Innholdsfortegnelse for 03-Mar-2021 i Country Life

Items from the London and Buckinghamshire homes of Mrs Henry Ford II-a name synonymous with the creation of the modern automotive industry-are to be auctioned by Christie's London on April 15. A photographer and former model, Mrs Ford (1940–2020) was the wife of Henry Ford II (1917–87), a chief executive of the Ford Motor Company and grandson of Ford's founder, Henry Ford. As well as artwork by the Impressionists Edouard Vuillard and Kees van Dongen, there will be personal items for sale, including Ford II's desk from his study at Turville Grange, Buckinghamshire (where the couple hosted Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis), and a collection of Mrs Ford's Chanel and Hermès handbags. The London auction will follow one in New York City on March 30, which will feature pieces from Mrs Ford's…

South Street, price on application Hiding behind an understated Edwardian façade are more than 8,500sq ft of exceptional interiors. The entrance hall, with its grand staircase and fireplace, sets the tone, but every room has special details, whether the ornate marble fireplace in the dining room, the coffered ceiling and wooden panelling of the main reception room or the interior-designed master bedroom. Savills (020–7578 5100; www.savills.co.uk) Grosvenor Hill, £6.15 million This magnificent flat takes up the first floor of a portered, six-unit building behind Berkeley Square. Spanning 1,755sq ft, it has a light-flooded, south-facing reception room with full-height windows, which flows seamlessly into the dining area and contemporary kitchen beyond. There are also three bedrooms, including a large master suite, the bathroom of which is a work of art. Knight…

WHEN Vita Sackville-West wanted to invoke the timeless pastoralism of Britain in her novel The Edwardians, of 1930, what natural items did she list? She chose, of course, ‘the verdure of the trees, the hares and the deer’. The brown hare is, indeed, an emblematic British beast. Think of the numerous entries of Lepus europaeus in our trove of popular sayings, with ‘ran like the hare’ and ‘hare-brained’ for starters. Indeed, hares are truly fast, 40mph at full, elegant stretch. Poetry in motion. And when, in the month of March, they famously get up on their back legs and ‘box’, hares do seem a little demented, hence Lewis Carroll’s mad March Hare in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The boxing of hares has heralded spring in these isles since the charismatic…

Fairies The National Trust plans to plant blossoming tree rings in towns and cities across the country ‘as a symbol of reflection and hope'- a British take on Japanese hanami Man’s best friend A 13-year-old springer spaniel called Max who has raised £300,000 for charity and met more than 10,000 people has become the first pet to receive the PDSA Order of Merit Electric dreams By 2030, every Jaguar Land Rover model will also be offered as a battery electric version Talking to yourself ‘Can only have been painted by a madman', scrawled in pencil across Munch's The Scream, has been considered graffiti for more than 100 years; now, analysts have confirmed it was written by the artist. The artist's sanity is unconfirmed Roman rods A broken millstone found along…

Honey and nut finish Nero Oro, Appassimento Grillo, Sicily, Italy 2019. £9.99, Majestic, alc 13.5% The addition of a portion of dried grapes to this Sicilian white adds richness not often associated with Grillo. Waxy scents of orange zest, peach, lemon, apple and honey are followed by pithy grapefruit, juicy tangerine, rich dried apricot and a subtle honey and nut finish. A real treat Campbells, Rutherglen Muscat, Victoria, Australia NV. £12.99/37.5cl, Waitrose, alc 17.5% Rutherglen Muscat is a delicious, fortified sweet wine, usually a blend of vintages and made by a solera system over five years or more. A real treat, with gorgeous, grapey unctuousness and a good streak of acidity to keep it fresh. Amber in colour, with flavours of fruit cake, raisins and toffee. Sour cranberries…

THERE’S something pretty peculiar in our national energy system when, in general, country people pay more towards Britain going green than townsmen. The UK’s huge success in ditching coal and moving to renewable energy has been paid for by a precept on electricity bills—none of the cost is charged on gas. Therefore, the 80% of people who are on the gas grid only pay on the electricity and get their heating free of the tax. Most of the other 20% live in rural areas, off the gas grid, and are often bound to use more electricity: they inevitably pay more. ‘It seems silly to tax the energy source to which you want people to move’ The change to renewables is utterly necessary and a real achievement when we remember that…

THE Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is not only a mouthful to say, it’s a sprawling behemoth of government. When I interviewed former incumbent Owen Paterson back in 2013, he waved at me a mind-boggling, Jackson Pollock-esque Venn diagram: food and farming overlapping with rivers, coasts, clean air and green energy, fishing, fieldsports, fly-tipping and fruit pickers, pet passports and pigeon-shooting licences. The conflicting interests of myriad bodies, from the NFU to Buglife, and the scope for political banana skins of the Scotch-egg variety is infinite. In an unusual example of ministerial consistency, the affable George Eustice, 49, has worked at Defra for eight years, under five secretaries of state. He has the rare political advantage of looking like a man who knows one end of a cow…

Fresco art has been a recognised painting technique for almost a millennium, first developed in 13th-century Italy and reaching its peak during the Renaissance period of the early 1500s. The very earliest examples stretch back to antiquity, to the ancient Minoans on the island of Crete. There, a dolphin fresco in Knossos Palace is more than 3,000 years old, its dazzling colours undiminished by time-such is the durability of the art form. By the 2nd and 3rd centuries BC, the Romans had embraced the idea; the remains at Pompeii illustrate the virtuosity, freshness and liveliness of the fresco. By the time of the Italian Renaissance, it was the go-to technique mastered by the greats: Michelangelo, Raphael and da Vinci. Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel in Rome is probably the most famous example.…

OF course, Bianca Jagger was one of many,’ says Edward Sexton with a smile. ‘There was Twiggy and Cilla Black, Linda McCartney, Jean Muir—I dressed her personally…’ The tailor to the stars, now 78, famously created the suit that Mick Jagger wore for his St Tropez wedding in 1971. But he’s also a legend when it comes to women’s suiting and, although the bride wasn’t wearing one of his designs on that particular occasion (her jacket and skirt were YSL), there’s a double-breasted white silk suit of hers in the Sexton archive that might just be—whisper it—even more iconic. ‘Bianca was obviously a very cool, laid-back woman and she loved the looks of the 1930s and 1940s,’ Mr Sexton remembers. ‘When we work with a client, we take their personality…

I’VE often wished I was born in March purely so I could claim aquamarine as my birthstone. Meaning ‘water of the sea’, the stone is thought to calm waves, so is a favourite among seafaring types. It was said that if the stone turned cloudy, the weather would be turning, but if it looked more blue, the owner’s mood was about to turn instead. Britannia ruling the waves is embodied in The Queen’s astonishing Brazilian Aquamarine Parure tiara (commissioned by Garrard in 1957 and tweaked over the years with new additions). It uses stones gifted by the people of Brazil, where the largest aquamarine in the world, weighing in at 100lb, was mined.…

As spring gets into its stride, growth pushes up from below. There is a short opportunity this month to get border perennials into good order before the main show and the modern fashion for leaving stems standing means that the general haircut often takes place now. There is no time to lose, as things are on the move. Cut top growth right down to the crown and barrow it away. At the same time, pieces complete with shoot and root can easily be excised from the edge of a clump with an old carving knife and replanted elsewhere. But do get on with it.…

IN 1984, Sir John Rothenstein, former director of Tate Gallery, when revising his trilogy Modern English Painters, subtitled volume three ‘Hennell to Hockney’. Although, nearly four decades later, David Hockney’s star continues to rise, Thomas Hennell remains little known, despite various exhibitions and the publication, in 1988, of Michael MacLeod’s excellent biography. Who was Hennell and why do we not know more about him? This year, a new book—entitled Thomas Hennell: The land and the mind—and an exhibition set out to answer this question. Thomas Barclay Hennell—known as Tom —was an artist, author, poet and countryman. The son of a country parson in Kent, he was educated at Bradfield College in Berkshire and the Regent Street Polytechnic. However, he suffered from schizophrenia and spent the years 1933–35 in various mental…

WHEN Alf announced that he hadn’t been in a car since Christmas Eve and I spent much of the night wondering why they’ve stopped making long Twiglets in a box, it seemed that our horizons have shrunk over the past year. Now they’re set to expand and a certain edginess has crept in because nobody can decide if they’re an introvert or an extrovert any more. For every person delighted at the lifting of rules, another says they never want to go out again. Often it’s the same person, on different days. This morning, I spoke to someone who panicked when her online yoga teacher said ‘We’ll all be able to meet soon’, because she says her dressing gown is covered in ketchup, but she can barely take it off…

The sky’s the limit THREE sustainable skyscrapers, linked by vertical planters, look set to dominate the east London skyline. The 507ft-tall trio has been designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox for the Hong Kong developer Tenacity, and will replace an existing 10-storey building at 70, Gracechurch Street, EC3. As well as office and retail space, there will be a viewing platform and winter garden on one of the upper floors. According to Kohn Pedersen Fox—which is also responsible for the Amazon offices at Sixty London and Floral Court, Covent Garden—the new complex will consume 45% less energy every year than the previous building. Breathe easy THE English National Opera company has developed a programme designed to help people recovering from Covid-19 who are still suffering from breathlessness and anxiety. Named ENO…

IT was a very big birthday for me last week. Not because of a particular number ending in zero, but because we completed the purchase of our new house on that day. It has taken longer than expected (doesn’t everything these days), but we got there in the end and eagerly jumped into the car to meet the estate agent to pick up the keys. As we approached the village, a multitude of signs appeared declaring the road ahead was to be closed for the next six weeks. It was hard to imagine why and, although there was still access to the house, it would complicate the move. However, a little later, I discovered the reason why: parish power. The villagers have won a campaign to secure a temporary road…

Biology lessons Q Our youngest has developed a strange obsession with snails and keeps bringing them into the house as pets. This doesn’t seem kind, there are slimy trails everywhere and one was trodden on. Perhaps it’s time for a hamster, but I’m not keen on those either. Any other solutions? F. J., Northamptonshire A Rejoice! You have raised an infant Darwin! Foster, rather than frustrate this passion and you may even find yourself blessed with a student biologist. Our five-year-old daughter exhibited the same fascination, but her love of snails was allied to the Druidic occult and she became an indie musician. Go to any recycling centre and you will find quantities of abandoned aquaria for sale. Make sure that it has a firm lid, bear it to…

Fine and dandy THE dandelion is a controversial plant in this household —my husband attacks any on the lawn with loathing—but the article by Charles Quest-Ritson (In the garden, February 10) brought back happy memories of a week in March spent with our niece in Lausanne a few years ago, which coincided with the start of the season for eating dandelion salad or, in French, salade de dent-de-lion. In the French-speaking part of Switzerland, it is advertised outside restaurants and is a sign that spring is coming. It’s usually served with lardons, boiled or poached egg and croutons. We enjoyed it overlooking Lake Geneva and later bought dandelion leaves in the market to eat at home. Belinda Goyder, Co Durham Woolly memories READING ‘Tanks for the memories’ (February 17)…

I WAS interested to read about the Wellington desk in ‘Why is a raven like a writing desk?’ (February 17). When Maj Gen Sir Evelyn Webb-Carter was Colonel of The Duke of Wellington’s Regiment, he was also Maj Gen commanding the Household Division and General Officer Commanding London District, his office overlooking Horseguards Parade. On visiting, I was struck by an etching showing the desk with the 1st Duke behind it. Comparing it to the room, I saw they were identically laid out. Gen Evelyn told me that, having studied the etching, he found almost all the paintings and furniture from 1842–52 were in store, so he had the room set up exactly as the first Duke had. As a member of the regiment and trustee, to be sitting in…

Where is your favourite place in Britain? St Ives Bay, Cornwall What is your favourite building? The castle on St Michael’s Mount, Cornwall Book? Meadowland (John Lewis-Stempel) Food? Traditional roast Music? The 1980s Day off? Running—I used to run for Cornwall—and spending time with my three-year-old daughter Dinner guest? I like old books and came across An Agricultural Testament (1940) by organic pioneer Sir Albert Howard; I enjoy his turn of phrase and think I’d have got on well with him…

• Katharine Hepburn, 1940 In The Philadelphia Story, Hepburn's character Tracy Lord effortlessly holds her own against Cary Grant and James Stewart in slacks and loafers • Marilyn Monroe Gingham trousers were as much a part of Monroe's style as little black dresses. This particular pair (right), which she bought from Los Angeles boutique Jax, sold for $26,000 at auction in 2005 • Twiggy, 1968 She'll forever be associated with the minidress, but, on one late-1960s fashion shoot, Twiggy gave androgyny a try. The heels peeping out were an extra subversive touch • Bianca Jagger, 1971 The model paired a dove-grey Edward Sexton suit with a top hat, cravat and rakish cigarette holder • Janelle Monáe, 2011 Tuxedos are the American singer's red-carpet outfit of choice; she wore this…

It’s all about background Because so many magnolias flower before their leaves appear, you have to be very careful about placing them. They need some kind of background that can offset the flowers, especially if they are only going to be seen from a distance. Dark yew is wonderful If you want the wow factor, make sure you plant it in the right place An unbeatable wow comes from M. campbellii subsp. mollicomata ablaze with deep-pink flowers against blue skies or the bronze indumentum of M. grandifolia ‘Blanchard' against a white wall Plant for resilience It's wise to plant magnolias in a range of locations and aspects, to spread the risk against frost damage. There's nothing sadder than a total wipe-out Buying big is worth it I won't buy small…

HALF a century ago, Charles Ede set up his eponymous gallery dealing in Classical and Pre-Classical antiquities from Greece, Egypt, Italy, Cyprus and the Near East. He was himself 50 years old at the time and, although it was a second career, it grew out of the first. After wartime service in the Royal Tank Regiment and, later, Intelligence, he decided to go to the London School of Printing rather than take up the place at Oxford he had been awarded in 1939. This led him, with Alan Bott, founder of Pan Books, and Christopher Sandford, proprietor of the Golden Cockerel Press, to found the Folio Society, with the aim of making the world’s great literature available in beautiful editions ‘at a price within the reach of everyman’. Initially, the…

• April 16, 1903 Born at Ridley Rectory, near Sevenoaks in Kent. Spends the next nine years exploring the surrounding fields, farms and woods, which instils his love of Nature • 1914 Attends primary school in Broadstairs, then Bradfield College in Berkshire, before studying art at the Regent Street Polytechnic in London • 1928 Qualifies as a teacher, working at the Kingswood School, Bath, then the King's School at Bruton, Somerset • 1932–35 Suffers a mental breakdown • 1936 His Poems is published • 1940 Begins work for the Pilgrim Trust and the Ministry of Information a year later, producing watercolours of rural crafts and agriculture in Kent, Dorset, Berkshire and Worcestershire • 1943 Appointed a full-time salaried Official War Artist and sent to replace Eric Ravilious in Iceland •…

The 9,999 pipes of the RAH's organ, the biggest in the world when it debuted in 1871, have resounded through the decades with powerful bursts from Camille Saint-Saëns to the Tron soundtrack and McFly. This 150-year-old instrument has many names, including the Henry Willis organ (after its designer), ‘Frank Zappa's favourite organ' and ‘the voice of Jupiter'. It is 70ft high, 65ft wide, weighs 150 tons and, if laid end to end, its pipes would stretch out for nine miles. In 2002–04, it underwent a £1.5 million restoration. Now, it will be honoured with a new composition by Oscar-winning Michael Giacchino, whose scores include The Incredibles and Jurassic World.…

MANY years ago, when the children were still very small, I used to cut their hair. It was quite fun to do and seemed much easier than a trip to the barber. As someone with very little hair remaining, my instinct was always to trim hard. At first, the children didn’t mind and it seemed to grow back almost instantaneously anyway. My wife, however, was disapproving and, with her encouragement, they grew more cautious. As a result, after one particularly ruthless shearing, my hair-cutting days were unilaterally declared to be over. Or at least they seemed to be, until lockdown. It’s now many weeks since it has been possible to get a haircut in London and in that time everyone’s hair—except mine—has grown thick and long. Now, with the weather…

A STRANGER wandering along the road from Elverdinghe to Poperinghe in Flanders might happen to glance into a certain farmyard close to the road and his attention would be aroused by two white domed objects. If he allowed his curiosity to lead him into the farmyard he would find that the two strange objects, resembling nothing so much as two huge beehives, were in reality two dog kennels built in brick, whitewashed, and containing two dogs of uncertain pedigree whose bared teeth and loud barking put all thought of a closer inspection at an end. He is soon confronted by the farmer’s wife. ‘Ah! The kennels, monsieur! My husband saw a lot of kennels like these when he was near Antwerp; they build them all like that up there, it’s…

READERS of Athena may be familiar with the magnificent 17th-century chapel of the Holy Trinity at Staunton Harold, Leicestershire, which stands beside the former home of the Shirley family. Above the door is this celebrated—and originally unpunctuated—inscription: ‘In the year 1653, when all things sacred were throughout the nation either demolisht or profaned, Sir Robert Shirley baronet founded this church; whose singular praise it is to have done the best things in the worst times; and hoped them in the most calamitous. The righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance.’ At the present moment, past upheavals, plagues and crises have a particular resonance. They remind us that earlier generations have had to brave uncertainties and difficulties that put our own in perspective. Sir Robert’s example—that of a staunch Royalist in…

Al Pachinos (n) The Godfather. Of brightly coloured trousers Archie/Harrison (n) When someone else's baby name is your ideal labrador name Charlie Brown (n) Not needing a map to find Charlie's house, as there are brown road signs Eloocution (n) Teaching your child to say loo not toilet, then watching in horror as they correct other adults Free Willy (n) 1. Heartwarming 1990 film about a captive killer whale. 2. Reeling in a kilt Honfusion (n) A bouncer studying your ID and thinking The Hon is your first name Osama Chin Laden (n) Accidentally going through airport security with a shotgun cartridge…

PICTURE a cast-iron casserole. If it’s bright orange, you’re probably thinking of Le Creuset, the 96-year-old, French cast-ironware brand gracing countless kitchens. Almost a century on from the first Le Creuset pot ever made, at Fresnoy-le-Grand in northern France, it continues to inspire in the kitchen. Especially mine. As a little girl, I was warned by my mother not to touch the red-hot orange casseroles that came out of the oven. Then, one year, apparently I’d grown up, as I asked for one for my birthday. Every year since, my Le Creuset collection has grown. I’m not the only 20-something with a fondness for them. In January 2020, Le Creuset was described by The Atlantic magazine as a ‘small marker of stability and sophistication, coveted by young people for whom…

Off the blocks Designed in Sussex by Molly Mahon and hand-blocked in Rajasthan, Berry cotton/linen mix, £138 per m, is from the new Greencombe collection, a joyful celebration of Nature's bounty (01342 825700; www.mollymahon.com) Flower power Floral stylist Willow Crossley, known for her wild and whimsical arrangements of seasonal flowers, has joined forces with Barneby Gates to create Botanica wallpaper in Ivory, £108 per 10m roll, printed in England using traditional techniques (01672 560240; www.barnebygates.com) Wallflowers Neisha Crosland has produced the Espalier fabric and wallpaper collection for Schumacher, including Queen Fruit chintz in Jade, £144 per m, inspired by Elizabethan embroidery and mangosteen fruit (020–4532 0960; www.fschumacher.com) Climbing high Dorset-based artist and illustrator Fee Greening used dip pen and ink to create her magical design for Climbing Curios, £140 per…

Robert is still waiting for the call from Lambing Live- he'd happily show Kate Humble around his lambing shed-but it seems to him that all these farming programmes are rather ‘north-ist'. Don't TV producers realise there's filthy weather, muddy farmyards, bleak moorland and taciturn farmers outside the Yorkshire Dales? Of course, last year, his lovely girls-600 kind-faced pedigree Exmoor Horn ewes-lambed undramatically in balmy sunshine, but usually he's up to his middle fishing sheep out of late-spring snow or bent double in hail. His wife has unkindly suggested that a beard full of scrambled egg, a shirt covered in afterbirth, some less than ‘woke' language and a willingness to bang on about Brexit until the sheep come home might be delaying the TV call-up. KG…

Early Cypriot pottery is a favourite of mine for its variety and quality and also because it is among the earliest found in Europe. Variety is certainly demonstrated by these two heads. The first, dating from about 460BC, is near life-sized and may represent an Achaemenid (Persian) ruler of the island (left); it was sold to the Dutch national archaeological museum in 2013. The second is a humbler piece, a 5½in-high votive head from the 5th century BC (right) and is in Charles Ede's current stock.…

NORTH-SOUTH settled in Two Clubs. Declarer played competently to make an overtrick.’ You don’t see many Bridge columns beginning that way—and certainly not this one. This week, we see North-South overbid to two poor slams, then face the challenge of making them. On our first deal, a mere small slam, West leads the Knave of Spades. Plan the play in your Six Notrumps. West’s lead is interesting—ask yourself why he has chosen dummy’s suit. You win the Ace of Spades and return a Spade to dummy’s King, West discarding a Heart. So West led a singleton Spade. You would guess his shape may be 1444, and he was unwilling to lead from his broken four-card suits. You continue with the Queen of Spades to force West into making another discard.…