Innholdsfortegnelse for 16-Dec-2020 i Country Life

AS Christmas approaches and we prepare for it as best we can, parish priests face peculiar challenges. What will a carol service without carols be like? Will a socially distanced Nativity lack narrative coherence? Will the astringent odour of sanitiser be off-putting for those receiving Christmas Communion? Will we even be able to offer Christmas Communion at all? I very much hope we will. Locked churches—an oxymoron in the best of times, but particularly in these —have seemed desperately inadequate. Yet there are difficult choices to make when you are, on the one hand, trying to protect people from the risk of infection and, on the other, providing for the cure of souls, our solemn charge. It is not the first time this has happened, of course. On the south…

THE clan MacLeod is getting greener, as it was announced that the ancestral seat of Dunvegan Castle and Gardens has been awarded a £1 million grant from the Scottish Government and the EU for a woodland creation scheme on the Isle of Skye. The project has taken some 1½ years of development and will be overseen by Scottish Woodlands, which will plant the scheme and hopes to be finished by 2021. The scheme is the first phase of the MacLeod estate’s rewilding strategy and is ‘one of the most ambitious projects of its kind’ on the island, according to the estate. The first phase will be transforming Dunvegan’s former farm into a 600-acre native woodland area, which will be three times the size of the existing contiguous woodlands surrounding the…

BY mid December, Christmas Day normally feels like a light at the end of the tunnel; an oasis that promises a family feast and some rest after a month of frenetic activity. This year, its prospect is no less welcome, but the journey there seems increasingly unfamiliar. London is dressed for Christmas, but the associated heaving crowds of shoppers and revellers are appreciably diminished. There are few carols to be heard. Meanwhile, as if in defiance of the circumstances, the streets around us have optimistically erupted with unprecedented quantities of outdoor Christmas lighting, neon Santas and projections. It adds to the slight surrealism of the moment that it’s impossible to plan for anything amid so much uncertainty. Last week we had one, then two children home from school, then a…

ADVENT is a time of waiting and we have become a congregation of experts. I nominate the people of Planet Earth for the Nobel Prize for Waiting. Even in a country smaller than Montana, we have modified our motto ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ to ‘Keep Waiting and Stay Home’. We have waited for Brexit negotiators to come up with a deal, for test and trace to slow down the virus and waited for schools, theatres, restaurants and shops to re-open. Then, after they opened and closed again, with stoic hearts, we began another wait. We’ve waited for reunions with our loved ones and old friends and, with hope against hope, we have waited for a miracle: a vaccine to save us from a deadly virus. ‘This Advent, the…

There are significant differences between cooking a heavy commercial bird and a native, narrow-breasted one, explains Hannah Moss. This is because, typically, the latter will have been growing for almost twice the time, so its bone structure will be more developed and its cavity larger. ‘The bones make the heat travel, so there is more hot air going into the cavity of a narrow-breasted turkey, which is why I never stuff my birds, because it stops the heat getting into the cavity,' she clarifies. Narrow-breasted turkeys don't take as long to cook-Mrs Moss says it can take as little as 1hr 45 minutes for a 9kg (nearly 20lb) bird-so the chef can have a lie-in. ‘For the first half, I cook the bird breast down on root vegetables. Then I…

St Mary’s, Attenborough, Nottinghamshire Scenes of battle and fleeing refugees Applegarth Church, Dumfries & Galloway Two windows, one featuring a war zone with scattered crosses Church of Our Lady of the Assumption and St Edward, Lyndhurst, New Forest The design includes three uniformed soldiers St Just-in-Penwith Church, Cornwall A dying soldier gazes at the crucified Christ. To the right, buildings are ablaze above a rural landscape St Wilfrid’s Chapel, Church Norton, West Sussex Two deceased soldiers, named, are depicted as knights; the wife of one of them, deceased in 1918, is in between Methodist Church, Arnside, Cumbria The Peace Window shows Christ the King, with knight in armour…

Buying your tree • For a classically shaped and scented Christmas tree, the Norway spruce is a sound choice • If you have small children or pets, the Nordmann fir has better needle retention and softer foliage • Make sure you buy a British-grown tree. Grown in Britain runs a certification scheme ensuring trees are fresh and grown responsibly in the UK (www. growninbritain.org/christmas-treesuppliers) • Look for real Christmas trees carrying the LEAF Marque certification, as these have been grown sustainably with due care and consideration for the surrounding environment (www.leafuk.org) Caring for your tree • An evergreen's natural habitat at this time of year is outdoors in cool air, so don't place it too close to any radiators • Make sure your tree stand has watering facilities and don’t…

Matthew Dennison IT was more than an icicle. More like an icy boulder, oversized and murkily white, faceted like a cartoon jewel and, shortly, dripping. It had lurked beneath a low stone bridge at the bottom of the wood, where sycamore thickets bald for winter gave way to mud and a mountain-fed stream, quick with meltwater. Of course we took it home, this Christmas trophy discovered by an enterprising four year old small enough to stand upright under the bridge. We paused for photographs in the hall, gumboots making puddles on the stone floor, the ice boulder obscuring the red cheeks of its proud finder, then lovingly consigned it to the only tiny corner of the freezer unoccupied. How crisp are the outlines of this memory of the finding of…

Serves 8 Ingredients For the ham 2kg mild-cure gammon joint1 onion (peeled and cut in half)2 litres Coca-Cola For the glaze 1 handful of cloves1 heaped tbspn black treacle2tspn English mustard powder2tbspn demerara sugar Method I find now that mild-cure gammon doesn’t need soaking, but if you know that you’re dealing with a salty piece, put it in a pan covered with cold water, bring to the boil, then tip into a colander in the sink and start from here; otherwise, put the gammon in a pan, skin-side down if it fits like that, add the onion, then pour over the coke. Bring to the boil, reduce to a good simmer, put the lid on, although not tightly, and cook for just under 2½ hours. If your joint is larger…

Serves 8 (two glasses each) 2 bottles (75cl each) fruity red wine50g caster sugar (add more if required on tasting)10 clovesCinnamon stick¾tspn nutmeg, freshly gratedPared skin of one orangeJuice of six oranges60cl (two-thirds of a bottle) ruby Port Add the wine, sugar, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, orange peel and orange juice to a pan. Heat gently until steaming, but not boiling. Remove from heat, cover and leave to infuse for about 15 minutes. Before serving, warm the mixture, add the Port and heat through, again until steaming. Remove the peel, cinnamon and cloves. Pour into glasses and add a squeeze of fresh orange juice to each glass. Garnish with a slice of orange.…

Sapphire and diamond drop earrings, £3,300, Susannah Lovis (020–7493 2008; www. susannah lovis.com) Palais gold and diamond earrings with turquoise guilloché enamel, £8,640, Fabergé (07818 507911; www.faberge. com) Turquoise and diamond drop earrings, £8,500, Bentley & Skinner (020–7629 0651; www. bentleyskinner.com) Tourmaline diamond and pearl earrings, £2,700, Jessie Thomas (07962 305109; www. jessiethomas jewellery.com) Diamond and sapphire drop earrings, £5,795, Julia Lloyd George (020–7373 5093; www. julialloyd george.com)…

THE garden has been a saviour for so many of us during this strange year of lockdowns and self-isolation. Over Christmas, we can take stock, indulge ourselves and look eagerly forward to a brighter new year. But there are seasonal preoccupations, too. I offer a checklist—a Gardener’s Christmas Alphabet, which provides cheer and challenges in equal measure. A is for the angst that champion vegetable growers will feel if their other half does not let them disappear into the greenhouse on Boxing Day to sow their prize-winning onions. Bis for the birds that have eaten all the berries that formed in such generous quantities on holly bushes in C is for the Christmas roses (Helleborus niger), which, despite their festive name, never quite manage to open for December 25.…

HOW to go about the daunting task of choosing the 50 greatest film heroes and heroines of all time? First, there must be some ground rules—we’re not talking superheroes and animation is out. It’s important to bear in mind that the focus is on the character, not the actor, nor the film, so commercial success and Academy Awards are irrelevant. Next comes the question of what it is that makes a hero truly heroic —not as easy to define as one may think, but, surely, it should be something along the lines of decency, sheer nerve and a determination to make the world a better place, no matter the personal cost. Then, we get to the real challenge: arranging our noble heroes in order of brilliance. It is near impossible…

1 a) All have played Hamlet; b) All have played King Lear; c) All have played Cleopatra; d) All have played Malvolio; e) All were directed by Peter Brook; f) All were designed by the architect Frank Matcham 2 a) ‘Hamlet’; b) ‘Look Back In Anger’; c) ‘No Man’s Land’; d) ‘Macbeth’ 3 a) ‘King John’; b) ‘Love’s Labour’s Lost’; c) ‘Waiting for Godot’; d) ‘Saint Joan’ 4 a) ‘Uncle Vanya’; b) ‘Albion’; c) ‘The Welkin’; d) ‘Leopoldstadt’ 5 a) John Galsworthy; b) J. M. Barrie; c) Somerset Maugham; d) A. A. Milne 6 a) ‘A Doll’s House’; b) ‘The Holly and the Ivy’; c) ‘Season’s Greetings’ 7 a) ‘Peter Pan’; b) ‘Two Gentlemen of Verona’; c) ‘The Barretts of Wimpole Street’; d) ‘Cats’ (above) 8 a) Jean Brodie in…

A PARTICULAR atmosphere haunts places where artists have lived and created—it can be felt powerfully even by those who are not themselves artists. It lingers in places that have been remodelled, as well as those that have become museums or shrines to their creators, such as Leighton House and the other, only slightly less magnificent, palaces of eminent Victorian painters around Holland Park. I hope that James McBey’s Notting Hill studio has not been exorcised; when I visited, it was as he had left it 50 years earlier. Sorolla’s house is one of my favourite places in Madrid; the engraver Thomas Bewick’s birthplace at Cherryburn, Northumberland, may be humbler, but is no less a delight; and Turner’s house on Chelsea Embankment still has an atmosphere despite alterations—I had an…

Hygienic hornets The war between honeybees and hornets is hotting up, as scientists find that Asian honeybees are using animal poo to repel attacks by giant killer hornets. Understandably, the hornets are repulsed by the excrement and scientists are surprised that bees, usually very clean animals, would stoop so low The internet Google Trends has released its list of the most searched-for terms for 2020. Unsurprisingly, ‘bread recipe' and ‘how to cut your own hair' were very high up the list, as was ‘how to cook eels', after a challenge on I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here!, and ‘where does vanilla flavouring come from?' We'll let you figure that one out on your own, but here's a hint-beavers…

ONE of the unexpected side effects of lockdown has been an increase of people digging up their own back gardens, according to the British Museum. The museum has announced a boost in ‘garden finds’ and in digital recording during lockdown, when metal-detecting was prohibited or restricted. Finds include two significant coin hoards, as well as various other items, such as a Roman furniture fitting with a well-preserved face of the god Oceanus and a medieval forgery of a bishop’s seal matrix. One gardener in Hampshire was engaged in a spot of weeding when they uncovered 63 gold coins and one silver coin, ranging from Edward IV through to Henry VIII, deposited in about 1540. As well as successful treasure hunting in the garden, the British Museum also revealed this year’s…

Quiz of the week 1) From which language does the word ‘scampi' come? 2) The sola plant, Aeschynomene aspera, is used to make what sort of headwear? 3) Pernio or perniosis, a medical condition caused by exposure to cold, is more commonly known as what? 4) What are candied and glazed to produce marrons glacŽ? 5) If something is ‘vermicular', what does it resemble in form or movement? Word of the week Scugways (adverb) In a clandestine manner Oh, the agony! Resident agony uncle Kit Hesketh-Harvey solves your dilemmas Faint hearts, fair laddies QI met a (single) friend of a friend and found him very attractive. I’m keen to get to know him, but it’s unlikely I’ll bump into him. I’m not good at putting myself forward for…

IN the era of Covid-19, all is changed, even time-honoured fixtures of the calendar such as A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols from King’s College Chapel, Cambridge, performed before a live audience and broadcast on BBC radio and, later, television on almost every Christmas Eve since 1928. Health guidelines mean there won’t be any audience this year and that will affect the sound of the choir, says the director of music, Daniel Hyde. ‘There will be a far more resonant acoustic than is the case when there are more than 1,000 people in the chapel,’ he notes. ‘And, of course, there won’t be the usual points when the congregation joins in to sing the big carols.’ A ‘more resonant acoustic’ isn’t a heavy cross to bear, but, sadly, another…

1 Turkeys are classified as grazers—they keep grass trimmed—and are kinder on the garden than chickens; they can be easily reared as organic 2 Turkey eggs (slightly bigger than a chicken’s) are delicious and low in cholesterol; they don’t have a ‘taint’ to them and can have a pleasingly brown-speckled, creamy-white shell 3 Turkeys will ‘display’ prettily like a peacock, but they’re rather more useful and not nearly as raucous 4 Turkey poo is good for the soil and not as messy as a duck’s 5 Turkeys are funny—if you gobble at them, they will gobble back…

THERE’S the familiar clunk as the latch on a sturdy village church door is sprung. Inside, my footsteps echo in a centuries-old silence. This morning, the location is the intimate space of St Nicholas Church at Ickford, Buckinghamshire, but what’s about to happen holds true for country churches across Britain. Another search for examples of First World War memorial windows ends in a shattering of that silence. The ferocious battle into which my imagination is plunged this time around was fought at Épehy (on the Somme) on September 18, 1918. The inscription below the neo-Gothic, stained-glass Virgin and Child relates as much in remembering a local victim of the action: 2nd Lt Edward Vernon Staley of the Royal Field Artillery. Son of the rector of Ickford, Staley died at the…

AS time renders childhood an increasingly distant speck on the horizon, memories grow fonder. Together with the Advent calendar, nothing evokes the feverish anticipation of December 25 more poignantly than the arrival of the Christmas tree. Specially selected from a nursery or, perhaps, a street trader in the village and brought into the garden—receiving, hopefully, an approving nod (‘It’s a nice shape’)—there’s then the ritual of shovelling soil into the tub and getting the tree standing straight (‘Blasted thing’s still crooked’). This trial overcome, the tree is brought inside for the big moment little hands have been waiting for, the enormous responsibility of decorating the branches with silver tinsel and glittering baubles. From the wonderful, fresh pine aroma to the hazard of fallen needles spiking fingers and knees when playing…

AS is so often the case, it began with legend, when the robin’s bold frontal display was interpreted as blood. The compassionate little bird had perched on the shoulder of Christ on the cross, singing a melody to console him and trying to pull out the thorns of the crown that pierced his brow, thereby covering its face, neck and breast in gore. This tale goes way back. It was related in the 6th century, if not sooner, by Kentigern, Bishop of Cumbria ( COUNTRY LIFE , May 27), who is remembered there with six churches dedicated to him and four more in Scotland, including Glasgow Cathedral. Also known as Mungo, St Kentigern was famed for bringing back to life by prayer a robin so tame it was fed by…

Sandridge Farm This Calne-based curer is an old-school master of ham (and bacon). I worship the smoked Golden rind and the Bradenhamstyle Brumham (01380 850304; www. sandridgefarmhousebacon.co.uk) Dukeshill Ham Co Another ham master, which has everything from mild, sweet Wiltshire ham and orange-glazed St George's to a traditionally smoked, breadcrumb-clad York (01952 607770; www.dukeshillham.co.uk) Emmett’s Store Emmett's has been curing great hams for more than 200 years at its Suffolk shop, so knows a thing or two about the art. I adore the smoked, wet-cured Christmas ham, as well as the rich Suffolk Black (01728 660250; www.emmettsham.co.uk) Daylesford Daylesford's organic Gloucestershire ham is a masterpiece of the curer's art, sweet, rich and subtle. I love the Smoked Black, too (01608 731700; www.daylesford.com) James Whelan Butchers The Whole Heritage Cure Irish…

ANYONE who has a continuous smile on his face conceals a toughness that is almost frightening.’ So said Greta Garbo, but when it comes to maintaining a sunny disposition despite a life of unrelenting pressure and ill-treatment, the starlets of Golden Age Hollywood experienced nothing compared with the kind of punishing work rate to which another household name continues to be subjected. It’s also highly unlikely that, despite her desire to be alone, Garbo ever had to live in a darkened broom cupboard. For this is the life of Henry the hoover. Loyal as we may be to this smiling, anthropomorphic appliance (we’ve spent the past 40 years depending on him and his ever-increasing family to keep our domiciles clean), we expect toughness and fortitude in return. The idea for…

My friend Alex Pole is an amazingly talented blacksmith and forger of knives. Both my favourite knives were made by him; the first he gave me as a gift and the second we designed together. I love them equally and use one or other (and often both) every day (07947 184016; www.alexpoleironwork.com) Kombucha changed my life! This fermented tea-based drink is brewed from a live scoby (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast) and is helpful for boosting the diversity of your healthy gut bacteria and, therefore, your immune system (‘What rotten luck!’, October 21). It has a lovely tart taste and lends itself to delicious flavouring by adding fruit and herbal infusions. It's been so useful in helping me cut down my drinking and commit to two or three…

If you can get into the garden today, do so and stay there as long as possible. Your friendly reception on returning will be assured if you bring an armful of seasonal flowers and foliage. Among these are Viburnum tinus , which supplies both; holly, especially if there are any berries left; the winter honeysuckles, with their sweetly scented blooms; and the evergreen shoots and fragrant flowers of Sarcococca , the aptly named Christmas Box. Be sparing in your harvest, so that your work leaves each shrub apparently untouched. Get on with the arrangements, and keep them in a cool place until the great moment. SCD…

An exhibition giving a seasonable aspect is online until the end of the year and, if you happen to be in Amsterdam, can be viewed physically, too. Morsink Icon Gallery (www.morsink.com) was founded by Jan Morsink and, since his death in 1994, has been run by his sons Simon and Hugo, who have built the gallery into a world leader for Greek and Russian icons. The brothers have collaborated for this show with the Dutch Old Master dealer Kunsthandel P. de Boer to compare and contrast ‘The Birth of Christ-When East meets West'. It is interesting to see Orthodox and Roman traditions and iconography side by side, as in this pairing of a Madonna and Child attributed to the Master of the Mansi Magdalene (left), a painter working in Antwerp…

Nottingham An ‘urban rewilding' scheme has been proposed for Broadmarsh shopping centre in Nottingham, which would see the derelict structure transformed into wetlands, pocket woodlands and wildflower meadows. The proposal, which would cost £3m–£4m, was proposed by the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trusts and designed by Influence Landscape Architects Bison Numbers of European bison, the Continent's largest land mammal species, are starting to recover, thanks to conservation efforts. In 2003, there were some 1,800 in the wild, but, by 2019, there were more than 6,200 Fake it till you make it A John Constable sketch that was believed to be a fake has been identified as genuine and auctioned for £91,000. The sketch, Dedham Vale with Brantham Mill, may have been preparatory for his famous Dedham Vale, Morning For all the latest…

ONCE, I was a geologist and my first job was gold prospecting in Perthshire. The land yielded some of the precious metal, but not enough to make it worth mining. I was disappointed at the time; but, today, I am thankful those hills remain ancient and lonely without the fist of man cracking their skulls. Geology is about rocks and time, yet not the sort of time invented by humans. The Jurassic period lasted 56 million years and gave the world dinosaurs and Cotswold stone; the Cretaceous spanned 79 million years and left us the South Downs and our continents. Geological time cannot be explained in human terms. We are in a new geological age known as the Anthropocene, the age of man. Scientists, recently published in Nature, say the…

Spicy black fruit Catena Zapata, DV Catena Malbec, Mendoza, Argentina 2018. £12, Sainsbury’s, alc 13% This Malbec is sourced from high-altitude vineyards. Luscious black cherry and fruit-pastille aromas, edged with cocoa. Plenty of varietal typicity, with dense, spicy black fruit and nicely judged oak. A perfect match for steak with peppercorn sauce. Long, nougat finish Masseria Altemura, Fiano, Salento, Puglia, Italy 2018. £13, Private Cellar, alc 12.5% Altemura, founded in 4 BC , is one of 10 wine estates now owned by Zonin. This is a deliciously saline Fiano, full of sunny citrus, ample peach and floral notes on a raspy-textured palate. Characterful and refreshing, with a long, nougat finish. Lip-smacking acidity Williams & Humbert, Don Zoilo Collection Dry Amontillado 12 Years Old, Jerez, Spain. £17, The Wine…

Glowing in the memory A FEW weeks ago, Athena had the opportunity to enjoy a grand Georgian interior by candlelight. It proved to be a magical experience. As six great brass candelabra and scores of sconces were lit—the process, starting just before sunset, took about 40 minutes to complete—the whole room became suffused with brazen light. Hours later, the candles began to burn low, a reminder that historic night-time events might possess a natural, in-built ending. There is something quite exceptional about the quality of candlelight in grand architecture. A stage lighting designer once explained to Athena why that was the case. More significant than the colour of the flame, apparently, was the effect of having countless sources of relatively low-intensity light (as opposed to a handful of powerful beams…

1991 The wrong kind of snow When James Naughtie interviewed British Rail's director of operations, Terry Worrall, for Radio 4 and asked him about the weather-related service disruptions, the latter admitted: ‘We are having particular problems with the type of snow.' Mr Naughtie's inimitable response was: ‘Oh, I see, it was the wrong kind of snow.' This led to a newspaper headline: ‘British Rail blames the wrong type of snow' 1981 The Queen is stranded On December 13, the snow was so bad that The Queen and her entourage were forced to take refuge in a 14th-century posting inn, the Cross Hands, Old Sodsbury, Gloucestershire, when returning from Gatcombe Park. Reportedly, she partook of chicken-liver paté, Dover sole and a gin and tonic 1978–79 The winter of…

‘“As though there were not enough to worry us already. This snow-” “Snow?” “But yes, Monsieur. Monsieur has not noticed? The train has stopped. We have run into a snowdrift. Heaven knows how long we shall be here”' Agatha Christie, Murder on the Orient Express ‘Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow?' The Book of Job ‘In the afternoon we had battles with the Tugs with snowballs… in the school yard. I received several cuts but gave as good as I got. Tarve major… had his eyes so knocked about that he is perfectly blind… several others, colleges and Oppidans, have black eyes and swelled noses' Melville Lawford, Eton schoolboy, 1843 ‘Another arctic day… I went to... Harrods, knowing that they generate their own electricity. At the centre……

NOT many poets are moved to compose odes to the turkey, but the creatures sparked something in Benjamin Zephaniah, who, in 1995, penned the immortal lines ‘Turkeys are cool, turkeys are wicked/ An every turkey has a Mum’. As well as observing that ‘Turkeys just wanna play reggae/Turkeys just wanna hip-hop’, the Rastafarian writer makes the more serious point that the birds are more than Christmas lunch and have a right ‘Not to be caged up and genetically made up’. The prospect of restricted Christmas gatherings means that the smaller, naturally produced, native-breed turkey, which was first raised centuries ago by the Aztecs, might come into its own this year, music to the ears of those valiantly promoting these legacy breeds whose precious genes are the foundation of the commercial…

The heavy mob Bourbon Red stags, with their striking, mahogany and white-tipped plumage, can hit 33lb, hens 18lb. The Bronze, probably the most popular breed and the one that most closely resembles the wild turkey, is a really big bruiser: males can weigh up to 40lb, hens 26lb. The Narragansett, with bars of black, white and steel grey that could have been painted on by Bridget Riley, has a top weight of 33lb (or 23lb for females). The lighter lot The pure-bred British White (most are commercially hybridised), which was once fruitlessly pursued by the Walmington-on-Sea Home Guard in an episode of Dad’s Army, weighs 20lb–28lb and the handsome Buff-once so popular it had its own breed club, but now diluted and in need of improvement, according to the RBST-18lb–28lb.…

• A 1920s window at St Nicholas Church, Barton-le-Clay, Bedfordshire uses shattered stained glass gathered at war-ravaged Arras in northern France • Women were prominent among Arts-and-Crafts stained-glass executants. A leading name was Mary Lowndes, co-founder of the influential maker Lowndes & Drury • Memorial windows often referenced a painting by James Clark, The Great Sacrifice , portraying a dying soldier at the foot of the cross • First World War memorial windows featuring battle scenes are found as far afield as Australia, New Zealand and Canada • A rare window featuring a Western Front grass airfield, dating from the 1960s, can be found at Longparish church in Hampshire • Stained-glass craftspeople remain active across the UK. Many memorial windows are in need of repair-the ongoing cost of remembrance. For…

• Robins have been around for a long time, with fossil evidence for them from 120,000 years ago. The bird was classified as Melophilus rubecula by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 and is one of nine global sub-species. ‘Our' robin is known to ornithology as the European robin, Erithacus rubecula, is distributed throughout Europe and ranges north into Scandinavia, south to Algeria and west to the Atlantic islands of Madeira and the Azores • British and Irish robins remain mainly resident, although small numbers of females migrate to southern Europe. Russian and Scandinavian robins escape harsh winters by migrating south-west and some make it to Britain, identifiable by greyer upper feathers and duller orange breasts • Attempts in the 19th century to introduce the European robin to North America, Australia and…

‘I do not know a more harsh and unpleasant cry than that of the wildcat, or one more likely to be the origin of superstitious fears in the mind of an ignorant Highlander,' said the distinctly patronising Charles St John. However, Highland myths and legends concerning wildcats abound • Their ferocity led Highlanders to suppose wildcats had a claw in the tip of their tail • It was believed that tom wildcats that mated with domestic cats would return later to kill the litter • The all-black Kellas cats seen in Morayshire and sometimes mistaken for pumas on a Saturday night were thought to be a species of wildcat—in fact, they are hybrid or feral cats • The cat sith, the fairy cat of Scottish Gaelic tradition, may derive…

STUFF turkey and bin the mince pies. Out, vile pudding and get ye away, cranberry sauce. Because the traditional British Christmas lunch must be the least festive feast on earth, a turgid study in barely edible gloom. Now, I realise this view is not exactly infused with festive cheer. And yes, there are a few magnificent turkeys, all sweet succulence and dark, gamey depth. But no one will ever convince me of the charms of mincemeat, be it entombed in buttery pastry or enshrouded in a pudding cloth. I blame the Victorians, with their po-faced morality and bourgeois distrust of sybaritic pleasure. Because, once upon a time, the Christmas festival was a 12-day orgy of wanton bacchanalia, with mischief and merriment aplenty. So what’s changed, I hear you cry? Well,…

• Numatic claims that 60 million cubic metres of air are vacuumed in testing every year—that’s sufficient to keep the entire human race alive for 60 seconds • Henry's crime-fighting properties were deployed in Derby in 2016, when police released footage of a pharmacy worker fending off a baseball-bat-wielding robber with their vacuum cleaner • One customer returned her Henry to Numatic to be repaired after using it for 30 years. The hoover in question now resides in the company museum • Henry has a role beyond the home: in 2018, one was spotted dangling 100ft above the ground in Westminster Abbey, as cleaners set him to work sucking dust from the arches • Now 80 years old, inventor Chris Duncan is currently ranked 846th on The Sunday Times Rich…

FOR the winner of the International Wine & Spirit Competition Sparkling Wine Producer of the Year 2020, an award claimed in 2019 by powerhouse Veuve Clicquot, the dream started with John Langham and his small-scale vineyard in Crawthorne, Dorset. In 2009, his son, Justin, planted 30 acres of land and, now, the perfectly placed south-facing vines, their roots in chalk soil and basking in a perfect micro-climate, possess all the ingredients for producing the classic Champagne grape varieties—Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. Most important to Mr Langham and his team is the low intervention approach to growing. This is wine that truly reflects its terroir . Nothing is rushed and the quality sings through. Pinot Meunier, £37 (01258 839095; www.langhamwine.co.uk).…

AS a nation, we’reblessed with some of the finest country properties the world can offer. Rich in history and timeless in its appeal, the British country house captures thehearts of both domestic andinternational buyers time and time again, thanks to its architecture and the way of lifeit offers. Because each property i s uni que,demand i s always hi gh and the market holds its value. ‘This year, the country market has been as busy as I can remember in the past 20 years, parti cularlyat the top end,’ saysJames Mackenzie, who heads Strutt & Parker’s Country department. ‘With countless families deciding that this is the year to leave the ci ty and venture out i nto the country, and British expatriates returning to the UK and looking for green…

Edith Barnes and her team start trimming the 11 miles of box hedges in July/ August. This takes six weeks, then they tackle the beech hedges and Portuguese laurels over about 10 days. Next-to avoid biting wintry winds when up a 56ft hoist-the 14 towering leylandii are neatly cut into a fastigiate style, although the tallest is left until the 62ft hoist needed for an ancient yew is brought in. Finally, they tackle the dozens of English and Irish yew topiary, and the hollies, which don't mind being cut in frosty weather. ‘We like to be finished by Christmas,' says Miss Barnes. ‘But we never are.'…

THINK small: it’s more beautiful. Years ago, I was chased around a dining table in Shad Thames by a feisty publisher called Anthony Blond, one of the last of a generation who believed in three-bottle lunches and flying by the seat of his pants. I was rescued only by the timely arrival of his wife. Blond published Simon Raven and Jennifer Patterson, Jean Genet and Harold Robbins, but perhaps his finest moment came when he accepted a dog-eared manuscript called Homecomers: Economics as if People Mattered and published it, instead, under the title Small is Beautiful. Small, too, was the response, until Governor Jerry Brown of California got hold of a copy and passed it to Jimmy Carter, who subsequently invited its author, E. F. Schumacher, to the White House.…