Innholdsfortegnelse for 11-Mar-2020 i Country Life

THE appearance of a new book by Hilary Mantel, author of Wolf Hall, Bring up the Bodies and now The Mirror and the Light, has become a literary event. To a nation possibly about to self-isolate against corona-virus, a third novel about the Tudors comes at the right moment. We shall find excuses to stay home and curl up with it, with no hint of guilt that it is historical fiction. Time was when serious readers looked down on this branch of literature: the popularity of Georgette Heyer’s Regency romances, escapism for the post-Second World War decades, did it no favours. Patrick O’Brian’s tales of Nelson’s Navy never received critical acclaim. Admittedly, there is something of Moby Dick, elaborately informative about whaling, about O’Brian’s writing—the nautical detail is remarkable—but that…

St Patrick Ireland has recorded its first ever venomous snakebite, just weeks before St Patrick’s day. A 22 year old from Dublin was bitten by his own puff adder on February 28, the venom of which was described by doctors as ‘pretty nasty’. St Patrick allegedly drove all the snakes out of Ireland 1,500 years ago, but there’s always one The Pope A swarm of locusts in Africa and coronavirus might suggest divine grievance, but Pope Francis has tested negative for Covid-19, says the Vatican. He missed scheduled events, but only for a cold Renewable energy Britain’s carbon emissions have fallen by 38% since 1990 and are at their lowest level since 1888, according to the website Carbon Brief, driven by a decline in the use of coal. Britain has…

HOWEVER the coronavirus epic plays out, there are valuable lessons for all of us to learn from it about the nature of our contemporary culture industry. Consider Venice, already battered by a succession of acqua altas and then almost deserted by virus-fearing tourists. Early reports suggested hotel bookings were down by more than 40% and going south. Venice is one of the world’s cultural treasures and greatest tourist traps. Without visitors, even low spending day-trippers decanted from cruise ships, there is essentially no economy: real businesses and real people left La Serenissima years ago. For some time now, the Arts and heritage industries have been quite rightly concerned with diversity for both staff and visitors. They have, however, perhaps neglected the importance of diversification. By this Athena means they need…

THE man in front of me is trying to explain why he abandoned his betrothed at the altar. ‘I’ve been stopped in the street by people saying: “How could you? How could you have done that to a young girl, she had her future with you.” I say: “No, she didn’t, look what she’s done since—she’s been off with all sorts, she’s had a very good time. She had a lucky escape.”’ Before you judge him, the man in question is the actor Robert Bathurst and the young girl was Lady Edith Crawley, jilted by Sir Anthony Strallan in Downton Abbey. Viewers may have been aghast, but he feels his character was misunderstood. ‘It was a rather sweet friendship, old Anthony and Edith. It was after the First World War,…

Fox’s Glacier Mints Launched in 1918 by Leicester-based Fox’s, the mints have the mascot Peppy the polar bear, who spent years fending off a fox trying to dethrone him from his glacier-mint perch in adverts Love Hearts The Love Heart remains Swizzels’s most recognisable brand. The New Mills factory in Derbyshire, where the sweet has been produced since 1940, is dubbed the Factory of Love due to the number of employees in a relationship with each other, recently claimed to be almost a quarter of the workforce Jelly Babies After musician George Harrison remarked in an interview that he liked Jelly Babies, concert-goers started pelting the sweets at The Beatles during performances Liquorice Allsorts Mascot Bertie Bassett, a bizarre figure made up of Liquorice Allsorts, is undoubtedly a British…

Stag and hen night Two words sum up the correct approach: low key (absolutely no ruinous weekends in Mykonos) What to wear White is fine (as is any other colour). Find something you feel great in. Avoid anything approaching a meringue Guests Freed of obligations to pacify parents, invite who you want, but be extra aware of any sensititivities Location As ever, our advice is to think carefully about so-called destination weddings, unless they are only for a favoured few Service Consider having a celebrant to help you write your own service and vows Reception There are no rules here, although smaller and less formal is the norm Present lists Unless there are mitigating circumstances (utter penury or a house fire), we think they are a no-no…

VERY few nurseries grow choice, seed-raised trilliums and erythroniums, purely because the tricky process of raising them from seed takes five years or more. The Lincolnshire-based Twelve Nunns Nursery, run by Penny Dawson, is the exception. Mrs Dawson is the daughter of Hugh Nunn, something of a horticultural polymath. Few realise the modest Mr Nunn revolutionised hellebore breeding in the same way that Florence Bellis did primular breeding with her Barnhaven and Cowichan strains. He created Harvington seed strains that come true to colour and type. This was no easy task: each one took at least eight years in development. Mr Nunn’s real passions, however, are for trilliums and erythroniums, with which he fell in love in his early twenties when working as an improver gardener in the North Arboretum…

As spring advances, the opportunity arrives to plant evergreen shrubs. Dig a hole somewhat bigger than the rootball of the intended specimen. Break up the base and sides of the hole with a fork. Pick up the shrub and loosen the fibres of the rootball with finger and thumb, or a knife. Take your time getting the top of the rootball at soil level, resting it on a mound of soil. Then backfill with topsoil, working it carefully down the sides until dead level. Firm by resting your weight all round, then hoe out your footprints.…

GREATLY daring, we emigrated to Pinner, in still rural Middlesex. It was an adventure we never regretted. We rented a house where I could work at home. It was among a little group of similar villas, surrounded on nearly every side by open country.’ Alas for rural Middlesex, it was not to last. In 1918, 10 years after William Heath Robinson and his family had settled in Pinner, they moved again to be further away from London, to Cranleigh in Surrey. The book illustrations that he produced during the 10 Middlesex years are among the last records of the county’s nature before it was overrun by suburbia. The association makes Pinner a fitting home for the Heath Robinson Museum at West House. During those years, Heath Robinson ran the two…

Welsh Snickers Snickers has apologised after comparing Welsh place names, such as Llanfairpwllgwyngyll and Rhosllanerchrugog, to ‘someone who sat on a keyboard’. The firm deleted the Twitter post after complaints Sergio Parisse The admired Italian rugby player was due to retire at the World Cup last year, but his last game was called off for a typhoon. His ‘swansong’, Italy’s game against England in Rome, has now been postponed Kerry McCarthy The former Shadow Defra Secretary was pilloried by rural groups for claiming ‘grouse are imported... in their millions [to] be shot’. Grouse are wild and native to the UK British pride It appears the Union Flag on Portcullis House has been flying upside down ‘for some time’, says Tory MP Robert Courts. He reassured members the house ‘hasn’t surrendered’…

RANDOM clumps of primroses adorn the verges and woods near my mother’s home in Sussex. I find their yellow/green flowers ethereal, uplifting and mysterious; it is as if they are from another, fairy world. Other primulas are also appearing and I am particularly struck by a roundabout at the western end of the Hog’s Back, near our offices, that is already adorned with hundreds of delicately nodding cowslips. So many of our roundabouts are little more than dull globs of land studded around the giant road network, but, occasionally, you come across a gem. Other favourite roundabouts are full of wild roses (outside Alton) and ox-eye daisies (Peters-field), both in Hampshire. Once you get your eye in, you can drive around Britain looking for and anticipating these special places. What…

IDLY leaning over a stone wall gazing at the sea, I was aroused from my reverie by hearing a cat spitting with fear and rage. I could see sheep grazing between wall and rocks and saw one standing with a look of alertness one does not expect. Suddenly a black cat darted to the wall, crouched as if hypnotised with fear. The sheep butted at the cat, which struck out and commenced spitting and growling. With bent head the sheep made for it, but Pussy was too quick and again struck out. After an interval, it again made a move and received a good blow across its nose. In a second the cat had sprung over the sheep and disappeared down the rocks in a marvellous manner and I did…

Biscuit and honeyed apple Yalumba, Craft 3 Sparkling Brut, South Australia. £10, Marks & Spencer, alc 12% This fizz, made from the three traditional Champagne grapes, possesses bready aromas, with green apple and citrus. Savoury, yeasty biscuit flavours join ripe, honeyed yellow apple. Good acidity balances a creamy texture from malolactic fermentation and lees ageing. Calling all claret lovers Berry Bros & Rudd, Extra Ordinary Claret by Ch Villa Bel-Air, Graves, Bordeaux, France 2016. £16.95, Berry Bros & Rudd, alc 13% Everything a claret lover could want: a rounded, smooth attack, packed with rich blackberry fruit, plus a dusting of cocoa powder and warm baking-spice notes to finish. Elegantly built and a great winter food wine. Complex and weighty Domaine Vincent Dampt, Chablis, Burgundy, France 2017. £22, Harrods,…

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Love, Loss and Chianti, starring Robert Bathurst and Rebecca Johnson, is at Riverside Studios, London W6, until May 17 (020–8237 1010; www.riversidestudios.co.uk) Where is your favourite place in Britain? West Dorset—it has a magical quality What is your favourite building? The Georgian Theatre Royal in Richmond, North Yorkshire Book? A poetry anthology called The Zoo of the New . It was from my daughter and we discuss a poem each Sunday Music? My favourite band is Half Man Half Biscuit, led by Nigel Blackwell—he’s one of our finest poets and very funny Food? Fresh mackerel fillet with samphire Alternative career? I studied for the Bar, so in another life I’d be an Old Bailey hack Dinner guest? Eric Morecambe Who is your hero? Jockey Davy Russell, who’s so canny he’s…

THE quarter of a million weddings that take place in Britain every year come in a myriad guises: big, small, formal, informal, religious, non-religious, first, second, third and umpteenth. Increasingly, the ceremony itself is open to interpretation and, in many cases, weddings have become a more personal expression of a couple’s personalities. Although this change has made weddings more interesting, it has also precipitated a proliferation of ever-evolving choices. That is why COUNTRY LIFE has, for the past three years, published an annual guide to the subject. This year, we tackle the big and small questions: do you really need to splash out on a photobooth? Can you save on flowers? Where’s the place to go on honeymoon? Which is this year’s most desirable wedding present? How do you plan…

Spend Flowers (£3,000) Not even the strains of Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring hit the solar plexus more effectively than the heady aroma of an exuberant display of blooms. Spend as much as you can and avoid going off piste… nothing beats industrial quantities of peonies to get everyone in the mood. Shoes (£400) OK, so no one will really notice the extra investment, but not only will you feel great, you’ll also get plenty of pleasure out of them afterwards (if they’re not ivory). Champagne or English sparkling wine (£2,000*) Nothing beats it—or the better English equivalents (Nyetimber, Langham and Mountfield are all good bets). Even if your budget is tight and you ply your guests with Tesco’s Prosecco, buy a few bottles of the top stuff for the…

Bride and seek THE perfect wedding dress really does exist, especially if you go bespoke at the expert hands of Phillipa Lepley, who has been designing exquisite couture for more than 30 years. From her base in the heart of Chelsea, the designer will guide you from initial ideas and drawings through to the final fitting. She is known for heavenly lace and beautifully intricate details, but can offer chic simplicity in equal measure (020–7590 9771; www.phillipalepley.com) Cheek to cheek Put your best face forward with a nourishing, results-driven facial by Seed to Skin at Liberty. The ingredients for the all-natural products are foraged from land on the company’s estate in Tuscany, then scientifically produced in the on-site laboratory. What I love about Liberty facials is that their cost…

• Mark the position of your trilliums and erythroniums, because both are dormant in summer • Don’t plant trillium rhizomes deeply, an inch is sufficient. In the wild, they lie just below the leaf-litter layer • Plant erythronium bulbs deeply, at a depth of up to 2½ times the length of the bulb. Handle them carefully, because the bulbs are brittle, and always check that they’re the right way up! • Most trilliums are supplied as rhizomes and bulbs in the summer months…

SOME years ago, I attended a symposium for writers in Istanbul. On arrival, we were given the news that V. S. Naipaul had been disinvited for making rude remarks about Islam, which seemed a shame because he was the only famous writer attending. However, that wasn’t what I said when a Turkish TV crew put a microphone to my face and asked me what I thought about it all. What I said was that, if Naipaul’s remarks had become an issue, it was just as well he wasn’t coming. One doesn’t want to outrage one’s host. The interviewer wanted to know what the upshot of the symposium would be and I told her that I supposed the writers would issue a declaration calling for freedom of speech and expression for…

THE location and information of millions of graves across England will be uploaded online, says the Church of England. Maps, photographs and burial records will be added to a free and searchable online database within five years, making it one of the largest free resources for family historians. Some 15,000 Anglican burial grounds will be included in the ‘Google Maps for graveyards’, as well as unconsecrated sites and those of other denominations. The scheme was piloted at two churches near Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, using backpacks equipped with laser-scanning technology. Church members and volunteers took photographs of monuments and scanned and transcribed parish registers, with the result that some 6,000 burials and their details have been uploaded to online maps. As well as being useful for family historians, the database will…

REMINDER: World Book Day is tomorrow —children can come to school dressed as ANY book character.’ Reading this message, I expressed disbelief at the passage of another year and the prospect of manufacturing a costume at the 11th hour in the middle of the week. Our eldest child, now at secondary school, declared themselves delighted to have ‘grown out’ of this annual ritual, as the youngest eagerly requested to dress as King Witch. The name meant nothing to me, but my initial optimism that the costume might be straightforward was shattered when, after a pause, they added ‘…in the form of a bird’. Over a busy evening we collectively manufactured wings out of paper and a bird-mask. At the final stage, I almost ruined everything by painting the beak yellow.…

Go faux Q As a glamorous lady of a certain age, I have a wardrobe full of vintage fur and it’s my signature look. I don’t condone animal cruelty, but I’m becoming more and more aware of dirty looks and mutterings when I’m out and about. It would break my heart, but is it time to leave it to the moths? C. A., London AI am reminded of the late Mrs Derek Nimmo whimpering outside Harrods, as she was harangued by a stranger with the question: ‘What beautiful animal had to die so you could wear that coat?’ ‘My mother-in-law,’ she replied. Of course, we no longer kill creatures for their fur—nor do we electrocute criminals or make piano keys from ivory. Lack of enlightenment isn’t ‘glamorous’. To continue to…

Out foxed IN ‘As wily as a fox’ (Leader, February 26), you conclude that the bond between man and this beguiling beast is assured. Let me confirm that in Virginia (US), due to this inter-species respect, the fox always wins. Although fiction, the delightful annual novels by Rita Mae Brown cleverly depict the intriguing and insightful dialogue among the foxes, the hounds, the horses and the Virginia hunters. Although there persists controversy regarding the ethics of hunting on both sides of the pond, the longevity of Vulpes vulpes is guaranteed by Reynard’s ‘intelligence, dexterity and nimble grace’. Jack Blanton, Florida, US Winter Garden of content I ENJOYED your interesting article on Winter Gardens (February 19). Here in Edinburgh, there is an imaginative restoration of Saughton Park (saugh is Scots…

WHEN one of Jess Brooke Thom’s three daughters gave a speech at her wedding, she raised a peal of laughter by asking ‘third-time lucky, eh, Mummy?’ The setting, on a beach in Kenya, couldn’t have been more different from the country church in Hampshire where she had first tied the knot 30 years before. Whatever the circumstances, any subsequent wedding should be dramatically different from the previous one. At her second, Jess battled morning sickness in a homemade dress. Her third wedding, however, struck an altogether different note: the barefoot ceremony was held on a beach at Watamu and followed by beach parties, a barbecue and an impromptu fertility ceremony (the couple, who are in their fifties, have nine children between them). ‘It was idyllic. We did it just how…

Rattan ice bucket, £68, Kalinko (020–7622 6300; www.weddingpresentco.com) Forge De Laguiole carving set, £550, William & Son (020–7493 8385; www.williamandson.com) Cheetah place-card holder, £135, Patrick Mavros (020–7052 0001; www.patrickmavros.com) Portobello Perudo set, £120, Noble Macmillan (020–7581 4178; www.noblemacmillan.com) Jug, £35, and tumbler, £10, Daylesford(0800 083 1233; www.daylesford.com) Food Glorious Food recipe notebook, £155, Smythson (0808 164 1801; www.smythson.com) Fine bone china in modern, striking designs, from £22, Jo Deakin (www.jodeakin.co.uk) Silver Bloody Mary set, £2,500, single barware, from £100, Theo Fennell (020–7591 5000; www.theofennell.com) Seven-piece Baroque silver-plated place setting, £263.50, Sambonet (020–7622 6300; www.weddingpresentco.com) Medium clipper weekend bag, £695, Mulberry (01761 234230; www.mulberry.com)…

Elegant millinery Peddle-straw percher with hand-shaped brim and Petersham ribbon trim, £814, Jane Taylor London (020–8392 2333; www.janetaylor london.com) Royal-blue pillbox with feather halo, £275, Beverley Edmondson (01252 715039; www. beverleyedmondson millinery.co.uk) Katherine straw-covered headband with handsewn poppies, £475, Awon Golding for Lock & Co (020–7930 8874; www.lockhatters.co.uk) Cleopatra disc headpiece with feathers, £1,470, Vivien Sheriff (01725 512983; www. viviensheriff.co.uk) Beatrix oversize slanting panama, £350, Bundle MacLaren (07432 071606; www.bundle maclaren.co.uk)…

THE International Surrealist Bulletin of September 1936 announced the arrival of Surrealism in Britain. On the cover was a black-and-white photograph of Trafalgar Square with the Landseer Lions and the dome and portico of the National Gallery in the backround. Front and centre, among the pigeons, stands a woman performance artist, Sheila Legge, dressed in a satin evening dress and elbow-length gloves, but with her face entirely obscured by a mask of rose blooms. The image combines disinhibition and desire, the uncanny and the unconscious. In the best tradition of Surrealist art, it is—even today—quite unsettling. The pamphlet with the photograph (price: one shilling) is included in a new, eye-opening survey of British Surrealism that features a combination of well-known and all-but-forgotten artists from the inter-war period and the Second…

One of my grandfathers was Rector of Bridlington, but he died before I was born and I have never visited the Yorkshire town. I regret this all the more, as it means that I have not had the chance to enjoy the station buffet, almost unchanged since 1922 and run for the past 17 years by John Sadler. He filled it with a splendid collection of railway items and vintage advertising material, all fodder for nostalgia and some of the enamel signs indicating a taste for double entendres. Mr Sadler has retired and, despite its Grade II listing, the buffet is to be redeveloped. More than 300 lots were offered by Spicers of Driffield in February, attracting bids from the Continent and the US. All sold, among them was one…