Innholdsfortegnelse for 03-Jun-2020 i Country Life

IS THIS THE END FOR LONDON ZOO? The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) is suffering from a lack of critical funding because its iconic zoos—London and Whipsnade—have been closed to the public since March 23. The ZSL looks after some 20,000 giraffes, big cats, penguins and myriad other animals, as well as financing vital scientific research and global conservation projects, including fighting the illegal wildlife trade. It does not receive regular government funding, but research undertaken by scientists at the Institute of Zoology at London Zoo may be able to help in the fight against future pandemics. The ZSL was founded in 1826 and frequented by Charles Darwin and Aldous Huxley. When Sir David Attenborough produced his first natural-history programme, in 1953, it featured London Zoo animals. As well as…

Set in a gated development next to the Royal Wimbledon Golf Club, this 4,844sq ft house, recently extended and renovated, is perfect for entertaining. Together with reception room and sitting room, it has a large open-plan kitchen and family room that looks out onto the landscaped garden. Upstairs, there are five bedrooms, including an impressive master suite with two dressing rooms. Savills (020–8971 8111; www.savills.co.uk) This large, newly built house stands in a private road close to Wimbledon Common. The elegant interiors, which come furnished, encompass a large, open-plan living, dining and kitchen space, plus a drawing room and study on the ground floor; on the top two floors are six bedrooms, including a fine master suite with balcony. The garden is split into a terrace area and lawn. Robert…

• Before he found fame as a novelist, Dickens (see page 98) was a journalist and Parliamentary reporter. In the 1830s, his descriptions of London were published in newspapers and re-released collectively in 1836 as Sketches by Boz • The George and Vulture restaurant sits on a site in the City of London that has been occupied by an inn since 1142. It’s mentioned in The Pickwick Papers and, in the 1960s, was saved from demolition by Dickens’s great-grandson • Much of Little Dorrit is set in Marshal-sea-a debtor's prison in Southwark. Dickens's father spent time there, with his wife and some of his children, as was the custom at the time • Some places that Dickens visited and wrote about have since disappeared, including Monmouth Street—now Shaftesbury Avenue—and…

The Inner Temple Gardens, EC4, for a short walk and a packed lunch on a bench (www.innertemple.org.uk) Gymkhana, W1, for wild-boar vindaloo (www.gymkhanalondon.com) John Sandoe, SW3, to rifle through the shelves for books (www.johnsandoe.com) Towpath Café, N1, for a cheese toastie with quince jam, 1,000 flat whites, and a catch-up with friends (020–7254 7606) Hampstead Heath for a long walk and afternoon tea at Kenwood House, NW3 (www.english-heritage.org.uk) The Fumoir at Claridge’s, W1 (right) for a Champagne cocktail (www.claridges.co.uk)…

More cowbell A long-running court case in Bavaria over the sound of cowbells has been settled. A couple, identified as Reinhard U, moved to the village of Erlkam in 2014, only to discover that the continual clanking of the cows on the neighbouring farm kept them up all night. They took the farmer to court six times; the case has been settled after a judge visited the farm and determined the bells were ‘no louder than a washing machine' Indigenous culture Mining company Rio Tinto has destroyed a 46,000-year-old sacred Aboriginal site in Western Australia. The cave in the Juukan Gorge was the only inland site in Australia that showed signs of continual human occupation from the past Ice Age…

A PROMINENT, homemade poster has appeared in the house this week. It declares itself to be a Tantrum Chart. The idea, suggested by the children as a way of making light of life in lockdown, is simple enough. Every time somebody loses their temper over some trivial domestic matter, they are awarded a point. At the end of the week, the person with the most points will be soaked with the garden hose. I agreed to the proposal, largely because dousing either of the children after weeks in close proximity promised to be so cathartic. What I hadn’t anticipated was that the Tantrum Chart would become a powerful weapon in domestic politics. If any household chore is omitted, merely demanding that it be done can now, seemingly, be classified as…

The family formula Q We only have one child and I was content, but we’re starting to struggle with her behaviour. I’m ashamed to say it, but she’s turning into a brat. A friend suggested that a sibling might help, but I’m not convinced this is the best reason for having another. What do you think? C. M., Aberdeenshire ABrattishness is frustration in another guise and, in this case, likely derived from condemnation to a lonely childhood in isolated Aberdeenshire. As you don’t say how old she is, here is a formula. Calibrate her brattishness, on a scale where one is enough to cause eyes to roll and 10 signals surrender to foster-care—call this figure W. X is her age, bearing in mind that, if she is more than seven,…

We can be heroes ENJOYING the story of the six boys’ success at island survival (Agromenes, May 20), I had half an ear on the news. As I heard that ‘Headteachers might have to make their own decisions’, I reached Agromenes’s final sentence: ‘People become heroes simply by doing what they feel is right.’ What an apt coincidence. Peter Jacob, Gloucestershire Whale there you have it JONATHAN SELF tries valiantly to bust sustainability myths (May 20), but without space for the needed nuance. It’s true that the carbon footprint of a paper bag used once may be greater than that of a frequently re-used plastic bag, but may I add a thought—no whale will ever be killed by a paper bag. John Bingham, Somerset The need for speed MY…

HOW quickly times have changed for the BBC. At the start of the pandemic, its future hung in the balance and ministers were boycotting Radio 4’s Today (which seemed slightly childish at the time). Now, everyone has been reminded of the importance of a (mostly) good public broadcaster and it’s enjoying record audiences. Indeed, the figures released last week in the annual plan for 2020/21 are remarkable. In the third week of March, 94% of the entire UK population used the BBC’s services and, on the single day of the Prime Minister’s lockdown announcement, 84% of the population—45 million people—did the same. The BBC’s online corona-virus map has accumulated a record 118 million page views. For all its success, however, there are huge financial challenges ahead. The same report anticipates…

Alexandra Shulman is a journalist and former editor of British Vogue. Her new book, Clothes… and other things that matter, was published in April ‘I have chosen this image of Dorelia because I love the clothes she is wearing. In his many portraits of his common-law wife, John wanted to portray her both as an idealised representation of bohemian womanhood and an idealised (and highly inaccurate) representation of their domestic existence and her clothes add tremendously to those concepts, as do her blunt fringe and bob and her lack of artifice. In this portrait, she looks so appealing wearing a loose smock blowing in the wind above the sea, with her hair just escaping from beneath that cleverly tied scarf. I also enjoy her expression of long-suffering impatience’ DOROTHY…

1812 Born in Portsmouth on February 7 1824 The young Charles has to leave school because his father (as was Mr Micawber) is imprisoned in Marshalsea for debt; works in a blacking factory for three years 1827 Starts job as clerk to an attorney 1830 Falls in love with Maria Beadnell, but her parents disapprove 1832 Misses an important audition at Covent Garden due to a cold 1833 Starts as journalist at The Mirror of Parliament and The True Sun; becomes Parliamentary journalist for the Morning Chronicle; publishes sketches under pseudonym ‘Boz' 1836 Marries Catherine Hogarth, whose father is his sketch editor; publishes the first chapters of The Pickwick Papers 1837 Charles, the first of 10 children, is born; family moves to 48, Doughty Street, Blooms-bury; starts publishing Oliver Twist…

Your aesthetic hero? Two Frenchmen: Pierre Sterlé, for his exquisitely executed designs of bird wings, and René Boivin, for hidden mechanisms and brilliant use of gemstones. I will never forget seeing the latter's ‘bunch of radishes' brooch set with bright green tsavorite garnet leaves and the most edible of pink rhodochrosite radishes. A book you’ve found inspiring? The artist in me would suggest Butterflies In Flight by Roger Camp, which opens out into a cascade of butterflies. For a book to create such gasping joy every time I open it is thrilling. The scientist in me enjoys Mark Miodownik's book Stuff Matters, which reveals what our world is made of and talks about some of the most fascinating and important inventions, one of which is chocolate. You need to…

Janet B. Wood, a vigorous, thrifty, once-flowering foundling, whose original name is lost, this Ayrshire rose has many clusters of small, pure-white, strongly musk-scented flowers in summer Wickwar is vigorous and has luscious grey foliage and substantial, musk-scented, creamy-white, single, 2in flowers in abundance, followed by small red hips in autumn Adélaïde d’Orléans is an extremely vigorous, once-flowering evergreen. The small, dark-pink buds open out to loosely petalled, semi-double flowers, 2½in across, flesh pink at first, fading to cream and white, that hang down gracefully Albertine, an old favourite with stout, prickly wood. The coral buds open to medium-sized (3in–4in), semi-double, salmon-pink flowers, paling as they age, with brighter, darker, coppery reverses. They are borne in small clusters, with a strong, sweet scent. The plant has glossy dark-green leaves, bronzy…

WE have it on the highest authority that new wine should not be put into old bottles (or rather wineskins), but what about old wine and new bottles? The parable was brought to mind by the Sotheby’s sale of a bottle of Gautier Cognac, 1762, for £118,580. It had been bottled some time in the 1840s and, presumably, the purchaser will not make any rash changes, however tempting it might be to try a drop. New bottles and old contents could make a good metaphor for the current market, as new methods are evolving to sell antiques and older art. Ten years ago, I was disconcerted to find Christie’s old South Kensington premises almost deserted on the morning that a much publicised sale of clear-outs from Althorp in Northamptonshire…

THE fortunate aspect of my three-week trip to Wuhan, China, for the World Championships (and the Bermuda Bowl) was that it look place last September. The trickiest aspect was crossing the roads; you had to set off into a melee of cars, bicycles, scooters and pedestrians all chancing their luck. I was there as a member of the England sextet and for the next few weeks I’m looking forward to divulging the details of some of the more fascinating deals. Both these two Three Notrump deals from the round-robin phase highlight the importance of nines and even eights. West led the ten of Clubs, East winning the King and returning the three (original fourth highest). Declarer ducked to West who won the ten and continued with the queen (was this…

THIS odd figure of a pot-bellied child is displayed at the corner of Cock Lane and Giltspur Street, EC1. It’s signed ‘Puckridge, Hosier Lane’, and the inscription beneath it reproduces what was originally a text painted across the belly of the figure: ‘This Boy is in Memory put up for the Late Fire of London occasioned by the sin of Gluttony 1666.’ The fire famously began at Pudding Lane and reputedly stopped at this place, which was known as Pie Corner, just short of Smithfield, hence the witty association of the fire with gluttony. The history of the figure is uncertain. By the early 19th century, it decorated the façade of a pub called the Fortune of War, which was demolished in 1910, and it was gilded after 1834.…

TEST out your new wheels (page 40) on Richmond Park’s circular Tamsin Trail or follow the River Lea to the London Stadium. Alternatively, seek out one of London’s quieter green spaces-Crabtree Fields in Fitzrovia; The Phoenix Garden in St Giles; Camley Street Natural Park in King’s Cross-and sit in the sun with a good book. Try Francesca Wade’s Square Haunting-the story of Bloomsbury’s Mecklenburgh Square through the eyes of five women-or The Treatment-a tale about corruption, justice and London’s criminal past-by Michael Nath. Both are out now. A round of socially distanced golf or game of tennis is permissible at last. Head to the Chandos Lawn Tennis Club in East Finchley (www. chandosltc.com). Elevate your cheese-toastie game-the king of comfort food. Morty & Bob’s live streams grilled cheese recipes on…

I READ with interest Sally Nex’s ‘Gardening without plastic’ (May 20). She advocates allowing grasses to grow long where her lawn once was, now only mowing paths, saying she is ‘hoping, one day, for orchids’. For years, we have allowed part of our lawn to grow long and encouraged wildflowers. Last year, we had two lone spikes of bee orchid, but now, nearby, we have 23 of them within an oval radius of 18ft–20ft. In the 16th and 17th centuries, this area formed the formal gardens and, even after 1771, when Capability Brown inserted the ha-ha, it remained part of the pleasure gardens. How these handsome strangers arrived is mysterious, particularly as I haven’t seen any growing wild in this part of Bedfordshire. Sir Timothy Clifford, Ampthill House, Bedfordshire The…

• The largest surviving Roman imperial cameo is the Grand Camée de France, depicting members of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. The carver exploited five layers of sardonyx to create many colours • In 1595, Elizabeth I rewarded privy councillor Sir Thomas Heneage with a locket containing her own portrait, the Heneage Jewel. It was inspired by ancient cameos • Among distinguished amateur cameo carvers was Catherine the Great’s daughter-in-law, the Empress Marie Feodorovna of Russia • Such was their value at the end of the 19th century that Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria chose a necklace of antique cameos to present to leading tragedienne Sarah Bernhardt, after a performance of Racine's Phèdre • The design of St George and the dragon, used on British gold sovereigns since 1817, is the work…

NO proper adjective derived from an author’s name— Wodehousian, Shavian, Wildean—is deployed with quite such frequency as Dickensian. We refer to Dickensian conditions (austere and squalid), Dickensian systems (archaic) and even Dickensian fog (a dreary pea-souper hanging damply in the air). We speak of people being Dickensian in character, which might be, by turns, absurd, humorous or tragic, but, above all, memorable. If asked to name 10 characters from Trollope or Scott, many of us would struggle. Dickens is another matter. The names themselves are an art form: Susan Nipper, The Artful Dodger, Wackford Squeers, M’Choakumchild, Mrs Sowerberry, Anne Chickenstalker, Mr Guppy, Nicodemus ‘Noddy’ Boffin—each instantly conjuring an image. Uriah Heep (‘the ’umblest person going’) is the epitome of oily evil; the Veneerings are all front and social climbing; Allan…

• The Jig-saw Puzzle Murder (1933) by Walter Eberhardt is a thriller that came in two volumes—the first a book, the second a jigsaw. It was necessary to complete the jigsaw to find out ‘whodunnit’ • Life: A User's Manual (1978), a postmodern novel by George Perec, is the principal ‘jigsaw novel'. Actual jigsaws do feature in the book, which is a puzzle in itself • ‘Family puzzles’ involve large, medium and small pieces, so they can be worked on by family members of different ability levels • Some jigsaws incorporate special pieces, known as ‘whimsies', shaped according to the theme of the jigsaw. A puzzle depicting a ship might have a whimsy in the shape of an anchor • Oxfam-shop staff have the onerous task of counting the pieces…

DESPITE all the progress with gender stereotypes, there are a few character traits that still distinguish the male. We may place keys anywhere about the house and they are still in the ‘correct’ place; we (and we alone) know which answers in quiz games have been superseded since publication—and we are incapable of opening a packet of courgettes without sowing them all. Every year, I do the calculation: there’s myself, my wife and our daughter: two plants, three at a push, plus one for the slugs, makes four. And then I sow all the seeds in the packet and spend the summer complaining to anyone (left) who will listen about us swimming in courgettes. ‘See your plant as a flavour, not a volume, machine’ This is trebly troubling, because…

I KNEW it was a mistake to boast about shooting rats last year, in this column. There’s no jinx as powerful as hubris. They linger around the hen house like Templeton. They dart about the compost bins. They weave their sinister tunnels beneath the vegetable beds, so that now and again I come out in the morning to find a heap of soil disfiguring a line of radishes or swelling like a boil on the side of the pea sticks. I tread the tunnels back into the ground. They don’t mind. Within a couple of days they’re back, making the beds spongy underfoot. A line of beans, the roots of which are dangling in thin air, begins to wilt. The other day, as I was in the garden, I had…

The rosé-wine revolution isn’t slowing down. Pick up a bottle at an independent wine merchant Best for North Londoners Provisions is a wine and cheese shop in N7, working with smaller growers and farmers. Delivery or pre-order pick up (www.provisionslondon.co.uk) Best for East Londoners Rebellious Goods stocks a small, but exciting range from overlooked producers. Free same-day delivery (www.rebelliousgoods.com) Best for South Londoners Borough Wines is a wine-on-tap specialist. Click-and-collect and local-delivery services available (www.boroughwines.co.uk) Best for West Londoners Lea & Sandeman has stores across west London, with click-and-collect and delivery services available (www.leaandsandeman.co.uk)…

FOR every rosarian that rejoices in dissecting the mythical origins and complex nomenclature of our most favourite flower, there are thousands of others who simply bury their nose in that velvety cup of petals and inhale the intoxicating draft of lychee or myrrh. Do tea roses smell of oolong, or of the tea chests used for their importation? Or were they called that because their leaves smell like China tea leaves? Did Bengal Crimson actually came from China? (Much confusion resulted from the East India Company ships stopping in Calcutta before sailing home.) Unlike the wars that were ended by Henry VII’s ingenious melding of the white rose of the Yorkists with the red of the House of Lancaster to create his dynasty of Tudors, the arguments over the genus…

Going outdoors Monday saw the reopening of the four RHS gardens under a pre-booking system. The National Trust is opening some gardens and parks in England and Northern Ireland today, also with the condition that you must book in advance Digging around A perfectly preserved mosaic floor, believed to be from the 3rd century AD , has been discovered near the Italian city of Verona. The Roman mosaic was found near a ruined villa that was first excavated in 1922 Feeling chipper Fish-and-chip shops have used the lockdown to claw their way to the top of the takeaway leaderboard. The National Federation of Fish Friers estimates some 80% of our 10,500 chippies are open for takeaway and delivery platform Foodhub notes a 208% increase in fishy orders…

THE phrase ‘stag weekend’ rightfully sends shivers up the spine of most people and yet, this weekend, wildlife charity the People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) is suggesting we all go on one. There’s no need for your livers to panic, however. The PTES is asking for volunteers with a garden or allotment to help the UK’s largest land beetle—the stag—by recording sightings and making their green spaces more stag-beetle friendly. The beetles love log piles and pyramids, as well as dead and rotting wood. ‘Stag beetles were once a common sight, but they’ve declined—mostly due to habitat loss—and have even become extinct in some parts of Europe,’ says Laura Bower, conservation officer at the PTES. ‘We can’t let that happen in the UK, which is why we’re encouraging as…

THIS is the peak of the trout-fishing season. It is known as Duffer’s Fortnight, a period of time at the end of May and the beginning of June when it is supposedly so easy to catch a fish that literally anyone can, however inexperienced they are in the art of casting. This ephemeral event is caused by the annual hatching of the mayfly, an enormous insect that sends Salmo trutta into a feeding frenzy. The fish lose all their usual risk assessment when measuring up a fisherman’s fly and, with the equivalent of a T-bone steak fluttering in the water’s film, lunge wildly at their meals. It is an astonishing event, a natural wonder. Everything gorges on the mayfly, from dabbling ducks to swifts and swallows scything at them when…

THIS week marking the eightieth birthday of Mr Thomas Hardy, I am sending you a ‘Wessex’ picture closely associated with Tess of the D’Urbervilles. The photograph is of Bindon Mill, Wool, Dorset. Lovers of Hardy will remember that it was to this old mill came Angel Clare to learn the craft of milling. Near by is Wool manor house, the ancestral home of Tess, where she and Angel spent their honeymoon. Ten minutes’ walk from the mill brings one to the ruined Bindon Abbey. Here is an old stone coffin described in Tess: ‘the empty stone coffin of an Abbot in which every tourist with a turn for grim humour was accustomed to stretch himself. In this Angel Clare carefully laid Tess. 1) Blue agave 2) Mother-of-pearl 3) Money 4)…

Perfect with cake Gavioli Antica Cantina, Gavioli Moscato Spumante, Emilia Romagna, Italy NV. £6.49, Lidl, alc 6.5% Moscato is a great choice when the weather becomes finer and thoughts turn to evenings outdoors. This is medium-sweet, light and grapey, with a very gentle fizz and light alcohol. Perfect with fruit salad or cake. Clean, herbal finish Stone Arka, Chardonnay, Bulgaria 2018. £9.99, Majestic, alc 12.5% Flinty minerality joins wild thyme and rosemary herb notes alongside citrus and stone fruits on the nose. The palate is round with flavours of lime peel and freshly cut grass. There's good acidity that lingers on a herbal finish. Light and juicy Domaine Lafage, Miraflors Rosé, Côtes du Roussillon, France 2019. £12.99, Bibendum Wine, Vinatis, alc 12.5% It's always nice to find a light,…

IN the summer of 2000, a full-page article in a Sunday newspaper advertising the sale of ‘The finest Tudor Manor in Devon’ caught the eye of Nigel Wiggins. He had made a specialism of buying up tired buildings in London—particularly those of strong architectural character—and renovating them for pension-fund clients. He arranged a visit to the house in question, more out of interest to see it than with any intention of being the purchaser, but Holcombe Court captured his imagination and, against all good sense, he made an offer to buy it. His offer was unsuccessful and the house was set to become a wedding venue, until the buyer changed his mind. The estate agent charged with selling it returned to Mr Wiggins shortly before the property was put back…

Planning a Dickens dinner party is an enjoyable mental game. John Jarndyce and Miss Betsey Trotwood would be excellent hosts. Could Mr Fezziwig lighten the heart of ‘the lone lorn creetur' Mrs Gummidge with his jollity? Sydney Carton would be a good sparring partner for Rosa Dartle. Esther Summer-son seems too good to be true, but it might be illuminating to eavesdrop on her conversation with Rose Maylie and Agnes Wickfield when the ladies retire and Mr Pickwick ( above ), Mr Wemmick and Mr Crummles enjoy a good story over the Port. There would be fine legal arguments from Mr Stryver, Mr Jaggers and Mr Boythorn and the evening might finish on a high note with a rousing speech from Mr Micawber: ‘For England, Home and Beauty.'…

Sideshoot tomatoes Tomatoes are always a pleasure to grow, but they cannot be left to their own devices. Cordon plants grown up twine or canes under glass should be tidied up by removing unproductive sideshoots. Bend down the shoot near the base and it will come away cleanly. After a time, you will have shiny black palms, which can be cleaned by rubbing with the flesh of a green tomato and rinsing. Secure each stem a little further up its support. Keep the water flowing steadily.…

The Wilhelmina Barns-Graham Trust (www. barns-grahamtrust.org.uk) manages her collection, library and archive, and provides bursaries and scholarships. The trust’s website is an excellent resource, as is the database of its collection (http:// wbg.emuseum.com) Works are held by many public collections, including: Tate St Ives, Cornwall; Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, West Sussex; The Hepworth Wakefield, West Yorkshire; and the Pier Arts Centre, Stromness, Orkney. A touring exhibition, ‘Inspirational Journeys', currently at the Royal West of England Academy, Bristol (temporarily closed; www.rwa.org.uk), will travel to The Atkinson, Southport, Merseyside, in January 2021 Publications include W. Barns-Graham: A Studio Life by Lynne Green; A Discipline of Mind by Mel Gooding; A Scottish Artist in St Ives by Lynne Green; (out in August) Wilhelmina Barns-Graham by Virginia Button…