Innholdsfortegnelse for 19-Aug-2020 i Country Life

‘Residents can choose from 32 beaches set across 95 miles of spectacular coastline’ IT is my great pleasure to introduce you to COUNTRY LIFE’S first-ever special on the Isle of Man, which highlights why this is an extraordinary place to live and work. However, it would be remiss of me not to mention the unusual and challenging circumstances in which we all find ourselves. The global impact of the coronavirus pandemic has been profound. In only a few short weeks, working and personal lives were turned upside down, with governments, the public and businesses having to adapt to a rapidly changing situation. The Isle of Man reacted quickly to the Covid-19 crisis and, in a matter of days, we had implemented a number of restrictive measures. Although we had to…

AN increase in the killing of birds of prey during lockdown has led to calls for grouse shooting to be licensed, after investigators accused shooting estates of being responsible for the deaths. Shadow Environment Secretary Luke Pollard called for a review on how shoots operate as the grouse season started last week. His comments came after the RSPB and the police reported a large increase in raptor persecution, which they say is a result of moorland management on shooting estates. During lockdown, birds of prey such as hen harriers, red kites, peregrine falcons and two species of eagle were targeted, says the RSPB, which is investigating 56 confirmed or suspected cases of persecution against birds of prey. Two dogs in Yorkshire were also poisoned, one fatally, after eating poison…

H MS Victory, the flagship of the Royal Navy and the longest-serving active warship in the world, is floating once again, this time on 134 ‘smart props’ that will replicate the pressure of being at sea. The new supports are part of a £35 million restoration project and were needed after it was discovered in 2016 that the ship was sagging under its own weight. As a result of the props, visitors will now be allowed to walk underneath the hull of the 104-gun first-rate ship of the line, Admiral Nelson’s flagship at Trafalgar, for the first time. The ship was naturally designed to sit in the water, so the pressure of the sea around it would keep the hull in shape. However, having been in dry dock since 1922,…

AS someone who was married on a Friday shortly before Christmas, I can vouch for the fact that there’s one less thing to worry about when planning a winter wedding: unpredictable British weather. Once chilly days set in, it doesn’t really matter whether the sky is moody and cold or sparkling and bright. In either case, with little daylight to play with, the event has to take place inside, from start to finish, dispelling anxiety over weather forecasts and the need to plan for a deluge. ‘I’m a big fan of winter weddings, having had one myself,’ says the self-styled party architect Johnny Roxburgh. ‘You can really turn up the atmosphere. We organised one in Suffolk a few years ago and made the church look enchanting, filled with candles, greenery…

A SCION of the legendary Sitwell family of writers, innovators and eccentrics, the author, food critic and Master-Chef panellist William Sitwell is selling his much-loved Northamptonshire manor house, Grade II*-listed Weston Hall at Weston, near Towcester, through Knight Frank’s country department (020–7861 1549) at a guide price of £4.25 million. A seat of the Sitwells since 1714, the rambling, late-17th-century stone house, extended in the 1770s and remodelled in the early 1800s, stands in 49 acres of gardens, grounds, pasture and woodland in a wonderfully private position on the edge of this peaceful rural village. It comes with a swimming pool and tennis court, a two-bedroom lodge, stabling, a coach house and various outbuildings. The sale includes the optional purchase of the pretty, four-bedroom Gardeners Cottage with its charming,…

CABBAGE has been in the human diet for a very long time. A wild, native loose-leafed cabbage originated in the eastern Mediterranean region, came under cultivation some 4,000 years ago and was developed as a domestic vegetable some 1,500 years later. The Celts brought it to northern Europe in the same period, a fortuitous decision, as cabbage planted on a given patch of earth produces more edible food than any other crop. For centuries, it served as a staple for ordinary folk in many countries. Cabbages were always important. The ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans valued them as food and the Emperor Claudius declared corned beef and cabbage to be the best possible meal. Large quantities were eaten by the noble and affluent before heavy drinking sessions, in the conviction…

‘When still at sea, horse and abbot found the Irish saint Brendan, who “was leading a wonderful life on the back of a whale”’ LEGEND has it St Patrick coveted the site of present-day St Davids, but an angel told him it was reserved for the ministrations of another. David was conceived some decades later, when his mother, St Non, was attacked by the king of Ceredigion. According to Richard Sharpe’s translation of an 11th-century Life of St David, ‘in that field, at the moment she conceived, there appeared two large stones that had not been seen before, one at her head and the other at her feet; for the land, rejoicing at his conception, opened its bosom’. When Non’s time came, another local king, whose seers had learned of…

Situated on the Isle of Man’s southernmost tip, the Sound is the perfect vantage point to soak up views of the Irish Sea and perhaps catch a glimpse of a passing dolphin or a seal basking in the sun. If you happen to go there at night, make sure you stop for a spot of stargazing—the Sound Restaurant’s car park is an official Dark Night Discovery site Strange encounters FRIENDLY, warm-hearted and kind, the elderly lady sitting in the Gaiety Theatre’s seat B14 in Douglas, the Isle of Man’s capital, looks like everyone’s favourite grandma—except that she has a penchant for disappearing every now and again. But then, she’s a ghost, so a little vanishing act is to be expected. D esigned by Frank Matcham and opened in 1900, the…

‘The Isle of Man is the only entire nation to have UNESCO Biosphere status’ WHO knew that Scotland and Cornwall were only miles away from each other? Or that you could be basking in bright sunshine one moment and shivering under the Cloak of Manannan the next? The Isle of Man, merely 33 miles long by 13 miles wide, encompasses every landscape, from high moorland to gorse-strewn valleys, sandy beaches to chequerboard fields. Little wonder, then, that the population spends much of its time outdoors. The island’s most famous sporting event is, of course, the TT motorbike race meeting. Black-and-white chequered curbs delineate the corners and the mile markers stay in place all year round, so you can drive the 37.73-mile circuit yourself. There are no speed limits, although it’s…

Santon, excess £30 million You'd expect the house of inventor and clock expert John C. Taylor (the man you can thank for the thermostat that stops your kettle boiling dry) to be unusual and the Arragon Mooar estate, near Santon, doesn't disappoint. Built of red sandstone, the 23,132sq ft property has elegant Palladian proportions, reinterpreted in an elliptical design: ‘A round house would have been too easy,' according to Dr Taylor, who, presumably, wouldn't even consider the standard cuboid format. The main reception rooms are all elliptical, from the domed, galleried atrium to the dining room, library and light-flooded drawing room. There are more surprises, too, such as individually designed bedrooms on the first floor, a secret staircase and floral lighting featuring a profusion of hibiscus and fuchsia, each…

HE may be better known for his searing guitar work alongside Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Charlie Watts, but Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood (Favourite Painting, page 68) can also get delicate with a paintbrush, as his new exhibition at Ashridge House shows. The exhibition, titled ‘Ronnie Wood x Ashridge House’, opens on Friday in the country house in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, and will see Mr Wood present a considerable collection of original artworks, including paintings, sculptures and a selection of etchings within the interiors of the house. Many are new pieces, previously unseen, and include works created during lockdown. One highlight will be a tapestry of Mr Wood’s original painting that interpreted the iconic Beggar’s Banquet album, which will hang in the entrance of Ashridge. ‘I’ve re-created Ashridge in many of…

Holiday! Celebrate! I WAS appalled to read your description of childhood holidays as ‘magical’ (Cover, August 5). What nonsense. British childhood holidays of the 1960s and 1970s were universally rubbish, the food horrid, the weather atrocious and the opportunities to misbehave limited by the foul omnipresence of one’s parents. Even an innocuous pleasure such as eating ice cream needed parental consent, often withheld on the unreasonable grounds that ‘you’ve had two already’. Give me the pleasures of adulthood travel any day, where one may indulge in sybaritic excess with impunity. Bon voyage! Mark Ribbands, Norfolk The writer of the letter of the week will win a bottle of Pol Roger Brut Réserve Champagne Just hanging out RAKING the gravel yesterday, I brushed against this bee-fest hanging from a…

1931 December Unpublished Satnav 1930s style: eager motorists queue for route and accommodation advice at the main enquiries desk in the Royal Automobile Club's London headquarters. The lavish Pall Mall building -designed by fashionable Edwardian architects Mewes and Davis-is still home to one of the jewels of London's clubland. The COUNTRY LIFE Picture Library contains 120 years' worth of photography and articles from the world's leading architectural and gardens experts. We are delighted to note that works are again available to license or purchase in print form, from £35 plus VAT. Please email enquiries to clpicturelibrary@futurenet.com…

THE clearest indication that we are going through the Scottish Counter Enlightenment is the absence of one of the Enlightenment’s big ideas: common sense. This seems particularly glaring among delivery drivers. For the third time this year, a driver from a well-known supermarket’s home-delivery service has turned down a muddy track and, with dogged determination, carried on into the ulu, ignoring the branches scratching the sides of his van, the underneath being sandpapered by the hay crop sprouting between the ruts in the centre of the track and other signs that he—it’s always a he, I’m forced to admit, as the female of the species is more likely to ask the way —is geographically embarrassed. ‘The weather has been unsettling for man and beast and I dare say it’s…

IN last week’s issue, we saw how the exiled Empress Eugénie, the widow of Napoleon III (d. 1873), bought the Farnborough Hill estate in 1880 and remained there until her death in 1920. Inside the house, she created a museum-like display that recounted the history of the Bonaparte dynasty from the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte, her husband’s uncle, up to the death of the Prince Imperial, her only son, in 1879. All of this was dismantled in 1927. Her most important act of memorialisation, however, was the Mausoleum that she built within sight of the house in 1883–88. She had intended to build this at Camden Place, Chislehurst, in Kent, where the family had settled after the collapse of the imperial regime in 1870, but she faced opposition and was…

WITH the Lake District on its doorstep, the charms of the Ribble Valley tend to find themselves overlooked. And what a mistake. Visitors to the area will find open moors and rolling hills, riverscapes that would have enchanted John Ruskin, picturesque stone villages and the ancient Forest of Bowland—an AONB (Beautiful Britain, April 22). The numerous trails, punctuated by pubs, are a walker’s paradise and a challenge to cyclists; the rivers Ribble, Hodder and Calder offer sport for fishermen beneath a leafy canopy. It’s even been dubbed ‘the happiest place in England’—although the Pendle witches, who were tried and hanged at Lancaster Castle in 1612, might query the moniker. The ideal spot for a post-lockdown break. Teresa Levonian Cole What to do Ribble Valley is renowned for its boutique gin…

GREY-SLATE ruins rose up on the hillside across the valley, the arches like spectacles sitting on the bridge of the hill’s nose. Against the blue sky and the hubs of the hills, Castell Dinas Brân was a dramatic welcome to an expedition based on George Borrow’s classic book Wild Wales . My father and I may not be Victorian gentleman explorers quite like Borrow, who literally walked the talk, but we decided to be the 21st-century, driving version of him. Travelling from Scotland home to Herefordshire, down the traffic-choked M6, we branched off on the ultimate scenic detour—Wales from north to south, in Borrow’s footsteps of 145 years ago. Is Wales, we wondered, still wild? ‘Few places have such untouched natural beauty and power as the Devil’s Bridge’ The castle…

Northumberland, £4.25 million The year of the ‘staycation' is very much upon us and, even when coronavirus leaves these shores, the trend will be here to stay. Few places are better prepared to take advantage than The Old Rectory and the Cheviot Holiday Cottages. The eight-bedroom main house is a picturesque manor house, with a wealth of period features and fittings over its two floors, including a magnificent oak staircase. Outside, a well-established business of eight holiday cottages, each of which has been independently awarded Five Star Gold by VisitEngland, provides a substantial income. There is a landscaped garden to the rear of the main house, mostly set to lawn with mature and well-planted borders, the whole further enhanced by stables and paddocks. Finest Properties (01434 622234) Somerset,…

SOME plants are indispensable—roses, daffodils and clematis, for example—to which I would add philadelphus, those gorgeous sweet-scented beauties that many call mock orange or syringa. Every garden should have at least one of them, preferably several. There are lots to choose from and COUNTRY LIFE readers with broad acres to fill would do well to plant them by the score. It’s the flowers for which you grow philadelphus, their brilliant whiteness and their wonderfully sweet scent. Stripped of their leaves and placed in a vase, they catch the eye and delight the nose. Experts cannot decide which has the strongest scent. Belle Etoile and Mexican Jewel are popular contenders, but others declare that Philadelphus purpurascens or P. microphyllus have a fragrance that is stronger than any other. The perception…

VISITING the Isle of Man can feel like stepping into a time warp because of the gentle pace of local life—but assuming it is a backwards sort of place would be a big mistake, especially when it comes to food. A new generation of artisan producers is leading the way in progressive thinking, building on the island’s strong agricultural heritage to create a vibrant foodie scene based around cooperation and sustainability and winning a slew of Great Taste Awards in the process. Versa restaurant, Port Erin (07624 205104; @versaiom on Instagram) Pippa Lovell’s restaurant, Versa, had barely been open for a year before she was chosen to be included in this year’s Forbes European 30 Under 30. A passionate campaigner for sustainable eating, as well as a gifted chef, she…

THE South Downs National Park unveiled an ‘ambitious’ project to boost Nature and ‘drive a green economic recovery’ last week. The plan, titled The People and Nature Network (PANN), aims to build a connected network of ‘green infrastructure’ that will make havens for wildlife, support local economies, combat climate change and boost mental wellbeing. The PANN was created in conjunction with organisations and local authorities, such as the RSPB, Wildlife Trusts, the Woodland Trust, English Heritage and the Environment Agency. Twelve areas, primarily on the northern edge of the park and just beyond, have been targeted for increased long-term investment for green infrastructure, according to the park. The PANN aims to boost both natural and semi-natural features, watercourses and spaces such as hedgerows, rivers, gardens, churchyards, road verges and parks…

Enchanter by name and enchanting by nature, this creeping native bears tiny and delicate blush-white flowers, each with two notched petals and protruding stamens, alongside oval leaves, until September. Considered a persistent weed in gardens, it favours sun-dappled woodland and grassland, providing sustenance to deer. Despite its common name, this is a member of the willowherb family rather than a nightshade and isn't poisonous, although neither is it of any particular use beyond herbal tea, as confirmed by Gerard: ‘There is no use of the herbe either in Phisicke or chirugerie that I can read of.' Associated with witchcraft and sorcery, Circaea comes from Circe, an enchantress featuring in Homer's Odyssey; lutetiana-and the alternative moniker Sorcerer of Paris-is from Lutetia, the Latin name for the French capital.…

THE Government has been ambushed by an algorithm. The unfortunate Education Secretary, Gavin Williamson, wants us to believe this year’s A-level results are fair and reasonable because they are ‘moderated’ by Artificial Intelligence (AI) instead of by human beings. But AI is simply a mathematical mechanism, entirely dependent on the information that’s fed into it. The old adage ‘garbage in, garbage out’ remains true. You can’t shrug off responsibility by suggesting it’s the fault of the computer any more than a workman can get away with blaming his tools. Human beings feed in what they choose and the machine processes that information. Blaming the algorithm is like blaming a breakdown on a petrol-driven car when you’ve filled it up with diesel. ‘The successful will be brought into question and those…

THE hand of Man is valued as much as that of Nature in this little-known strip of living, working farmland, where agriculture has shaped a landscape of river valleys, mixed woodland and arable fields for millennia. Nomadic New Stone Age farmers tramped the Bluestone Heath Road (pictured) and Romans marched between their forts at Caistor and Horncastle. Place names of Danish origin reflect the raiding Norsemen who settled there: the ending ‘by’ means a settlement and ‘toft’ a homestead. In the Second World War, the Wolds were scattered with airfields, as at Metheringham, thanks to their position as the highest point on the east coast between Yorkshire and the Kent Downs; Lincolnshire itself was known as the ‘Bomber County’. The pilots had a rare view of the past, shadows revealing…

EVEN without all the virus havoc that has turned the world upside down in 2020, this was going to be a momentous year for Sir Roy Strong. On August 23, the eminent historian, garden-maker, prolific author and former museum director celebrates his 85th birthday. The latest volume of his Diaries will be published in November and he’s about to start writing his 50th book. He is also presently wrapping up his furniture, paintings and treasured trinkets for something nobody expected: a big house move. This means, of course, departure from The Laskett and its famous garden, made from scratch since 1973 by Roy and his late wife, the opera and theatre set designer, Julia Trevelyan Oman. Sir Roy had already made arrangements to leave the garden on his death, together…

TENOR Ian Bostridge and violinist Tasmin Little were recently on Radio 4’s Today previewing the socially distanced concerts to be piloted at Snape Maltings in Suffolk. An hour later, Boris Johnson shelved the re-opening of concert halls; Snape was off, another jolt in the rollercoaster ride for musicians during the pandemic. They are hurtling down a very dark tunnel indeed. Professionals are now allowed to rehearse under strict conditions, but this is pointless when concert halls remain closed indefinitely. Most managements calculate that socially distanced audiences will (eventually) occupy a mere 15% of ticketed seats. It’s cheaper to mothball. ‘All my friends are bemoaning their lack of motivation, wondering where their mojo has gone,’ says Miss Little. ‘It’s not that we don’t want to play, but there’s none of the…

RECENTLY, I found myself doing something I don’t believe I have ever done before—I watched a reality programme. It was not made for television, nor was anyone naked as far as I could see, although some people might have been below the waist, in the manner of Zoom conferers. Nobody burst into tears and there seemed to be no catty banter but, as so many participants spoke with one hand in front of their mouths, it was hard to be sure. This was the first episode of—or perhaps pilot for—International Art Sell-Off!, an ambitious production for the Sotheby’s website. Actually, the July 28 auction was titled ‘Rembrandt to Richter’, a ‘Live-Streamed Cross-Category Evening Sale’. In London, New York and Hong Kong, saleroom stands had been erected, resembling socially distanced…

IN 1901, a public dinner was held to mark Sir John Tenniel’s retirement from Punch after half a century. Tributes flowed from the distinguished company of politicians, writers and artists, but when the guest of honour rose to speak, he dried. ‘It’s no use,’ he confessed, ‘I can’t go on.’ The first illustrator to be honoured with a knighthood—in 1893 —Tenniel was a reluctant celebrity. Upright, dapper, always charmingly polite and profoundly reserved, despite an early training in the courtly arts of fencing and dancing from his father, a Victorian personal trainer, he was happiest when drawing. For Tenniel, this meant drawing from memory and imagination. He later claimed to have learned nothing at the Royal Academy and his dreams of history painting were soon set aside to pursue a…