossi; antique dealer Edward Hurst; and the architect and interior designer Ben Pentreath. After a champagne reception, guests will be welcomed by Paul Abberley, CEO of the evening’s sponsor, Charles Stanley, before panellists discuss the art of choosing furniture and artworks. Afterwards, there will be an opportunity to meet Caroline Dakers, who has just published Fonthill Recovered: A Cultural History, which examines the fascinating…

SURREY featured prominently in the Rural Rides of the journalist and social reformer William Cobbett, who was born and buried in Farnham and journeyed on horseback around south-east England in the 1820s, to see for himself the effects of industrialisation on life in a fast-changing countryside. One day, in 1825, a ride of 12 miles or so took him from Northchapel in West Sussex to the village of Chiddingfold, three miles from Witley, which, he pointed out, ‘is in the Weald of Surrey, that is to say, the country of oak-timber’. As a champion of the countryside, Cobbett knew the significance of Surrey’s oak forests in the county’s history, both as an industrial material for glass-making in medieval times and as a precious building material for the numerous ancient…

FORTY years ago, there was a flood of contents sales in British and Irish country houses, which, more often than not, were conducted on the premises, with viewings in the house itself and the auctions in a marquee pitched nearby with refreshment tents. They usually took place during summer and the party atmosphere undoubtedly boosted prices. I was involved with many of them, as a cataloguer and then as a reporter for the Antiques Trade Gazette and The Times. For the creative cataloguer there were opportunities to boost interest that would not have been so effective in a saleroom. Once, I made up a job lot of prints that contained a rather poor sporting set, a couple of distinctly interesting Old Masters and some decorative views of the house. My…

‘ That’s the big difference: in order to produce your own wine, you need to invest in a small winery, but to produce oil, it’s not necessary ’ THE health benefits (and deliciousness) of good olive oil have long been enjoyed, but as the Asian appetite—particularly that of China and Japan—picks up, prices for boutique or own-label oils have started to increase. The likes of Sting and, more recently, Ed Sheeran have caught the bug—both own holiday houses in Italy and make home-grown olive oil. Although all the Mediterranean countries of Europe produce the health-giving stuff, Spain is widely accepted as the home of some of the best-quality oils worldwide. There are currently 28 Denominaciónes de Origen (DO) for Spanish olive oil and, as a general rule, the higher the…

BUYERS from all over the world have forever been seduced by the notion of living in a French château. Whether it’s straight from the storybooks, such as the Loire Valley’s immense Château de Chambord, which inspired Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, or an eight-bedroom ‘petit château’ in sun-drenched Provence, the idea of buying a piece of history has huge appeal. It also comes with a certain high-end cachet, says Tim Swannie of search agent Home Hunts. ‘The French château fits nicely into a property portfolio alongside a London penthouse, New York loft, Alpine chalet and Tuscan farmhouse.’ Yet people buy châteaux for many reasons: some come with a vineyard, some are ideal for running as a boutique hotel or yoga retreat and others are ripe for property development. It’s fairly…

EUROPE’S sunny southern isle is an ideal mix of family-friendly port towns —Paphos, Limassol and Larnaca stand out—spectacular beaches and rolling landscapes of vineyards, cedar forests and mountains, interrupted only by the silhouettes of Byzantine churches. Tourism levels for Cyprus are on the rise—the number of visiting Britons, who account for more than 35% of visitors, rose by 8.9% in 2017, and counting. This renewed confidence has led to significant investment, with a number of new developments on the horizon. Paphos, in the west of the island, boasts fine antiquities (last year, it was one of two European Capitals of Culture), but Limassol, a small city with smart hotels, is increasingly gaining traction as the island’s most international and sophisticated destination, which continues to reinvent itself. The elegant old quarter…

PENZANCE’S Art Deco Jubilee Pool, one of the last saltwater lidos remaining in Europe, will soon become the first in Britain to be heated by geothermal energy. The drilling of a 0.8- mile-deep geothermal well began in March and, upon its completion in September, a large, semi-circular section of the pool will boast bathing waters as warm as 35˚C. It’s scheduled to open to the public in spring 2019. Work on the ground-breaking £1.4 million project is being undertaken by Geothermal Engineering Ltd (GEL) and has been made possible by advances in geothermal technology. ‘We hope our facility will resemble a smaller version of [Iceland’s] Blue Lagoon,’ said Martin Nixon, director of Jubilee Pool Penzance Ltd. ‘Our pool already has the wow factor and with this new year-round attraction, it…

Quiz of the week 1) Where in the human body are the metacarpals? 2) Which Irish-born artist did Margaret Thatcher describe as ‘that man who paints those dreadful pictures'? 3) Sunningdale Golf Club is in which UK county? 4) Which are the two minor suites in the card game contract bridge? 5) In Greek mythology, which group of goddesses inspires artists, writers and scientists? The nature of things Lily beetles THE re-emergence of lilies means it’s also time to look out for lily beetles. These little critters are, as beetles go, rather fetching; slender and oblong, less than a ½in long, with scarlet backs and black underparts, as well as prominent black antennae that they wave about when active. Their official name, Lilioceris lilii, clearly points to their preferred…

MERELY mention ‘health and safety’ in the UK and you can get away with anything. Desecration, sacrilege and sheer vandalism can always be justified by those three little words and, lest anyone still thinks this is a foreign imposition, it’s this country that has been behind most of the EU rules. We are by far the most enthusiastic enforcers and extenders of regulation. So, when dictatorial Sheffield Council decided to destroy the trees that contributed so much to their urban landscape, they reached first for the safety lexicon. Some 17,500—or half the city’s trees—were to go over the lifetime of a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contract, a figure forced out of the council only by order of the Information Commissioner, who insisted that it be revealed within 35 days. Now,…

‘Painshill suggests an Enlightenment mind, for which history, the Classics, the exotic were natural interests’ IN 1975, the former Esher Urban District Council was persuaded by a group of local activists to purchase the ruins of one of the most influential 18th-century landscapes of the Picturesque Movement and vest it in the Painshill Park Trust —such an act is barely conceivable today. The garden was a wilderness of scrub and bracken, its vistas were blocked by hundreds of self-seeded trees, its lake was a bog and its buildings lost or ruinous. After 43 years of hard work and fundraising, the last element of the garden has been restored and the whole setting magnificently returned to life. The timescale of this restoration mirrors that of the garden’s creation by Charles Hamilton.…

‘As each colour yields imperceptibly to the next, the rainbow has as many colours as you wish to discern’ A RAINBOw hangs in the entrance of the Royal Academy of Arts, in the painting Colour by Angelica Kauffman (1779). In it, the archetypal painter is seated, palette in hand, with all the pouring colours of the rainbow above her—but her palette is empty. She’s not depicting the rainbow, but the opposite: she’s taking her hues from it, drawing down its radiant colours for her art on Earth. According to Homer, there was only one colour in a rainbow: purple. Ovid and Virgil proposed that there were 1,000. Xenophanes and Aristotle considered there were three: red, green and purple. John Milton wrote of ‘a bow/Conspicuous with three listed colours gay’, underlining…

FOR me, the collecting bug emerged unexpectedly, through osmosis. Many of my earliest childhood memories are of exploring decaying follies, magical country houses and antique shops at great speed with my father in the ultimate ‘antique addicts’ car, a voluminous Volvo estate. Blankets and bubble-wrap at the ready, we would invariably fall in love with an architectural fragment, a Kentian table, a noble but broken-nosed bust or a beautiful Worcester plate—and then somehow have to sneak it home. History has a terrible way of repeating itself—and I am forever in trouble with my long-suffering wife—as the ‘habit’ now embraces everything from Persian tiles and Egyptian scarabs, to Japanese lacquer and taxidermy! But the same love of exquisite craftsmanship, of the romance of an object and who has owned it, of…

STEREOTYPE is Surrey’s curse. ‘The county often gets lots of bad press,’ says Tim Harriss of Knight Frank in Guildford. ‘The common misconception is that it’s just a glorified extension of London, where everybody lives behind electric gates and drives a shiny 4x4’. But behind the prime-commuterland label hides a county full of historic towns, thriving villages, thickly wooded countryside—and endearing quirks. Here’s our pick of the best. St Martha’s Church, Chilworth SITTING at the top of a hill on the North Downs Way, St Martha’s Church looks out across the rolling Surrey Hills and beyond—on a clear day, seven counties can supposedly be seen, but the views are too enticing to spend time working out borders. Only accessible on foot, this atmospheric church was built in the 12th…

THIS year sees celebrations marking the bicentenary of the death of Humphry Repton, the man who coined the term ‘landscape gardener’ and successfully promoted himself as the heir to ‘Capability’ Brown’s artistic and business legacy. An early highlight of the year’s events, which are being co-ordinated by the Gardens Trust, is ‘Humphry Repton: Art & Nature for the Duke of Bedford’. This small yet dense and varied display, across two rooms at the Abbey, illustrates the progress of Repton’s work over 23 years for the 6th Duke and Duchess, culminating in his complete redesign of the landscape at Woburn. This is far from the hagiographical treatment one might expect from an ‘in-house’ exhibition, in that Repton’s shortcomings as a designer are acknowledged—the way he often glossed over or fudged ‘details’…

‘His background may seem an unlikely one for a traitor’ Biography A Spy Named Orphan Roland Philipps (Bodley Head, £20) EVER since the two British diplomats, Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean, disappeared in 1951 and were later found to have defected to the Soviet Union, it is Burgess, the more generally dissolute of the two, who has attracted most attention. Maclean, however, who was the more senior and had access to secret material of greater sensitivity, was every bit as complex a character as Burgess. Now we have a definitive biography of him written by the distinguished former publisher of John Murray. Maclean’s background may seem an unlikely one for a traitor and spy. His father was a public servant with deep Presbyterian convictions. Maclean was educated at Gresham’s in…

Sail away with me, honey Borgo Santo Pietro, Tuscany's 20-room hotel and estate, has launched a traditional hand-built luxury yacht, Satori ( above ). Inspired by the understated elegance of the 1920s and 1930s, the 41½m (136ft) wooden schooner doesn't lose any of the five-star service guests expect and there is gourmet dining on board. This season, Borgo Santo Pietro is offering a once-in-a-lifetime honeymoon package for 11 days-part staying at the hotel and the rest on board Satori-including spa treatments, cooking classes, wine tastings and a Vespa tour. From € 53,700 (£46,994) (www.borgosantopietro.com; www.satoriyacht.com) Let's talk shop Hotel Metropole in Monte Carlo has designed a new shopping experience-simply hop into a retro side-car and pootle over the Italian border for a spot of scenic shopping. You'll pass through…

THE Landmark Trust, which has, since 1965, been rescuing buildings of historic or architectural merit and then renting them out as holiday lets, has opened its 199th building—a steam-railway cottage built in 1863 beside the Ffestiniog Railway. In the heart of the breathtaking Snowdonia landscape, the Grade II-listed cottage is called Coed y Bleiddiau, which means ‘Wood of the Wolves’, after the last wolf in Wales, killed nearby in the 16th century. A humble granite cottage, it was originally the home of the railway superintendent, who lived there with his wife and seven children. He was responsible for overseeing the track that ran from Blaenau Ffestiniog, then the largest slate mine in the world, to Porthmadog harbour, from where the sought-after slate was distributed worldwide. With the decline of…

A NEw, nostalgically illustrated series of the books about the lovable Larkin family has been created to commemorate the 60th year since the iconic Darling Buds of May (1958), by H. E. Bates, was published. Featuring artwork by Becky Bettesworth, the other titles are Breath of French Air (1959), When the Green Woods Laugh (1960), Oh! To Be in England (1963) and A Little of What You Fancy (1970). ‘Perfick’ for summer reading.…

BORDERS Sculpture Park, at Mellerstain House in the Borders, has launched its second season with a series of striking, site-specific artworks by British artist Hilary Jack in its Sir Reginald Blomfield-designed landscape. Curated by Sarah Coulson of Yorkshire Sculpture Park, each piece is inspired by Mellerstain’s history and the fascinating characters who have lived there. The intricate design of 82ft-wide In Memoriam (above), for example, is a reference to the house’s Robert Adam ceiling roses and the late John Baillie-Hamilton, 13th Earl of Haddington (1941–2016), a politician famed for his extensive knowledge of crop circles and the paranormal. The exhibition continues until October 1; for further information, visit www.mellerstain.com…

ILKESTON in Derbyshire might be the historic centre of British lace-making, but, nowadays, there’s only one company flying the flag for this highly decorative textile. Cluny Lace, belonging to the Mason family, has an impressive pedigree reaching back to before the Industrial Revolution and Charles Mason represents the ninth generation of his family to run the firm. ‘We make something that the Chinese can’t copy,’ he explains. ‘Ilkeston specialised in geometrical-style laces called Cluny and our pattern archive runs into the thousands, some of which were designed by my grandfather, Francis Bowler Mason, and his father, Frank Maltby Mason. Many were inspired by old, handmade patterns.’ At the heart of the business are the Leavers lace machines (left), which revolutionised the industry by producing lace that was as close to…

‘The UK is a rich and colourful vocal tapestry, with more accents than North America’ WHEN Angelina Jolie exclaimed ‘Ay up me duck’ to actor Jack O’Connell at the Hollywood Film Awards in 2014, she baffled much of her audience, yet simultaneously delighted denizens of the East Midlands. Mr O’Connell, who was born in Derby, has said that he grew up thinking ‘we all refer to each other as ducks’, but, of course, with this affectionate greeting, he immediately identifies himself as part of a distinct tribe. Our accents are a sizable part of what defines us. Would Sylvia Plath’s first meeting with ‘that big, dark, hunky boy’ Ted Hughes, have been quite so explosive (she bit his cheek) had he spoken in, say, clipped Received Pronunciation (RP), rather than…

‘I first saw the painting at a sale about three years ago: I walked into the room, and I fell in love’ Andy Waters Curatorial director, chairman’s office, Christie’s Favourite heirloom One thing that I really treasure is a painting that is on loan from my brother. It’s an unfinished sketch by Annie Swynnerton of some fields in Kent, near where I grew up. Originally, we didn’t know who the artist was and my brother asked me to do some research. Coincidentally, it turns out that it sold at her studio sale held here at Christie’s in 1934. I would have loved to have been given a collection of birds’ eggs and insects made by my great-great-grandfather in the late 19th century. My father used to enjoy showing them…

1. Wilstone’s Kadai Firebowl continues to be an essential feature for gardens of all sizes. Fast becoming the chef’s favourite barbecue for outdoor cooking, its versatile accessory range allows for the creation of a vast variety of different culinary dishes. See Wilstone at stand RHW617 (01694 771800; www.kadai.com). 2. With pieces inspired by period design and fabricated from traditional materials by craftsmen who care, Architectural Heritage proudly presents its carefully curated 2018 garden-ornament catalogue. Choose from a classic collection of seating, sundials, fountains and pool surrounds, alongside an extension to the copper planter and Arts-and-Crafts inspired Quercus Robur oak-furniture range. Stand number SR39 (01386 584414; www.architectural-heritage.co.uk). 3. Award-winning sculptor Hamish Mackie creates unique pieces inspired by his travels abroad and the countryside around him. In-depth research of animal…

‘These gifts were meant to impress, so they were the finest examples of their kind’ ON a wet November morning in 1854, Maharaja Duleep Singh breakfasted with Queen Victoria and Prince Albert at Windsor. Although the 16-year-old had already been in England for six months, it was his first stay at the castle. He and Albert earnestly discussed his education and, later, when Victoria had finished attending to her official business, all three wandered through the State apartments to the Royal Library. There, she noted in her diary, the young Maharaja ‘seemed particularly pleased with some very valuable Indian illuminated works’. Nearly 20 years later, Victoria showed the same paintings and manuscripts to the Shah of Persia and his enthralled entourage during a State visit. They all ‘looked eagerly…

‘It was kind of a crazy idea to build an opera house in the countryside, but it worked’ IT’S a little early for picnic hampers on the lawn at Glyndebourne, but spring bulbs are popping and chorus members dart out of rehearsal rooms on their break to enjoy the sunshine. Workmen hammer away at the new production building, which will house studio space and props, wardrobes and wigs. ‘If the facilities are good, you get good people—it’s the quality of our work and the craftsmanship we put into our productions that sets us apart,’ says executive chairman Gus Christie. ‘It’s the detail.’ Mr Christie is the grandson of Glyndebourne’s founder, John Christie, and his wife, the soprano Audrey Mildmay. He grew up here, kicking a ball on the lawn and…

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