Innholdsfortegnelse for 28-Apr-2021 i Country Life

TO those sighing wistfully over travel-insurance clauses and old holiday snaps of safaris or tropical islands, take heart. You may be about to rediscover the glorious British seaside this summer—jam jars full of darting gobies scavenged from rock pools and bee orchids in the sand dunes—but without the privations of the past or bored donkeys. Evocative transport posters illustrate the 1840s to 1960s coastal boom, but the myriad beaches, cliffs, coves, flats and crumbling castles (both sand and stone) of the British Isles have always held an allure, long before even the 1730s, when saltwater swims could ‘cure’ gout and rabies. Dubious medical advice is one facet we’re happy to leave to history, together with those awkward bathing machines—wheeled changing huts, horse-drawn into the waves, allowing ladies in swimwear that…

Quiz of the week 1) In which UK city was The Salvation Army founded in 1865? 2) How many children did Queen Victoria and Prince Albert have? 3) What name is used to refer to a female peafowl? 4) Which 20th-century poet said: ‘Anxiety is the handmaiden of creativity'? 5) Who was Tour de France champion from 1999 to 2005? Time to buy Word of the week Licitation (noun) The act of selling something at auction to the highest bidder A novel note ‘Curiosity is the most fleeting of pleasures; the moment is satisfied, it ceases to exist and it always proves very, very expensive’ Bluebeard, Angela Carter Another log on the fire By Oliver Preston…

Watercolour Words , John Hurst ( www.marshlandarts.co.uk , £35) This memoir from Norfolk-based professional watercolourist John Hurst is illustrated with some 200 drawings, photographs and paintings inspired by his coastal surroundings. His love of the natural world shines out of the pages and well-known patrons make an appearance; the foreword is by Sir Norman Lamb, with proceeds from sales going to his mental-wellbeing foundation. Signed copies will be available at Mr Hurst's exhibition at Salthouse Village Hall, near Holt, from May 29–June 1.…

1902 Published photograph Lady Tweedmouth's boudoir at Brook House, London, was printed in a short-lived sister publication to COUNTRY LIFE known as The King, which focused on the capital. The knitting on the chair suggests the room has just been left by its owner, who appears in an imposing low-relief marble on the wall behind. 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 licensing@futurenet.com…

BRIXTON HILL in south London is about the last place you might expect to come across a windmill—but lo, at the end of Blenheim Gardens, about halfway down the hill, there it is, a socking great four-sail windmill, gleaming in the sun. Inside, the mill is on and there’s a heck of a racket—flour is being made. Brixton Windmill was built in 1816, and operated by the Ashby family, which owned a couple of mills locally. In the early 1860s, her sails were removed and she lay quiet for a century, before new ones were fitted by London County Council. The Friends of Windmill Gardens society was formed in 2003, intent on restoring the mill, and she re-opened eight years later, after a long programme of works. Today, the sails…

THE Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII freed up large tracts of land throughout East Anglia, allowing the newly rich gentry to create farms and estates on former monastic lands. In the late Tudor period, prosperous landowners built grand country houses for themselves, together with farmhouses and cottages for the tenants who worked the land. The building material of choice was often brick, first introduced from the Low Countries in the late medieval period—some imported as ballast aboard ships exporting English wool to the Continent, others made in brick-yards established in East Anglia by Dutch immigrants. It was all part of a tradition of fine craftsmanship that still survives throughout the region, as can be seen in a number of meticulously restored houses that have recently come onto the…

COLLARED doves coo in the trees, a wren trills loudly from the depths of the shrubby foliage where the birds habitually nest and bumblebees forage among blossoms and bulbs. A huge part of the pleasure of a garden surely lies in such scenes. The scuttlings of woodlice beneath flower pots and the slow worm slithering with her young across the grass—or the ladybird hoovering up generations of greenfly on the roses—all enhance our connection with the natural world. Although there has been a marked uptake in gardening for Nature over the past 30 years, this has accelerated recently, as designers and garden owners are increasingly making new gardens, or adapting existing ones, to provide for wildlife. Every garden is different—and some may seem more hospitable than others. The examples presented…

Sir Frank Bowling was born in British Guiana (now Guyana) in 1934 and, on coming to Britain in 1953, he joined the RAF. There, he met the future artist and architect Keith Critchlow, who introduced him to the National Gallery and Gainsborough, Constable and Turner. In 1959, he won a scholarship to the Royal College of Art; he graduated with a silver medal to Hockney's gold, which some felt was the wrong way about. With Ceri Richards, Peter Blake and Leonard Rosoman, he was commissioned to produce large paintings for the Shakespeare Quatercentennial exhibition at Stratford. If he is not as widely known as his contemporaries, it is probably because he spent considerable parts of his career in the US. He now maintains studios in both New York and London.…

The dales are alive TWO fledgling populations of native endangered dormice in Wensleydale should now be waking from their winter slumber to discover a bigger, wider world, as local landowners and farmers have completed a six-mile corridor of woodland and hedgerow either side of Freeholders’ Wood at Aysgarth Falls. The three-year Wensleydale Dormouse Project, which is funded by the People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES), Woodland Trust, Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority and Millennium Trust, among others, is part of the PTES’s National Dormouse Monitoring Programme. Giving the populations room to roam is vital, as dormice are almost entirely arboreal and need to be able to walk along branches, hopping from one tree or bush to another. ‘They do best in a shrub environment. They need hawthorn, blackthorn, spindle, hazel—especially…

• Melt a tablespoon of butter in a saucepan and add a chopped onion. Cook until translucent, then add a sliced clove of garlic, a sliced celery stalk, a chopped carrot, one medium-sized diced potato and 24 asparagus spears. • Pour in chicken stock to cover all the vegetables and simmer until tender. • Once cooked, add two handfuls of grated Parmesan, season to taste and mix well. Stir through a splash of double cream. • Divide between bowls and top with Parmesan shavings. Parma-hamwrapped asparagus spears, roasted for 10 minutes, are good on the side.…

EARTH DAY—April 22, 2021—will be remembered as a decisive moment in the fight against climate change. Hard on the heels of Boris Johnson’s acceptance of the sixth carbon budget came Joe Biden’s commitment to more than halving US emissions by 2030. Even the most optimistic campaigners didn’t expect that 52% cut, but, in a historic break with the past, the President signalled his determination to lead the global charge. In three months, America has swung from no-show to go-go and that means that the overwhelming majority of the world’s industrialised nations are now committed to reaching net zero emissions. ‘These new targets cannot be reached without major changes in the countryside’ This isn’t all about urban industry. One of the world’s biggest sources of emissions is agriculture. What, then, will…

PEGGY GLADSTONE arrived at Newnham College to study Sanskrit in autumn 1921. That women such as her were still not entirely welcome at Cambridge, she recalled, was made apparent only weeks later, when, in October, a mob of male undergraduates tried to break down the college gates using a handcart for a battering ram. Later that term, scared by the flash of a torch outside her ground-floor room, Peggy made a frantic dash to the topmost room of the Pfeiffer Tower, where a fellow student calmed her nerves: ‘When she let me in I exclaimed that we were invaded, that we should all be raped, murdered, etc... She produced the standard Newnham hospitality which was cocoa and biscuits...and said: “If he gets up here I will offer him some cocoa.”’…

THE literary journey of Adrian Bell, one of Britain’s greatest farmer-authors, begins with the opening lines of his most celebrated book, Corduroy: ‘I was upon the fringe of Suffolk, a county rich in agricultural detail missed by my untutored eye. It was but scenery to me: nor had I an inkling of what it might become. Farming, to my mind, was as yet the townsman’s glib catalogue of creatures and a symbol of escape. The friendliness of the scene before me lay beneath ardours of which I knew nothing. I was flying from the threat of office life. I was 20 years old, and the year was 1920.’ Born in London into a middle-class family, Bell was destined for a career in the City. However, after leaving Uppingham School—which he…

SINCE starting work at a bench in Hatton Garden, the jewellery designer has honed her eye for setting stones in the most perfect way possible—for which she is an absolute stickler. Her Notting Hill boutique is picture perfect—in fact, the designer hosts exhibitions of eclectic artists, their work punctuating the walls among other objets and curiosities. Sophie Breitmeyer has collections of engagement rings and smaller jewellery pieces, perfect for special presents, and is due to launch a joyful It’s Time to Party collection of brightly coloured pieces, rather aptly on June 21. Everything is still made in Hatton Garden and her knowledge means she uses only the very best craftspeople. Foremost a bespoke designer, the jeweller creates one-of-a-kind engagement rings for clients, many of whom are intrepid solo men who…

Norfolk, £1.1 million It's tough to know where to start with The Old Rectory, near Beeston in north Norfolk. Is it the charming moat that surrounds three-quarters of the property? Perhaps it's the wooden Monet-style bridge that crosses said moat? Or could it be the Grade II-listed Georgian house itself, with its six bedrooms and light-filled and eccentric reception rooms? It's difficult with a property as complete as this one, which also boasts a detached one-bedroom cottage (perfect for visitors or staycationers alike) and a separate office and studio above the garage for all your home-working needs. When off the clock, the secluded private grounds are a great place to relax and you can enjoy the mature woodland, well-stocked borders and lawns from the outdoor kitchen, which comes stocked…

IF you hanker after the dark chewiness of a Pontefract cake, the spicy flavour of an aniseed ball or fancy testing your tooth enamel with coltsfoot rock, you can still indulge yourself. These old-fashioned sweets remain available in traditional sweetshops, but did you know that many of them originated as herbal remedies? It was through the process of making these medicines more palatable and portable that they began to be enjoyed for their distinct flavours, irrespective of any potential health benefits—and it was all to do with the addition of sugar. Marshmallow Soft and sweet marshmallows are a favourite comfort food, but they originated as a remedy for coughs, sore throats and gastro-intestinal complaints. When the thick, long tapering root of the marsh mallow plant (Althaea officinalis) was soaked in…

At first sight, Mousehold Heath appears to be an exact rendering of a featureless landscape in which very little is happening, so why did the National Gallery buy it and why did it cause such excitement when it first came to wide public notice? In fact, it is not a portrait of the Heath as it was in 1820, but rather an impression of how the area might have been decades earlier. Even then, it was not a stretch of wild Nature; it was a ‘waste', common land north of the medieval city centre of Norwich, used for grazing sheep and cattle, and it was extensively quarried for sand and gravel. By the beginning of the 19th century, much of it had been eaten away by enclosure and what remained…

Beatlemania The childhood haunt of John Lennon and George Harrison, the Art Deco Abbey Cinema in Liverpool, has been granted Grade II-listed status, scuppering demolition plans Hello, old friend The cow wheat shieldbug, which was believed to be extinct in Scotland for the past 30 years, has been spotted in Strathspey Starry, starry nights Light pollution has dropped 10% since 2020 and we're now experiencing the darkest skies since 2013, finds the CPRE's annual Star Count Getting your caffeine fix Kew scientists have discovered a rare coffee species, Coffea stenophylla, that should withstand climate change, with its tolerance to high temperatures and superior flavour likened to ‘high-end Arabica' Fancying your chances A new study finds the Tyrannosaurus rex was slower than previously believed, with an average walking speed of 2.86…

We are now in the season of vigilance-and often despair-for those who keep bushes of the Ribes tribe. More than 100 different genera of sawflies are known in Britain, comprising nearly 500 species. They're related to bees, wasps and ants, but lack the ‘waist' characteristic in those creatures and are considered more primitive. Relatively few sawfly species are of concern to us, but gooseberry sawflies (Nematus ribesii) certainly are; the larvae-shiny green, black-spotted grubs superficially resembling caterpillars-can sweep through currant and gooseberry bushes like a plague of locusts, defoliating a bush within a few days. From pupae in the ground, adult sawflies hatch in spring, living for about two weeks, during which time they mate. The female, whose egg-laying apparatus is saw-like, carves into plant material to deposit the eggs,…

Eye on the prize FOLLOWING your excellent review of previous Grand Nationals (‘What a grand story’, April 7), it might amuse readers to hear of the race in 1911, which was preceded by a catastrophic rainstorm. My great-grandfather Capt (later Col) R. H. Collis was the trainer of the eventual winner, Glenside. The course was so waterlogged that only four of the 26 starters staggered to the finishing post. Glenside, at 20–1, was an unlikely winner, with only one eye and having fallen the previous year. The jockey was Jack Anthony, aged 21 at the time, who went on to become a three-time National winner (pictured aboard Ally Sloper, 1915 winner). Rachel Mary Rundell, by email Hip, hip, hooray! TWO years ago, you published my letter marking the earliest date…

THE American naturalist and author Robert Pyle’s book The Thunder Tree describes the loss of his childhood playground, a disused section of the Highline Canal in Colorado. It was an accidental wilderness, forgotten by the world until the pressure to develop meant any land was worth turning into buildings. Over the decades, Dr Pyle watched in dismay as towns and industry claimed the ‘wasteland’ he so loved. One day, as excavators moved in, a fox shot from cover. ‘We watch, entranced, then appalled, as the fox dashes from place to place, pursued everywhere by the roar of construction and the blind light of day, unable to find its customary coverts.’ He paints a picture of a wild creature caught in the headlights of the modern world—startled and unable to find…

IT’S known as glasswort, seagrass, sea pickle, pickleweed, picklegrass, sea bean or even poor man’s asparagus, but, no matter what you call it, marsh samphire—Salicornia europaea—deserves a place on your plate. As the name suggests, you’ll find marsh samphire growing in coastal areas of England, such as the estuaries of Norfolk and the saltmarshes and tidal flats of Somerset, where it not only tolerates salty conditions, but thrives on them, forming a green carpet of what look like mini cacti (minus the needles) or slender branches of coral. For those who have never sampled this seaside treasure, what does it taste like? ‘I’d describe the flavour of marsh samphire as asparagusy, cucumbery and salty, with a crunch,’ summarises Cornwall-based chef and restaurateur Nathan Outlaw. "I was enthralled by its appearance,…

THIS is the master bathroom of a townhouse in Chelsea, which was once split into different areas. The room is large, but the clients wanted to maximise the space, so, to accommodate all the elements on their wish list, Irene Gunter of Gunter & Co rounded the edges of the vanity unit and the shower screen, allowing for crucial passing room. ‘Although curves are often regarded as a hangover of bad taste from the 1970s, that’s a misconception,’ she explains. ‘Think of grand houses with oval entrance halls and curved staircases. When so much in our homes is rectangular, curves soften spaces.’ The overall palette is restrained, but details are layered on details. The walls are covered in a monochrome Fornasetti Nuvolette wallpaper by Cole & Son featuring billowing clouds…

SIR BERNARD BURKE of the Peerage and author of The Vicissitudes of Families would have found plenty of material in Sotheby’s sale of property from Patricia, the late Countess Mountbatten, who died in 2017. The daughter and heir of the 1st Earl, formerly Prince Louis of Battenberg, she was a strand in an intorted network of European royalty, a first cousin of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and descended from the great collector Sir Ernest Cassel, Edward VII’s banker. She married John Knatchbull, 7th Lord Brabourne, among the foliage of whose family tree perched such exotics as Sir Joseph Banks and Jane Austen. The result was a 385-lot sale made up of the expected—Fabergé, Chippendale, Qing jades, Queen Victoria’s mourning brooches, souvenirs of India—and the surprising: Leighton oil sketches, an…