Innholdsfortegnelse for 10-Feb-2021 i Country Life

D. H. LAWRENCE described the nightingale’s sound as ‘neither preaching nor commanding nor urging. It is just singing’. Having no agenda except survival, birds are wonderfully immune to the gloomy news that daily assaults us. As a violent storm clears, so a blackbird’s sweet chirrup will sound, making it all right with the world. After a squall, chubby sparrows emerge chattering, squabbling and playing tag like small children noisily erupting into the playground at breaktime. Alighting lapwing will transform the sludge of a flooded field into a painter’s canvas. And, as our social lives contract, February is the birds’ merry month of mating: even the cadaverous rook is cuddling up coyly on a bare branch. Birds and their antics are a free, natural entertainment system, visible to all in some…

VAN GOGH’S Sunflowers is only the third most popular painting in the National Gallery at the moment, but we thought readers will appreciate some colour. Proud to be open 24/7 at the moment (digitally), the gallery’s online offering has changed the way people view art for the time being and the most popular painting on the website is van Eyck’s complex and beautiful interior, The Arnolfini Portrait, followed by Holbein’s The Ambassadors. This is very ‘revealing,’ says Dr Gabriele Finaldi, National Gallery director. ‘Both are indoor scenes with very dressed-up people and I wonder whether they reflect our own experience of being enclosed in our homes during lockdown, yearning to go out and celebrate.’ Since March 2020, the National Gallery has seen a 1,125% increase in visitors to the stories…

ANYONE yearning to escape their daily grind (everyone) might enjoy two new books from archaeologist Dee Dee Chainey and historian Willow Winsham, creators of #FolkloreThursday—a popular website and Twitter and Instagram account that shares fantastical snippets from around the world once a week, both ancient and modern. The first instalment, Treasury of Folklore: Seas & Rivers (out March 4), features tales of misty maidens, selkies, mermaids, sirens, water horses, lake monsters and other watery creatures, with beautiful woodcut illustrations by Joe McLaren. Bad wolves, witches and cannabalistic children hewn from logs lurk in the second book, Treasury of Folklore: Woodlands and Forests (August 5, Batsford, £12.99 each).…

THE process of secondary-school entrance tests has been interminable this year and—as a result of postponements—one of the children has been living under their shadow for more than 2½ months. Many exams and interviews finally took place at home, which has not been easy. Similarly, the business of preparation, involving long hours sitting test papers on a digital tutorial system, has been a constant source of domestic tension. So it came as a huge relief to the entire household when the final one was completed last Tuesday. A small tray of homemade cakes was prepared as a celebratory treat that evening. The child unexpectedly announced their intention of icing each one with a word ‘that expressed their dark thoughts’ on exams and the tutorial system. This exercise proved too time…

This is Ground Control Q My parents have always been controlling with me and they are starting to exhibit the same behaviour with my children—they have opinions on their schooling, friends and hobbies. They mean well, but I understand the pressure it creates. How can I spare my children without causing a rift? C. D., Edinburgh A Yawning are the 5G-powered differences in expectation between our parents, our children and ourselves. Humour and even playful conspiracy can be a tremendous pressure-release. Sarah, Duchess of York, isn’t credited enough for her exemplary parenting. She made a jolly distinction between ‘level A’ manners (those exhibited in public) and ‘level B’ (when relaxing in private). In your case, a double standard is merely pragmatic. ‘Try not to upset Granny: she’s not wrong,…

LUCINDA BAKER asks why short pieces of string were kept by her grandfather (Letters, January 20). My father-in-law worked in an office for 40 years and went daily to a cafe across the city for coffee. On the way, he collected the pieces of string dropped by postmen as they delivered each street’s batch of letters. He used every piece to tie up plants and flowers in his beautiful garden and used to say: ‘They’re perfect as ties, but useless for anything else really.’ Ian Elliott, Belfast The writer of the letter of the week will win a bottle of Pol Roger Brut Réserve Champagne…

IT’S the middle of the afternoon and we are in the kitchen eating sweet-potato soup and cornbread. There’s also a bottle of Sancerre on the table. Wine with soup is confusing, but the occasion called for more than soup on its own. This is a wake. There are only the two of us, so it is lawful, a husband-and-wife bubble that has returned home from the funeral of the husband’s oldest friend. No, the friend did not die of Covid-19. I’m telling you that right away because that’s what everyone wants to know. It’s the look you see in eyes peering over the mask when you break the news, the look in your eyes when you hear the news. It’s the haiku at the end of the obituary: age and…

NO motorist using the parking apron outside a supermarket, a petrol station, a cinema or any other public venue can have failed to notice them. Those small black-and-white birds with heads nodding and long tails wagging as they patrol what appears to be naked tarmac. In fact, it offers small insects—the birds sometimes leap a foot into the air to snatch them, together with other tiny food fragments. ‘It was thought to be a harbinger of rain, beckoning the next downpour with its tail, Pied wagtails have no fear of humans and can be seen, too, on any concourse where outdoor seating and pavement eating may yield crumbs. Fond of assembling in large groups to overnight in urban trees—one arboreal hotel was estimated to number 4,000 birds —in the countryside,…

Serves 4 as a side dish Ingredients 4 medium-large aubergines4tbspn extra-virgin olive oilLeaves from 3 oregano sprigs, tornSea-salt flakes and freshly ground black pepperJuice of half a lemon For the sauce Leaves from 2 rosemary sprigs2 garlic cloves, chopped14 anchovies, drained of oilJuice of 1 lemon, or to taste4tbspn extra-virgin olive oil1 red chilli, halved, deseeded and chopped, more if you want it hotter Method Preheat the oven to 200˚C/400˚F/gas mark 6. Halve the aubergines and cut a crosshatched pattern in the flesh of each one, without cutting right through to the skin. Put these on a rimmed baking sheet and smear the olive oil evenly all over the cut surfaces. Toss in the oregano, too, and salt and pepper. Turn the aubergines over with your hands, making sure the…

HISTORICALLY, only royals were allowed to wear amethyst, with the finest-quality stones being found in Russia. A large cabochon amethyst sits above the Cullinan I diamond in the Imperial Sceptre of the British Crown Jewels. Because of its wine-like colour, Greek legend associated amethyst with Dionysus, the god of wine, and went so far as to say it helped keep a clear head by preventing drunkenness. Although we wouldn’t prescribe it for sobriety, it is said to evoke peace, serenity and temperance—halfway there, perhaps.…

It took five generations to imbue the manor with its delightful air of threadbare grandeur. It took five weeks for the new owner, Zed, a music mogul, to transform it into a private boutique hotel. Faded, stippled walls have been painted black, the longcase clock replaced with a 1950s Wurlitzer and chintz-covered upholstery with enormous velvet L-shaped sofas where Zed likes to ‘chill' and listen to demo tapes. Plans are afoot to convert the stables into a recording studio and Maj Topbrass, who delivers the parish magazine, reports that Zed's girlfriend, Harmony, has installed a Thai-style yoga pavilion in the arboretum. The couple have yet to be seen at many village events, but they enjoyed their lively evening at the pub so much that they bought it. GK…

Two apples A pollination-compatible pair with a staggered harvest; one dual purpose (for eating fresh or cooking) and an astonishing eater, perhaps ‘James Grieve' and ‘Orleans Reinette' Two pears A pollination-compatible pair with a staggered harvest; perhaps the early season ‘Beth' twinned with the later ‘Doyenne du Comice', which has a homegrown flavour almost unrecognisable from those in the shops One plum-alike A gage, damson or plumcot (all usually happily pollinated by ‘Victoria') One Morello cherry Self fertile, delicious to our tastes and usually less appealing to birds…

In 2003, a stroke left the newly widowed Mary Newcomb unable to walk, talk or eat. She was reduced to one mobile arm, vivid facial expressions and all the riches of her interior world. Her unseen legacy included word and picture diaries, which her daughter Tessa Newcomb and grandson Henry Jackson Newcomb -artists both-eventually compiled into a revelatory book, Drawing from Observation (Lund Humphries, £35). Despite this, the artist's final years were far from miserable, spent in a nursing home much like the farmhouses where she had previously lived. Life continued to hold her rapt attention and she drew until she died, with a finger in the air.…

Old Masters Six artist records were achieved at a Christie's Old Master prints sale last week, showing continued appeal for the likes of Rembrandt and Dürer Smooth-faced herders The Pyrenean sheepdog (smooth face) is the latest to be recognised by the Kennel Club. It has a shorter coat than its long-haired cousin and brings the KC's list of pedigree breeds to 222 Four-legged tenants Landlords can no longer issue a blanket ban on pets under the Government's new Model Tenancy Agreement, which has consent as a default position; now, they'll have to object to requests in writing giving a proper reason Buried treasure A gold figurine unearthed in Northamptonshire that depicts Henry VI could have been part of Henry VIII's crown, which was melted down on Cromwell's orders, say experts…

Sweet spices Lucas, D o, Portugal 2018. £5.99, Aldi, alc 13% The stand-out buy from Aldi's autumn/winter collection (sold out online and only available in store). Not only a smart label, with traditional Portuguese azulejo tiles, it also has real elegance, balance and complexity for £5.99. Ripe, dark, purple-berry aromas continue on a smooth, rich palate of earthy, savoury bramble fruit and perfumed violet notes. Great acidity, rustic tannins, sweet spices and a long, fresh finish. Musky raspberries Domaine des Trinités, L’Etranger 120 Year Old Vine, Languedoc, France 2019. £14.95, Lea & Sandeman, alc 13% This ‘natural' wine proves that Simon Coulshaw's move from IT to winemaking was a solid choice. With 90% ancient-vine Cinsault and 10% Syrah, it boasts musky raspberries, linear fruit tannins and whiffs of pepper,…

IF you’re going to embark on a green campaign, you’d better get your facts right, particularly if you want to take on the British dairy industry. The American-backed, Swedish-developed Oatly started so well. Oat milk does not suffer from any of the environmental problems of the other milk substitutes. Although it’s a bit less good than normal milk for those on a weight-loss diet, it can claim to be a healthy, sustainable alternative for those who balk at animal products or want to reduce their dairy intake. Agromenes may believe that vegans miss the point and that mixed farming is environmentally the better practice, but, for those who disagree, oat milk is the most reasonable choice and, by all accounts, Oatly produces one of the best versions. What, then, went…

Sir Tim Sainsbury was formerly a director of Sainsbury’s before becoming a politician. He is now a philanthropist. His memoir Among the Supporting Cast: Reminiscences and Reflections on Three Careers (£20) is published by Barbreck ‘Antonello da Messina is often credited with introducing painting in oils to Italy and was a pioneer in the use of linear perspective. But it is the exquisite detail evident in every part of the painting that, for me, makes this work so special. You can study it for hours and still spot something new. St Jerome is generally regarded as the most learned of the Four Fathers of the Early Church. His great achievement was translating the Bible from Greek and Hebrew into Latin, thus making the foundation of our Christian faith accessible to…

597 St Augustine lands on the shores of Kent, bringing Christianity to England 670 The monastery at Minster in Kent is founded and, around it, a community starts to grow 1150 Ralph the Hermit sets up his small chapel in Piddington, Oxfordshire 1536 The break with Rome and end of clerical celibacy sees rectories turned into family homes 1653 Staffordshire-born Izaak Walton publishes his account of various clerical fishing trips in The Compleat Angler 1750 The Revd Dr Francis Willis moves to the village of Dunston in Lincolnshire and begins work on the positive effect of rural life on those with mental illnesses 1763 James Woodforde becomes a curate in rural Somerset 1789 The Revd Gilbert White's book The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne is published 1815 John ‘Jack'…

Alien encounters The CIA has released 2,780 pages of documents detailing UFO sightings; Ireland reported 105 but there were only 12 in the UK British fishermen The EU says live mussels, oysters, clams, cockles and scallops caught by our fishermen are indefinitely banned produce as there aren't enough tanks to purify them before import to its member states. Our shellfish catches are worth £393 million Flying buttresses Scandinavian or Minimalist interior design is the cheapest to achieve, finds a new study, but Gothic style costs up to 15 times more Wild Justice The organisation faces legal costs of £10,000 after the High Court ruled that Natural Resources Wales's licences to control wild birds are, in fact, lawful…

I WAS introduced to Ralph Waldo Emerson by Carla Carlisle, through her wonderful column that ran for many years at the back of this magazine. Carla, ever kind, sent me a copy of his book English Traits and I found that I was hooked on the writing of both these two great Americans. It is a delicious book, full of wit and, although published in 1856, still offers much to recognise in ourselves. He was not always sparing. In some things, we have improved and others slipped: on manners, Emerson says: ‘I find the Englishman to be him of all men who stands firmest in his shoes. They have in themselves what they value in horses, mettle and bottom.’ I will let you judge for yourselves if that is still…

YOU may like to see this print of Old Pytchley Hall. The hall was first used as a club by hunting men in about 1750. The club was closed in 1797, and kennels for the Pytchley hounds were at Boughton, near Northampton, from 1797 to 1808. The Brixworth Kennels were built in 1820. Pytchley Hall was sold by Mr George Pain (or Paine), Master of the Pytchley for some time, to be pulled down, and he realised £800 for the materials. In 1885 a farmer was living in Pytchley village whose father catered for the club, with a French cook and every luxury. He used only to charge 5s. a head for the dinners —‘but I think he made some money out of the wines,’ quoth the farmer. 1) Zinc…

Just keep farming I ENJOYED ‘Farming’s brave new world’ (January 13), but feel that the voices of those at the grassroots weren’t heard. My cousins farm about 320 acres by Romney Marsh in Kent. They milk some 60 cows and bull and heifer calves are raised until they are two years old. No feed is bought in —everything is produced on the farm, an example of that buzzword, sustainability, yet their farm is an endangered species. Ask my cousins about rewilding or climate change and they shrug. They love to see curlews and their resident barn owl, but they’ve drained a bit of marsh and know that won’t get them any brownie points. It means they can produce more food, but food doesn’t seem important. They don’t feel the…

THE former Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) at Farnborough in Hampshire was the cradle of flight and remains the spiritual home of aviation in Britain. Here, Col Sam Cody—no relation of ‘Buffalo Bill’ Cody —pioneered flight in Britain with dirigibles, glider kites, and biplanes. The Balloon School established at Aldershot and moved to Farnborough in 1905 evolved successively into the Balloon Factory, the Royal Flying Corps, the Royal Air Force and the RAE. Its operation also encompassed the Cold War, the jet engine, supersonic flight, missile technology and the exploration of space. RAE closed in the 1990s and, for a period, there was a danger that the unique group of wind tunnels used here for testing planes and aero engines would disappear. Thanks to the heroic effort of scientists and technicians…

THE modern master Giorgio Morandi (1890–1964), when asked if he had studied the ‘still-life arrangements’ in Antonello da Messina’s ‘interiors with figures’, said that it was only later in life he became aware of the artist’s ‘great qualities’ because ‘Antonello worked in a different tradition, that of the Van Eyck brothers and the Flemish masters, whose art we have little opportunity to study in Italy’. Mere glimpses of this artistic outsider’s life remain, although he, through working briefly in Venice, was the most significant southern-Italian influence on Renaissance Italian art. Born and bred in Sicily, Antonello studied with his sculptor father and in Naples with the painter Niccolò Colantonio, from whom he learned the technique of oil painting introduced by the Flemish masters. Alfonso V of Aragon was King of…

BEHIND the Ferguson TE-20, the plough spills two red furrows. You can tell the seasons by the way sun shines on clay—winter’s rays are thin milk. Up and down the field I go, cutting open the earth, ploughing. Putta-putta-putta. My Ferguson diesel tractor is now 65 years old. Is it retiring? Is it hell. Fergusons go on and on. The Ferguson, made at the Standard Motor Company plant in Coventry between 1946 and 1956, is one of farming’s true icons. Small, yet butch. When Sir Edmund Hillary decided to cross the Antarctic, he chose a caravanserai of ‘little grey Fergies’ for the job. Putta-putta-putta. Admittedly, a vintage or classic tractor—meaning, essentially, anything built before 1980—will not win a drag race against a banana-yellow JCB Fastrac. Ploughing at 3mph on a…

• Remember that the recipient will be reading something from the past; it's different from an email, which is immediate • I think it’s nice to start with where you are, which part of the day it is, what you can see: ‘Here I am in the kitchen, drinking my coffee. I’ve just been to the shops and it’s snowing outside.’ Those little details contain something of the tangibility of the day • Ask questions that ensure you get a letter back and the correspondence gains a bit of momentum • Don’t worry about keeping it short —there’s no need for it to be a great opus. The main thing someone gets from receiving a letter is the thoughtfulness of you having written it and gone to the postbox. When…

When the coronavirus pandemic struck, the rector of St Peter, East Blatchington, and St Andrew, Bishopstone, East Sussex, realised she had a problem. Many of the Revd Arwen Folkes's parishioners on the edge of the South Downs were offline. She and a volunteer team, therefore, devised worship resources and acted on the advice she had received when active in local politics in rural Cornwall, to ‘write it on a piece of paper and pop it through the door'. Soon, the popularity of the resources began to spread-ironically, via the internet. Requests arrived for worship material from across Britain and as far afield as New Zealand and Australia. Those who had first felt left behind by the Zoom age suddenly found themselves preparing material for thousands of people across the world.…

FOR such a small fish, the anchovy packs a mighty punch. Not in its fresh form or even marinated, Spanish boquerones and Italian alici, all soft, silvery succulence. No, I mean those cured fillets, packed into salt or submerged in olive oil, lightly beige and deeply intense. As I write, I have a tin open at my right hand —Ortiz, to be precise, torn from the bold, bright box. Drab and a little nondescript, these anchovies may not be much to look at, but the flavour, dear God, the flavour. Salty at first, a great saline right hook that smacks you right across the chops. Then, as things move towards the wrong side of too much, their true character is released: sweet, rich and beguilingly mellow, all sonorous umami depth…

Mulberry No fruit is more delicious Quince For so many reasons, including the trees' blossom, the smell of the fruit ripening in the house, quince gin, membrillo… Medlar Described perfectly by the food writer Niki Segnit as having a flavour ‘like a date that's sucked a lemon' Two Asian pears A pair for pollination, but also because the crisp, aromatic, succulent fruit is such an astonishing upgrade on the impersonations in the supermarkets. Heavy of blossom, generously productive of what look like glittered golden apples and with spectacular autumn foliage ‘Victoria’ plum Yes, you can buy them in the shops, but I love plums and what you get from your own tree has superior flavour for eating fresh or cooked. It's a reliably productive, self-fertile variety…

Make a scaled plan on graph paper; a slight change in orientation can increase the number of trees you can accommodate Set out your plan with canes-even slight undulations or slopes can throw out the plan. Views are important, so finesse the siting by eye Most fruit trees have a root system grafted on to them. Among other qualities, this ensures the productive part of the tree is the variety you want and it helps guide the size and vigour of the tree’s growth, so choose a rootstock to suit your space Most fruit trees prefer a site with a well-drained, moisture retentive soil, with no danger of waterlogging. A relatively neutral soil is usually ideal Prepare a hole at least 30% larger than the tree’s existing root system requires:…

Plant roses The first signs of spring are now in the air, so we must get on with new plantings while the time is right. Roses are a good example. No decent human being should be without a few old shrub roses such as ‘Charles de Mills' (right). Dig a hole broad and deep, setting the topsoil on one side and the subsoil on the other. Put a rake across the hole to ensure the planting depth is right, rest the bush on a pad of soil and backfill, consolidating as you go. Tidy up, then stand back and admire your work.…

It is rarely possible to find a true sleeper in a sale nowadays. Even if a cataloguer has missed something special, by the time it comes up for sale, half the art market will have spotted it online and the auctioneer will be aware of the interest. Rather than a career-making steal, the item's price is likely to be as much or more than it would have been fully catalogued. The latest example was at Reeman Dansie of Colchester on January 27. Even I had been alerted a couple of days earlier to the ‘18th Century Italian School' portrait of a boy estimated to £600. The 12¼in by 9½in canvas was, in fact, one of the portrait studies of her son, Bartholomew, painted by Mary Beale (1633–99), one of the…

WHEN Philippa Guise emerged from a West Country girlhood to entertain suitors, she never lacked offers for her hand. The attractive daughter of a baronet, with impeccable Norman and Highland antecedents, her maiden’s favour stood in high demand. A grim knock-out tourney ensued, which distilled down to two finalists. The heroine’s stay in hospital with appendicitis brought matters to a head. Finalist number one, the oriflamme of love burning bright in his breast, offered chocolates and promises as he languished at her bedside. Number two brought a bunch of grapes through which he ate his way morosely without inviting her assistance. Philippa’s upbringing had been traditional. With her robust and realistic view of relations between the sexes, she chose number two and became Mrs Sandy Fraser of Moniack. Thus began…