Innholdsfortegnelse for 17-Oct-18 i Country Life

EVERY year, Olympia London International Horse Show, works with generous companies and individuals to offer disadvantaged children and adults a Christmas treat like no other. During the show (this year on December 17–23, www.olympiahorseshow.com), more than 20 hospitality boxes are dedicated to charities, giving some 350 people a chance to attend what is known as the equestrian world’s Christmas party. There’s international showjumping and carriage driving, plus dog agility, the Shetland Pony Grand National, the Land of Fire Azerbaijani display and the traditional finale with carols and Father Christmas. The scheme is organised by Georgina Andrews, wife of actor Anthony Andrews, and has, for a quarter of a century, benefited charities such as the Carers Trust, the Royal Society For Blind Children, Meningitis Now and Riding for the Disabled. The…

I WAS one of those children who got bored very quickly,’ confesses Jen Best, who bubbles with enthusiasm about Dorset button-making. ‘My Gran used to do crocheting, knitting, smocking, embroidery and Dorset feather stitching. She taught me all these skills, but the buttons are my big passion.’ Following her dream, Mrs Best left her job to set up a yarn shop in Weyhill in Hampshire. In her first week of trading, she taught her first button-making class for eight women, who all wanted to take the instructions home. ‘I did some magazine articles, which then became button-making kits—I’ve created a monster,’ she says with a smile. ‘There’s a huge demand for the kits and numerous people wanting lessons.’ Mrs Best was born in Shaftesbury, the acknowledged heartland of Dorset button-making.…

Lulu Lytle is co-founder and creative director of Soane Britain, maker of furniture, lighting, fabrics and wallpapers ‘For a teenager who had holidayed predominantly in the British Isles and was plagued by wanderlust, the first sighting of this painting–in a book–was thrilling. My yearning for the exotic was fuelled by its intoxicating combination of all things opulent and Eastern–extravagantly shaped turbans, abundant walled gardens filled with palms and cypresses, minarets, domes and ornately castellated walls, bath houses, monkeys and shaggy Bactrian camels resting on their journey to the bazaar. Rose-robed pages bearing silks are sharply contrasted with the white-gowned Mamluk viceroy and the black-clad Venetians. I can think of few paintings that so successfully convey the atmosphere of the Orient as I imagined it’ John McEwen comments on The…

Fanny Shorter FANNY SHORTER screenprints textiles, prints and accessories in her studio in Bloomsbury, London. Having originally trained as an illustrator at Brighton, she started dreaming up fanciful designs inspired by the natural world. Her interest in fabric was piqued at an early age: holidays with her parents (her father taught at Winchester College and her mother had studied history of art) were often spent roaming the V&A and National Trust houses. ‘We grew up in beautiful old houses decorated in William Morris and Sanderson fabrics. At the time, I thought they were fusty and I went through a teen Minimalist stage, but, now, I’ve done away with that and my tastes have come full circle,’ she says. In 2011, Fanny released her first collection of fabrics. Instagram has provided…

YOU don’t have to look far for evidence that steel windows have made a major comebackthey’re adding a sleek, industrial look to everything from city apartments to barn conversions. It’s been an impressive reversal of fortunes: old-style steel windows that were popular in the early 20th century fell out of favour in the 1960s thanks to the fact that they warped, rusted and had an impressive capacity to conduct the cold, but now, they’ve been reinvented for the 21st century. Modern insulated glass units in strong, but slender steel frames are designed to be robust, high-performance, easy to maintain, long-lasting and visually less intrusive. As an alternative, bronze is worthy of attention, not least because of its historical kudos: many of the Palace of Westminster’s 3,800 original window frames are…

A DECADE ago, an invitation to a rural bolthole often meant you had to face the prospect of a temperamental boiler, a faint aroma of rising damp and creaking corridors. However, thanks to the hiking of Stamp Duty, many homeowners who, a decade ago, would have bought a large country house are opting for something more modest and investing the money saved in tax on creature comforts normally associated with boutique hotels or swanky London apartments. In estate-agent speak, this is known as a ‘pyramid house’: larger on the bottom than it is on top. Room for entertaining is fundamental, but expectations are rather different as to what they might have been a generation ago. ‘Owners certainly want to entertain, but not the hot-and-cold running staff required to achieve it,’…

KEVIN and Marc Weaver welcomed guests to Guinevere during London Design Week to celebrate the launch of Nina Campbell Interior Decoration, written by COUNTRY LIFE’s interiors editor, Giles Kime, and published by Rizzoli. Guests enjoyed Pol Roger Champagne among the exquisite and eclectic antiques that have made Guinevere a magnet for interior designers and collectors for more than half a century.…

FROM the lawns in front of Ellenborough Park, we could look directly down to the finishing straight of Cheltenham Racecourse and its looming grandstand. Far beyond, the round bulk of May Hill, with its distinctive clump of trees atop, rose above the church spires of Cheltenham. A classic Cotswold-stone country house, the hotel is enlivened by clever modern touches, such as the glass entranceway and light-filled atrium. The double-height hall of 1485, with its roaring fire and sofas was tempting on a grey afternoon; bring a book or grab a board game and it’s a perfect place for a post-racing sojourn. It’s all about the horses here. An equestrian sculpture stands on the lawn, our room was named Arkle and the pub, where we enjoyed a G&T with local gin…

THE graveyard is wrapped in mist from the river. I’ve come here to meet people I cannot see, although the shroud of vapour is blameless. In the round, dark tower of a yew tree, a wren tisks its alarm call, as regular as the counting of clocks. Further away, in a vague fir, a robin sings muffled. Then, there they are. Percival Amos and Margaret Amos, their names inscribed in black on a grey-marble headstone. The roots of the fir have tilted the stone, ivy clutches at it. Clagged with damp, their memorial needs a wipe of my coat sleeve for their names to shine. I loved my maternal grandparents and not just because they cared for me during tranches of my childhood, but also for what they were.…

I AM very fond of apples. They’re the quintessential English fruit and have, for centuries, played an important part in determining what we eat, how we cook and what we drink. Many of the older cultivars were selected and propagated for their ability to bear fruit that could be stored through autumn, winter and into spring. Before the days of refrigeration, the apple was the only fruit that could be saved and made available throughout the year. Winter Banana lives up to its name—it really does have a taste of banana—but Easter Orange doesn’t taste of oranges, although it does last until April. Hambledon Deux Ans is said to be good for two years (meaning right through until the following year’s harvest), but I’ve never put it to the…

FIVE years after The Prince of Wales made his first foray into magazine editing when, on the occasion of his 65th birthday, he took charge of the November 13 edition of COUNTRY LIFE in 2013—which went on to become the magazine’s biggest-selling issue of all time—The Prince will be masterminding another issue: November 14, 2018. Agreeing to take up the Editor’s hot seat again, this time to mark his 70th birthday, The Prince has been working on content for the commemorative edition—which will be published on the day of his birthday —since February this year. Special access has been granted to COUNTRY LIFE’s Architectural and Gardens Editors to write articles about Clarence House, Highgrove Gardens and Dumfries House, the Scottish estate The Prince saved for the nation in 2007.…

COWS are being blamed for belching the planet to deadly temperatures and curbing their gastric wind has become an urgent issue. Collectively, bouts of bovine burping (as well as the odd rear-end exhalation) account for 4% of all greenhouse-gas emissions, according to the UN. The good news is that, according to scientists at Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), the microbes contained in a cow’s rumen determine the amount of methane it produces. Their research shows that feed and genetic make-up affect the rumen’s microbiome, which means that selective breeding and dietary changes can massively reduce emissions globally. ‘Unfortunately, feeds that are rich in fibre, such as grass and silage, lead to greater methane emissions from cattle,’ explains Prof Richard Dewhurst, who heads up the Green-Cow project. ‘Our studies have shown methane…

AFTER lunch on Sunday, April 3, 1960, Ralph Dutton, owner of Hinton Ampner House, decided to walk to the woods in the park ‘for a little beneficial manual labour’ instead of snoozing in front of the library fire. ‘Seldom was virtue worse rewarded,’ he recalled in his history of the house, A Hampshire Manor (1968). ‘As I returned across the park an hour and a half later, I saw to my surprise a thin column of smoke rising above the trees.’ A catastrophe awaited him: the house was ablaze and most of its fine collection of furniture, paintings and books had been destroyed. With impressive determination, Dutton set about rebuilding and refurnishing it, completing the work within three years. He had been able to contemplate the wreck of the house…

THE draw of home is all in its familiarity. Being surrounded by four walls and the objects that we know and have chosen with care, whether it’s a sofa, a dining table or a well-known view from the window, is enough to create a feeling of contentment. Add to that all the things, little and large, that we do to make our homes even more welcoming, from a roaring fireside to breakfast in the warmth of the kitchen. You can see what all this talk about interiors is for. Home is important no matter the season, but in autumn and winter especially so. Most of our time is spent inside, and when we do venture out, the cosiness when we return is felt all the more. These are the months…

Jemima Sissons WHEN one British nobleman wanted to propose to his girlfriend and it was clear that no ordinary diamond would do, he turned to Karine Zacharias of Gem Trails. ‘The bride said that, if she ever got married, she wanted an 18th-century pear-shaped diamond from the Golconda mine. It was a very particular and exclusive piece,’ explains Miss Zacharias. Eight months and € 800,000 later, the five-carat diamond was acquired through her network of Indian contacts, gathered when she was living in Jaipur. (The girlfriend said yes.) Miss Zacharias is one of a number of jewellery detectives using an extensive network to replace a loved piece that has been lost or stolen (although finding the exact item is another matter). Another common request is furnishing a nostalgic ancestor with…

THE result of an extraordinary collaboration, the new Amanyangyun hotel has been built out of Ming- and Qing-dynasty buildings, surrounded by more than 10,000 ancient camphor trees. Both houses and trees were relocated some 435 miles from their native Jiangxi by businessman Ma Dadong, who had been distressed to learn that all were destined to be inundated by a new dam. It made sense for the houses to be modernised in the course of their reconstruction and, in 2005, by way of an experiment, the first was erected. In 2007, Mr Ma went into partnership with Aman. Together—and with the oversight of Kerry Hill Architects—they devised a mixed development of ancient and modern architecture. Twelve of the buildings have so far been reconstructed. Each stands in its own garden compound,…

‘Delicious autumn squash is fantastically versatile and although this week’s recipes focus on butternut, there are so many varieties to enjoy over the coming months’ Butternut gnocchi with scallops, mascarpone and scallop bisque Serves 4 Ingredients 400g baking potatoes400g butternut squash2 eggs200g plain flour (plus more for dusting)Butter and oil for frying1 shallot, finely sliced12 scallops with roe30ml white wine4tbspn mascarpone (plus more to pipe onto plates)250ml vegetable stock1 lemon, zest of and for squeezing at the endLemon thyme to serve Method I find I get the lightest gnocchi by baking potatoes in the oven and scooping out the flesh. Steam the butternut and pass both it and the potatoes through a ricer into a large bowl. Add the eggs, a little seasoning and heap the mixture onto a…

ACTING on behalf of receivers Sanderson Weatherall, Knight Frank (020–7861 1528) have announced the sale, at a guide price of £3 million, of one of Dorset’s oldest country houses, the glorious, Grade I-listed Parnham House near Beaminster, seven miles inland from the county’s World Heritage Jurassic Coast. Tragically, however, the interior of the magnificent, 38,000sq ft Elizabethan manor house was gutted by a catastrophic fire that ripped through the building in April last year, leaving the external walls standing, but unstable, and the entire house in need of urgent restoration. Approached via a long sweeping driveway, the house stands in almost 132 acres of ancient parkland and comes with a charming, three-bedroom Dower House, a two-bedroom stable cottage, two flats, stabling and an outdoor manège. Historic England, which rates…

WHEN on holiday in Italy recently, we visited the Villa Lante garden. For me, this was a pilgrimage; no, stronger than that, it was the consummation of a love affair I had been conducting from a distance for nearly 40 years. I first read about the Villa Lante in the late 1970s, in one of two books on Italian Renaissance gardens. The first, by Georgina Masson, is large and comprehensive; the second, by Sir George Sitwell, is slim and selective. Both are seminal works, notable for their affection for their subject, which shines out from every page. A few years later, I studied the Villa Lante closely for various books I was writing. I discovered that its creator, Jacopo Vignola, was a brilliant, but shadowy figure, like so many craftsmen…

DUBLIN is a city full of ghosts. I was there recently, as a guest of Tourism Ireland for the annual Theatre Festival, and was everywhere shadowed by the past. I saw a version of Arthur Miller’s The Misfits at the Smock Alley Theatre and was fascinated to learn that it was on this site in 1741 that Fanny Furnival became the first woman to play Hamlet. Visiting a new production at the Gate Theatre, I was struck by the vivid photographs of a famous 1934 version, with Micheál MacLiammóir as the Prince and Orson Welles as the Ghost. The following night, I was at the Abbey Theatre to see Richard III and found myself gazing again at the impressive portraits of W. B. Yeats, Lady Gregory and Annie Horniman,…

THINK wildlife haven and the soaring towers of Canary Wharf are hardly the first place that springs to mind. However, the Thames-side estate is home to a surprising number of birds, including rare black redstarts, of which fewer than 100 breeding pairs remain in the UK. Last spring, a pair made a nest in the cladding insulation of 10, George Street, one of the residential buildings currently under construction on the site. ‘When we found them, we deliberately left them alone and diverted the work until the chicks had left the nest,’ says Angus Neilson from Canary Wharf Contractors. The redstarts weren’t the only birds to choose the estate as their nesting ground. Construction crews have only recently regained use of one of their inflatable safety boats, after a pair…

TREES hold the key to helping combat climate change. According to a report released last week by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), ‘rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society’ are necessary to prevent temperatures rising more than 1.5˚C. As Prof Jim Skea explained at the IPCC press conference, warming-mitigation measures should not only include ‘deep emission reductions, the use of a wide range of technologies, behavioural changes and a significant investment in low-carbon options’, but also taking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.This hinges on a combination of cutting-edge technology and old-fashioned tree planting—an international study, published earlier this year in Environmental Research Letters and mentioned in the IPCC report, estimates that planting and restoring forests worldwide could capture up to 3,600 million tonnes of…

THE Maritime Museum opened four permanent galleries last month, which ‘truly showcase its extraordinarily rich collection,’ according to COUNTRY LIFE’s Architectural Editor, John Goodall, who had an early opportunity to visit them. Three—Tudor and Stuart Seafarers, Pacific Encounters and Polar Worlds—cover the history of British and European exploration from the late 15th century to today, investigating Europe’s thirst for discovery and Britain’s burgeoning maritime power, as well as the devastating impact the New World Conquest had on indigenous populations. The fourth gallery, Sea Things, looks at how the sea shaped our identity with a striking digital seascape that washes around 200 objects.…

WHAT was once the ‘season of mists and mellow fruitfulness’ has morphed into a period of commercial greed and celebration of wastefulness. Starting on October 31 with Halloween, via the very British Guy Fawkes and the American newcomer Black Friday, we end up on December 1 with that triumph of a commercial rip-off: the secular Advent calendar. It’s a heady mixture of rampant consumerism, half-remembered bigotry and hangover superstition. Above all, it’s about relieving punters of their money. From trick or treat, through a penny for the guy, to 50% off and ‘24 windows hiding £75 worth of Clinique products’, it’s all about commerce and cash with just an undertone of unpleasantness. Mid October and you’re just in time to stock up for Halloween. You’ll be pleased to know that…

WHAT a misplaced emotion pity is. Robespierre tells us it’s treason, Goldsmith that it’s incompatible with friendship. At 7pm on Tuesday, I was sitting in front of the first (deliciously aromatic) turf fire of the year with a glass of wine in my hand, waiting with pleasurable anticipation for the striking of the dinner gong, when I remembered, with considerable annoyance, that two brilliant veterinary surgeons of my acquaintance, Tom Farrington and Chris Aukland, were slated to speak at a training seminar nearby. If I tell you that it was a grey, damp, chilly autumnal Tuesday evening (not, perhaps, the most enticing of weather), that the title of the event was The Uses of Homeopathic Remedies in Farming (not, perhaps, the most enticing of subjects) and that the venue…

TIME was when bright young things would leap into their E-Types and tear up the newly built M1, not so much for the thrill of driving fast as for the excitement of hanging out in motorway service stations. So cool they appeared, so up to date, with their leatherette seats and 24-hour cafes. It’s fair to say the glamour has departed. Nobody descends these days on Woolley Edge Services with excited peals of laughter or thinks moodily of lighting up a Gauloise at Newton Pagnell. The trouble with motorway driving is that everything is everywhere the same: the lanes, your speed, the bridges, the gantries, the hard shoulder, a strip of green, the Norbert Dentressangle lorry again. Britain dissolves into a grey ribbon. Cones are cones, from Spaghetti Junction to…

A place to rest your head The snug feeling of sitting on a wing-back armchair inspired the Charlie headboard. It also has space underneath its upholstery to fit Neptune’s Rathbone reading lights Not forgetting the bathroom Just as the kitchen can, bathrooms can feel more functional than cosy. Introducing natural materials—such as the Edinburgh washstand’s mix of oak and marble—is one way to soften the space An extra layer For this season, Neptune’s designers have rethought their chunky Sefton throw in Rust —a warm, muted orange. This season’s fabrics From Harris Tweed to reach-out-and-touch velvet, Neptune has added 13 new textiles to its collection this autumn for sofas, armchairs and cushions alike.…

SPECIAL event Jewel Identity will enable you to unlock the secrets of your jewellery, whether you are curious as to the date, the maker or its value. The expertise of Joanna Hardy, Susannah Lovis and her team will be at your service and they will be providing free, verbal valuations for antique jewellery. ‘This is a wonderful opportunity for anyone who wants to unearth that hidden treasure or that hopefully priceless family heirloom,’ says Susannah, the owner of Susannah Lovis Jewellers based in the Burlington Arcade, London W1. ‘With so much focus on the new and contemporary, it’s also an op p ortunity to p romote the vintage and antique,’ she continues. ‘It’s a great chance for people to have direct access to some of the world’s leading experts in…

ALMOST everyone has at least one humdinger of a house-selling story. Whether it’s a deal that came off in spectacular fashion or a sale with more twists and turns than Line of Duty, these yarns have long entertained kitchen suppers across the land. Central to the plot, of course, has always been the local high-street estate agent, but change may be afoot. As online-only agents attempt to disrupt the status quo, some kitchen suppers find themselves debating the traditional agent’s role—so how do the two models compare? Online-only agents say they’re able to sell houses for a fraction of the traditional 1.5% fee by doing away with bricks-and-mortar offices. The main players are currently Purplebricks, HouseSimple, Yopa, easy-Property, Emoov and Tepilo and their models all vary, but vendors usually…

A SINGLE, bright-blue textile drop, 36ft by 13ft, hangs alone in a long, dramatic fall from the ceiling in the first gallery of ‘Oceania’. It’s a powerful evocation of the calm, shimmering Pacific that is the ever-present force behind this exhibition. Woven last year by a group of Maori craftswomen, the textile was—unlike most of the displays—consciously created as a work of art, but it stems from a practical decorative tradition that is staggering both in its creative force and, to Western eyes, its remote strangeness. Immediately after this moment of azure tranquillity, the mood switches. The walls in the second gallery are deep blue and we are plunged into a strange new world of canoes elaborately carved with turtles, birds and human figures. Then comes a fabulous headdress made…