Innholdsfortegnelse for 07-Aug-2019 i Country Life

AN experiment to replace heavy machinery with heavy horses is under way at the Ham House estate (above) near Richmond this summer, proving that traditional farming methods still have their merits. Instead of using machinery to cut the rare hay on Ham House’s flood meadows this year, the National Trust employed shire horses in an effort to manage the land in a more sustainable way. The animals, which belong to charity Operation Centaur, are the last remaining group of working heavy horses in London. The Trust says it’s already seeing the benefits of employing equine labour. The horses compact the soil less than tractors, which helps wildflowers to grow; they also reduce noise pollution, produce a lower carbon footprint and help with flood control. ‘Horses have been used in this…

THE People’s Trust for Endangered Species would like the public’s help in recording sightings of mammals on Britain’s roads—dead or alive—as part of its annual Mammals on Roads survey. The information will be used to analyse population trends and identify where species need help. Sightings can be uploaded via a free, easy-to-use app. ‘No one likes seeing roadkill,’ says David Wembridge, mammal-surveys coordinator, ‘[but] recording such sightings tells us how wild mammals are faring in the surrounding landscape. Thanks to the many volunteers who’ve submitted records over the past two decades, we found out that hedgehog numbers are plummeting. Now, we’re doing everything we can to help them.’ Hedgehogs, badgers, rabbits, foxes and deer are among those most likely to be spotted, but there are many others, such as stoats…

EVEN in Derbyshire, the llamas belonging to journalist, author and political commentator Matthew Parris retain the ways of their native Andes. ‘They always give birth at sunrise,’ he explains. ‘It’s very cold in the mountains, so that gives them the best chance of warmth and sunshine.’ One wintry morning this year, Mr Parris (left) and his partner, Julian Glover, went out at 7am to find a newborn in the snow. ‘The others were standing around worriedly wondering what to do; if they don’t get up and feed immediately, they won’t make it. Julian is very good with animals, so he picked the baby up and carried her into the barn.’ Thus Lynn joined her mother Ann, Craig and Vera, all of whom are named after the first person to see…

DERBYSHIRE is a county of contrasts. The Peak District tends to jump first into our minds, but Derbyshire is also the birthplace of technology and industry, not least the revolution led by Richard Arkwright in the 18th century. His cotton mills in the Derwent valley were the first water-powered factories. It’s also the seat of some of England’s great families—the Dukes of Devonshire of Chatsworth and Hardwick Hall, the Curzons of Kedleston and the Harpur Crewes of Calke Abbey—but it’s seen huge changes since its early industries declined and so has its county town. Today, the medieval spire of the cathedral soars above beautiful Georgian buildings that survived the 1960s remodelling of the city, but are surrounded by a huge, ugly bypass and undistinguished 20th-century buildings. ‘In Derby, beauty is…

TO visit Skinners’ Hall is to enter one of the most atmospheric of London’s livery companies. This medieval guild, granted a royal charter in 1327, was established to regulate the valuable London fur trade. Fashion has moved on, but the Skinners still flourish as a charitable body, renowned in particular for their support for schools. Traders in fur formed an association in the late 13th century and Edward III granted the company its first charter at the start of his reign. Visit the hall today, and there isn’t much fur in evidence, yet this luxury commodity, a crucial indicator of status in medieval and early modern society, was one of the key imports from Northern Europe. The Skinners, as other companies did, regulated trade by setting prices, overseeing apprenticeships, checking…

DOWN on the platt on an August morning, the meandering throngs of visitors making their annual pilgrimage to the filming location of ITV’s Doc Martin file past in ribbons, processing up the hill to ‘his’ cottage, overlooking the harbour of the archetypal Cornish fishing village where the popular series is set. As they pass the slipway, lifeboat station and the jumbled collection of lobster pots, marker buoys, dinghies and fish boxes that mark the landing area for a now diminutive, but increasingly important fishing fleet, few realise they’re in the midst of a bustling and deep-rooted local industry, steeped in tradition, that’s been operating out of this tiny, tidal cove for centuries. George Cleave, 27, is the fourth generation of a famous fishing lineage that’s plied its trade from Port…

IT was a sultry Scottish summer in 1986, in the decade fashion forgot. The music of the day was Kenny Loggins’s Danger Zone from the soundtrack to Top Gun. Glasgow’s hip and happening teenagers were out in force, ramming the nightclubs (or discotheques, as they were then known). Among the hip and happening was Hardeep. Yes. Although, for Tom Cruise’s Maverick, a danger zone was supersonic-war-plane flying, for me, the principal danger zone was showing up at any fashionable nightclub as a 16 year old. Turban-wearing teenagers were a rare sight, as was my unique, early-adopted dad-dancing style. Male infants wore long white dresses, which became shorter white dresses as they became toddlers. Upon becoming boys, they started to wear shorts. At middle childhood, they switched to breeches and, finally,…

TIM HANDS has a unique perspective on the subject of education. Schooled in the State system, he went on to study at the Guildhall School of Music, King’s College London and Oxford University. He was later a lecturer at Oriel College, a housemaster at The King’s School Canterbury, second master at Whitgift School and, more recently, headmaster at both The Portsmouth Grammar School and Magdalen College School, before being appointed Headmaster of Winchester college in 2015. Dr Hands has also written a number of books on Thomas Hardy. At the event, he will discuss the question ‘Character, creativity or qualifications: which are the most important benefits of a good education?’ The event, which will be preceded and followed by a drinks reception, is invitation only, but a limited number of…

ADDING an annexe to your home is quickly becoming the most popular way to increase living space, offering flexibility and minimal disruption. One of Prime Oak’s clients (pictured right) moved into their aging parents’ garden as they were in need of more full-time support, instead of moving their parents from their long-term home. A Prime Oak annexe can be designed to cater for various purposes, such as growing teenagers, elderly relatives or overnight guests. ‘An annexe is a truly tranquil place to focus or relax, providing the perfect escape’ Featuring one to two bedrooms, en suites, kitchenettes and open-plan living areas, Prime Oak annexes are so inviting that your guests won’t want to leave. Alternatively, the space can be designed to accommodate a developing home business or hobby that needs…

WHEN I first became interested in gardening, Jane Grigson’s Vegetable Book and Fruit Book were my kitchen inspirations. ‘One thing I should like to do is to eat a ripe apricot straight from the tree,’ she wrote in the latter, which had me planting a tree and fulfilling her ambition only a couple of years later. It was one of the revelatory moments that drew me into how truly special it can be to grow some of what you eat. Apricots, picked sun-warm, fresh from the tree, may be less thirst-quenching and refreshing than nectarines and peaches, but they have a special, deep, honeyed richness that’s far beyond those in the shops. As with peaches and nectarines, most apricots are picked for sale before they’re fully ripe. They may…

Orzo with rocket and sweet-chilli prawns Serves 4 Ingredients Rocket pestoA handful rocketA handful basil1 clove garlic50g pine nuts50g Parmesan, grated Juice of 1 lemon150ml extra-virgin olive oil500g orzo20g butter2tbspn chives, chopped150g feta, crumbled Juice of 1 lemon150ml extra-virgin olive oil2 handfuls rocket leaves2tbspn honey2cm piece fresh ginger, grated2 cloves garlic, crushed1 red chilli, finely diced450g king prawns Method Make the rocket pesto by processing the ingredients until you have a coarse paste. Add a little more olive oil, if needed, to loosen the mixture. Season well. ‘A rocket of a little leaf that gives a peppery punch to all it encounters’ Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil and cook the orzo until it’s al dente. Remove from the heat and drain before tossing with…

On November 7, 2018, I wrote about a type of ‘Old Master’ drawing frequently seen on the market and still sometimes catalogued as genuine. On July 20, Metz Auktion in Germany offered an ‘Important Collection of 42 Italian Master drawings of the 18th century’. For its sake, and that of the buyers, if any, I reprint some of what I wrote. It has now been established that the creator of these fakes was Giuseppe Latini (1903–72)—generally known as the Maestro del Ricciolo, the Master of the Curlicues, for his characteristic hooked pen lines—who began to sell them in the Piazza Fontanella Borghese in Rome. He worked on old, often watermarked paper, although much of the staining and foxing was fake—coffee perhaps. Usually, he drew in brown ink, which may bleed…

VOLUNTEERS are building a replica of an Anglo-Saxon house in Oxfordshire using timber from 80 trees from Blenheim estate’s ancient woodlands. The project has a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and is run by environmental charity the Sylva Foundation. Using the exact footprint of a royal Anglo-Saxon house discovered at the village of Long Wittenham in 2016 by the University of Oxford’s School of Archaeology, the House of Wessex is being constructed from a combination of oak, ash, birch and sweet-chestnut logs, using tools and methods faithful to the 7th century. Carpenter’s Fellowship volunteers have now completed the oak framework (above) and next will come a thatched roof and wattle-and-daub walls. They hope to finish the house by the end of September. The charity will use the house to…

Quiz of the week 1) The eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert became which king of England? 2) Vermilion is a shade of which primary colour? 3) In the ‘Noddy’ stories, what animal is Mr Jumbo? 4) What is the first hit of the ball in a tennis game called? 5) Conchology is the study of what? Time to buy Marlborough landscape leather cellar book, £160, Noble Macmillan (020–7581 4178: www. noblemacmillan.co.uk) Sweet-pea seed tin, £3.50, Easton Walled Gardens (01476 530063; www.visiteaston.co.uk) Vintage-style Fern engraved-glass Champagne saucers (set of two), £29.99, Historic Royal Palaces (020–3166 6848; www.historicroyalpalaces.com) Unmissable events Until March 1, 2020 ‘Talking Maps’ (right), The Weston Library, Bodleian Libraries, Oxford, Oxfordshire. Ancient, pre-modern and contemporary maps, plus imaginary and war maps, taken from the Libraries’…

Letter of the week Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit I AM reminded by your leader on the rabbit (July 24) of a Grace I have remembered since childhood, taken from a Small Book of Prayers and Graces, now lost. It’s called The Gamekeeper’s Grace: For Rabbits young and Rabbits old, For Rabbits hot and Rabbits cold, For Rabbits tender, Rabbits tough, We thank thee Lord, we’ve had enough. Strangely, I don’t remember any of the other Graces, but this one has provided several amusing openings to dinner when called upon. Julian Hall, by email The writer of the letter of the week will win a bottle of Pol Roger Brut Réserve Champagne Food, glorious food IT was with amusement that I read your letter about gluttonous ravens (July 24), which…

1901 August 24, ‘It wasn’t me!’: in a scene that could easily have been photographed in 2019 rather than 1901, a young boy looks to the photographer for validation as a younger sibling takes a tumble into the brine The COUNTRY LIFE Picture Library contains 120 years’ worth of photography and articles from the world’s leading architectural and gardens experts. Many are available to licence or purchase in print form from £28 plus VAT. Please email enquiries to clpicturelibrary @ti-media.com…

Michael Wainwright is the fifth generation of his family to own the jewellers Boodles, which was founded in 1798 'My wife, Annie, and I were on our honeymoon in 1990. We were on a bus to Todi from the monastery where we were staying when we saw this painting and really liked it. We walked to the shop later that evening, but it was closed and we were moving on to San Gimignano next morning. A few days later, I found myself really wanting to buy it, so we telephoned the shop and, in my wife’s pidgin Italian, arranged for funds to be wired from Barclays Bank in England–£1,000 was a lot of money for us then. I don’t think the painting is particularly valuable, but it has pride…

IN 1791, Sir Joseph Banks wrote to Scottish agriculturalist and statistician Sir John Sinclair requesting a lifetime’s supply of hosiery made from the wool of Shetland sheep: ‘Since I have had the Gout I have dealt much in warm Stockings. Pray buy me a good Lot.’ Banks famously brought back to England a kangaroo skin and numerous exotic plants; what is less well known is that he was charged by George III to produce a sheep that could compete against the Spanish Merino in the crucial currency of wool—a challenge, given that Charles of Spain had banned the export of his valuable sheep. At the same time that Banks was smuggling Merinos through Portugal and France, he was being pestered by Sinclair, who proclaimed that Shetland wool was ‘perhaps the…

FOUR small, raised beds: this, according to the RHS, is all you need to feed a family. If you’re prepared to put in a few more, however, you can have a business. This was how gardeners in London made a living in the 17th century—Chelsea was a sea of productive market gardens and Fulham was famed for its carrots. Soaring land values put an end to this, but, after the Second World War, market gardens were again Britain’s lifeblood, says Kate Collyns, author of Gardening for Profit. ‘A garden might not be hugely profitable, but your lifestyle is rich’ Certainly, this is how Jane Scotter of Fern Verrow, a biodynamic market garden in Herefordshire, and Rachel Siegfried, who runs a cutting garden in Oxfordshire, are making a living. Miss Siegfried…

THE brief for this project was to create a multi-functional, family-friendly space, with colours that echo those of the garden that can be seen through the windows beyond the dining area. ‘It’s rare that kitchens are purely for food preparation, so they need to be a warm, inviting, social space,’ says designer Hubert Zandberg. ‘That’s why I like to combine practical fitted elements to create a more thrown-together look, which introduces a subconscious feeling of cosy homeliness.’ While taking care to ensure the kitchen includes the hard-working features required of a busy home—including a range cooker and an extractor fan, two sinks and plenty of storage and work surfaces—the designer has also added pieces that introduce an industrial character. Salvaged factory pendant lights and stools, found in a flea market…

THE crenellated west façade of Belvedere at Lympstone, near Exmouth, Devon, has long been a familiar landmark for sailors passing up and down the picturesque Exe Estuary. Now for sale through Knight Frank (01392 848842) and Savills (01392 455717) for ‘offers over £5 million’, the intriguing Georgian house, listed Grade II, stands in splendid seclusion within almost 13 acres of beautifully landscaped gardens and woodland, with far-reaching views over the estuary to the countryside beyond—itself unseen except from the water. Historically, Belvedere was part of the Nutwell estate, which spanned both banks of the River Exe and descended through the Drake family of Buckland to the notoriously unsociable Sir Francis Drake, 5th Baronet and the last of the Drake male line. He left Nutwell to his nephew, Francis Eliott,…

Cornwall, excess £3 million Delightful Truthan Manor, dating from 1687 and only five miles from Truro, is on the market for the first time in 20 years and is sure to attract attention, with its pillared entrance, shuttered bay windows with window seats and grand proportions. There are eight bedrooms in total (including the attached cottage), with views overlooking private woodland, a lake, an American-lime avenue, a tennis court, a swimming pool and a kitchen garden, all in 18 acres. Should truly cold water be required, the celebrated Art Deco seawater Jubilee Pool at Penzance, which has just undergone a £1.8 million restoration, is less than an hour away. Savills (01872 243200) Cornwall, £2.5 million Tropical vegetation typical of Cornwall gives The Old Manor House at Marazion…

THE legacy of groundbreaking exhibitions is often greater in retrospect than in their immediate impact, especially when associated with a book or catalogue of enduring worth. Such is likely to be the case with ‘Art, Faith & Modernity’, a travelling show, with moving parts, conceived by the Liss Llewellyn partnership, accompanied by an illustrated 200-page book of the same title, edited by Sacha Llewellyn and Paul Liss, with a thought-provoking essay by Alan Powers (£25). Dr Powers’s publications range from Eric Ravilious and Enid Marx to his recently published Bauhaus Goes West. Sacha Llewellyn’s biography of Winifred Knights, published in 2016 to coincide with Dulwich Picture Gallery’s exhibition of the artist’s work, won the Berger Prize in 2018. Her long immersion in Knights’s work initially put the match to the…

A MAJOR London train station is vying with a Scottish distillery and a carbon-neutral private home to be named Britain’s best new building this autumn. The six shortlisted buildings for the 2019 RIBA Stirling Prize differ vastly in their scale, purpose and location: Goldsmith Street in Norwich offers energy-efficient social housing; London Bridge station is a reconfiguration of a major transport hub; Nevill Holt Opera in Leicestershire is a new performing space; The Macallan Distillery in Moray comprises a high-tech visitor centre; Cork House in Berkshire is a carbon-neutral private house; and The Weston (above) is Yorkshire Sculpture Park’s new gallery space. For RIBA president Ben Derbyshire, each project is a showcase for innovation. ‘From the way that Cork House experiments with entirely plant-based materials to Goldsmith Street’s ultra-low-energy affordable…

IT’S impossible to take Jacob Rees-Mogg, the new Leader of the House of Commons, as seriously as he takes himself, but his recent excursion into grammar, punctuation and the use of language shouldn’t be dismissed as an old-fashioned irrelevance. The way we speak and write is constantly changing and no one, least of all Mr Rees-Mogg, should look to follow the stultifying example of the French in the bureaucratic attempts of the Académie Française to keep their language pure. Nevertheless, some effort to curb the destructive elements of modern English is long overdue. Some of it is simply irritating. I’ve written before of the word ‘pop’ used by nurses and airline staff (‘Let me pop this case into the overhead locker’). In hospitals and aeroplanes, ‘popping’ is universal, as staff…

IDON’T recall seeing him at the Piers Gaveston parties at Oxford (he wasn’t, as I was, an Extended Member), but I do remember—who wouldn’t? —Allegra (Mostyn-Owen, his first wife). We discussed how it came to be that I own a canteen of crested Mostyn silver. He must have been out in the pleasure gardens, somewhere. Had it suited, for whatever reason, Boris would have claimed that he’d been there. His first gaffe as a journalist was to vivify a column by saying that Gaveston himself was partying in some palace 12 years after he had so memorably been murdered. Details, details—but a better story. I think that’s why he’s now where he is. ‘Boris, uniquely, understands Britain, especially a Britain facing the red-hot poker’ Duplicity, to give it an…

AT the age of 25, Lord Shaftesbury inherited both an earldom and St Giles House in Dorset, which was in an advanced state of decay and badly compromised by previous repair. Built in 1651, the magnificent Grade I-listed house near Wimborne has been home to generations of his family, who owned extensive estates in Hampshire, Wiltshire, Somerset and Dorset. In the 20th century, the house was used as both a hospital and later as a school. After the Second World War, it fell into disrepair and the family moved to the dower house and St Giles House appeared in English Heritage’s Buildings At Risk register. Much of the house was on the point of collapse. In 2012, Nicholas moved back into the house and he and his wife, Dinah, embarked…

ONE of north Norfolk’s most prominent landmarks, Cley Windmill at The Quay, Cley-next-the-Sea, four miles from Holt and 14 miles from trendy Burnham Market, is for sale through the Norwich office of Strutt & Parker (01603 617431) at a guide price of £2.9m for the whole or without the converted Dovecote and Old Cart Shed for £2.3m. The pretty coastal village of Cley was one of East Anglia’s most prosperous ports until the River Glaven began to silt up due to land reclamation in the early 17th century. The site of the striking, Grade II*-listed Georgian windmill on Cley Quay is now about a mile from the beach and the river only navigable by small craft. The Windmill ceased milling in 1921, when its conversion to a home was part-sponsored…

LA JEG, a magical French garden, is a photographer’s dream in every sense and it’s been a lifetime in the making. Its owner, Tony Stone, was both a photographer and the founder of a major photo agency, travelling extensively in Provence. When he settled in the region at La Jeg some 20 years ago, he consulted his long-time colleague, internationally renowned garden designer Anthony Paul, whose work at the Hannah Peschar Sculpture Garden in Surrey he had much admired. Both men have an eye for the striking unveiling of panoramas, as well as a love for well-placed garden sculpture, where mineral and plant forms set each other off. Mr Stone preferred to avoid the fashionable Luberon and Alpilles areas in favour of a more dramatic site. His garden now faces…

THERE are, as any fool knows, only five true cocktails. Five, I say—no more. The rest are also-rans and imposters, sticky mountebanks and frothy fools, little more than alcoholic window dressing, a sickly sweet salve for the easily impressed. There’s nothing funny about a proper cocktail. If I want to laugh, I read Wodehouse, the Grossmith brothers or Chris Packham’s views on pretty much anything. When it comes to the barman’s art, things get serious. No comedy vessels or paper umbrellas, no puns, sparklers or pre-made mixes. A cocktail should sharpen the senses, pique the soul and stimulate the mind. That first sip, in the words of Lawrence Durrell, should ‘fairly whistle through the rigging’. As to the cocktail’s origins and etymology, the stories are as endless as they are…

SUCH is the fame of the Charge of the Light Brigade, which took place on October 25, 1854, during the Crimean Battle of Balaclava, that the less costly and more successful Charge of the Heavy Brigade, enacted earlier that day, is unknown to many and the Battle of Salamanca’s Charge of the Heavy Brigade of 1812 is remembered only by military historians. Ironically, Salamanca, unlike Balaclava, was a British (or rather Anglo-Portuguese) victory. That Peninsular War charge, undertaken by Maj-Gen John Gaspard Le Marchant’s brigade, consisting of the 3rd, 4th and 5th Dragoon Guards, smashed into Marshal Marmont’s left wing, which was already weakened by infantry attacks, and rolled up battalion after battalion using the heavy cavalry sabres designed by their general. Le Marchant himself was killed leading a squadron…

Art/Biography Bridget Riley: A Very Very Person: The Early Years Paul Moorhouse (Ridinghouse, £20) THERE HAVE BEEN numerous publications about Bridget Riley’s work over the years (I counted 20 on my bookshelves), but never before a biography. Born in 1931, she is a famously private person, who has devoted her life to her art—which is why, some say, she never married and had children. Now, she’s decided to authorise a biography that deals with her early years up to 1965, when her career first took off. Her author of choice is Paul Moor-house, former curator at the Tate and the National Portrait Gallery, who selected the last major Riley retrospective in 2003. Knowing the artist’s reputation for controlling what is written about her whenever possible, I imagine their collaboration has…