Innholdsfortegnelse for 27-Oct-2021 i Country Life

BREEDR—the free, carbon-saving, herd management and marketplace app that is set to boost the UK agriculture sector by £540 million through improving efficiency—has opened a crowdfunding campaign offering shares to farmer investors. ‘Since launching in 2019, we have grown rapidly and delivered significant improvements to the British beef sector,’ explains founder Ian Wheal. ‘We have more than 1,000 active farmers with 160,000 cattle registered… Nearly 4,500 animals—worth £3 million—have been sold through the Breedr marketplace since January… And in March we launched the world’s first long-term, minimum fixed beef contract.’ The minimum investment is £10; visit www.breedr.co or telephone 01243 210286 for further information.…

Quiz of the week 1) Which Alan Bennett play features the lecherous vicar Canon Throbbing? 2) Musophobia is the fear of what animal? 3) The formal surrender of which country was accepted by Gen Douglas MacArthur on September 2, 1945? 4) The Strad magazine covers which topic? 5) Keratin is a type of what? Word of the week Daedal (adjective) Skilful or artistic Time to buy Olivewood Mortar & Pestle, £31.50, Crabtree & Evelyn (www.crabtreeevelyn.co.uk) Stately Men’s Emerald Velvet Shooting Breeks, £255, Country Humphrey (07473 829376; www.countryhumphrey.com) Sheepskin Hot Water Bottle Cover in Oatmeal, £44, Celtic & Co (0333 400 0044; www.celticandco.com) Riddle me this Given one, you may have multiple or none. What is it? Unmissable events Until January 16, 2022 ‘Man is an Animal’ exhibition, Messums Wiltshire, Tisbury.…

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It's believed that the oldest footpaths, normally following the contours of the landscape, originated in the Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Ages and were used to link encampments. Later, the Romans and Anglo-Saxons contributed to the number of routes. Now, it's estimated that about 150,000 miles of public rights of way exist in England, Wales and Scotland alone. As a result of the Countryside Act 1968, highway authorities are legally required to install fingerposts (some people simply refer to them as signposts) whenever a right of way splits away from a hard-surfaced road. As well as showing the destination and, occasionally, distance, the finger must indicate whether it's a footpath, bridleway, restricted byway or a byway open to all traffic: these are usually marked in yellow, blue, plum and red, respectively.…

A LEX INGLIS of Scottish agents Galbraith’s Kelso office (01573 224244) wants ‘offers over £750,000’ for Georgian, Category C-listed Tanlaw House, which sits amid the wooded 19th-century parkland of the Hendersyde estate, on the north bank of the Tweed, a mile or so north-east of Kelso in the Scottish Borders. Protected on three sides by the estate parkland, Tanlaw House enjoys lovely south-easterly views over the Tweed Valley to the Cheviot Hills. Its listing describes it as ‘a good example of an early 19th century estate house surviving largely in its original condition and forming an important element of the group of buildings that form the Hendersyde Estate’. The house was formerly the coach house to Hendersyde Park, the seat of the Waldie family, which included Robert Waldie, a friend…

AT his death in 1770, a poem in the Bath and Bristol Chronicle lamented the loss of Mr Robins, Landscape Painter, of Bath—‘Where now, O Nature, is thy favourite child?’ whose ‘strokes could call such wondrous scenes to view’. Forgotten for almost 200 years, a new biography charts the varied career of this most gifted of Rococo artists. With his rosy cheeks and bulbous nose, Robins must have been convivial company, painting himself into his ‘wondrous scenes’, often in impossibly risqué situations, as when he canoodles closely with Mrs Townsend of Honington Hall in Warwickshire. He appears drawing the prospect or looking along a level to get the perspective right; sometimes, he enjoys an intimate picnic with the family and, in one Thames-side garden, as gardeners sweep the leaves, he…

CONTEMPORARY gardening is now dominated by perennials and grasses, more often than not making a nod to so-called ‘naturalistic’ or ‘ecological’ planting. Equally, the makers of these plantings more often than not name check the Dutch designer Piet Oudolf as their inspiration. As someone who, back in the 1990s, wrote a book called The New Perennial Garden and then collaborated with Mr Oudolf on several publications, I feel I can claim some of the credit for the major changes that have taken place in how we garden in Britain. Now might be a good opportunity to look both back and forward, but also to ask some critical questions. Of course, I am happy to see much of what I helped to promote come to fruition, but I also worry about…

IS Northumberland Devon in disguise? Only better? There are bigger beaches, better castles, (a lot) fewer people, vast skies and the River Tweed. In the process of doing some research into the founder of COUNTRY LIFE, Edward Hudson, and his purchase of Lindisfarne Castle, my fiancée Rachel and I took the opportunity of casting a line on the Tweed at Ladykirk. Any day fishing there starts with a visit to R. G. Foreman & Son, the legendary butcher of Norham. We left with wild-boar sausage rolls, chilled Chablis and the maestro’s famous Norham Butcher fly. It was Rachel’s first time salmon fishing and, as she slowly mastered the muscular subtleties that transform a piece of line into a Spey cast, under the tutelage of the gillie Matthi, I madly pranced…

The great adventure Q Our adult daughter has announced that, as soon as restrictions allow, she is going to quit her job and travel with friends—most of whom don’t need to work. I understand the urge after recent events, but worry about what she’ll be left with when she gets back. How can we get her to take her future more seriously? H. M., Leicestershire A It sounds as if you are taking her future quite seriously enough for both of you. Come, now—don’t you remember what it felt like to be young and carefree? After the months we’ve all spent staring at our own four walls, how could anyone not understand her desire to get out into the world and see something new? Between you and me, I fully…

The real Winslow boy TERENCE RATTIGAN’S The Winslow Boy (Masterpiece, October 6) has passed into our cultural heritage: an emblematic portrayal of a national aspiration towards fair play and justice. The fate of George Archer-Shee (right), the naval cadet cleared of stealing a postal order on whom the play is based, is less well known. His reputation restored, he was commissioned at the start of the First World War and killed in the first Battle of Ypres. Like many, he has no grave. The anniversary falls on October 31. Seán Enright, Lincolnshire Pretty in pink I WONDER how many readers enjoyed Nina Campbell’s article (‘Nina’s lore’, October 13), as I did, lying fully relaxed on a sofa designed by her? In the 1970s, I moved into a Nash house in…

My disappointment at the realisation that this piece was not, in fact, a glimpse into da Vinci’s sense of humour was quickly replaced by awe upon first seeing it. I was so inspired by the artist’s ability to give the viewer the space for their imagination to fill in the gaps; it reveals so much about his process, the marks on the page as intimate as the subject matter itself. The softness of the figures and the tenderness of their connections, bodies poised to support one another, yet each figure allowed the freedom to face in their own direction. This represents much of what I try to achieve within my own family dynamic. I am fascinated by the notion that an unfinished artwork can be celebrated as a finished piece…

ON September 19, 1936, COUNTRY LIFE photographers on assignment at Raynham Hall in Norfolk took what is probably history’s most famous example of ‘spirit photography’. The ethereal, veiled form they captured gliding down the hall’s main staircase is widely believed to be the fabled ‘Brown Lady’ of Raynham—the ghost of Lady Dorothy Walpole, an 18th-century mistress of the manor. ‘By 1925, Lady Leonora had amassed enough material to fill an entire guidebook’ Readers may be familiar with this image, but most will not know that, less than a year before it was taken, the incumbent lady of the house, Gwladys, Dowager Marchioness Townshend published a book of ‘true’ ghost stories. She wrote: ‘I must confess I believe in ghosts and I have for many years lived in a definitely haunted…

• Larry has an ongoing rivalry with Palmerston, chief mouser to the Foreign Office and also from Battersea. The cats have had several brawls, resulting in a paw injury for Larry in 2016 • Margaret Thatcher was so pleased with Wilberforce, the No 10 cat that also served Ted Heath, Harold Wilson and James Callaghan, that, in an uncharacteristically sentimental gesture, she brought him back a tin of sardines after a visit to Russia • In 2019, Larry almost caused a diplomatic incident when he had a lie down underneath President Trump's limo, delaying the US leader's departure from Downing Street • As with many other Government roles in the 20th century, males were preferred for mousing duties due to their inability to get pregnant. Today, as Miss Grindrod explains:…

TRUE luxury lies in treasuring something that no one else in the world will own. I’ve recently discovered Mount Street Shoe Company, where Nigel Siwani designs shoes with his clients, encouraging them to choose elements that reflect who they are as a person and how they want to be perceived—whether subtle and understated or vivacious. Since 2016, Mr Siwani has made distinctive shoes that encompass clients’ every whim, from fabric to embroidery and trimmings. ‘A customer from America who specialises in selling large country sporting estates wanted her gundog in embroidery,’ explains the designer, ‘so, using her images, I created her beautiful dog on one slipper, and on the other, a pair of quails.’ Mr Siwani uses family crests or takes aspects of them to create bespoke motifs. Want to…

WHEN considering how to put a room together, where should you begin? To misquote Maria von Trapp, the floor is a very good place to start. You might think bespoke carpets are the preserve of historic piles and luxury hotels—after all, that’s where you’ll likely have seen them before, everywhere from Chatsworth to The Goring. However, ‘if you want something really beautiful and you can afford it, then why not?’ says Adam Gilchrist, a former Sotheby’s carpet specialist and founder of Veedon Fleece. Although the company has made carpets for heads of state and rock stars, Mr Gilchrist ‘also makes pieces for families in more modest settings’. Why bespoke? ‘People want a bit of quality, as well as function in their lives,’ he says. ‘If you want to make the…

This is the classic time of year to divide clump-forming herbaceous perennials. Big plants such as phlox have their new shoots on the outside of the clump, so the centre gradually declines. Lift a clump by cutting round it with a spade, sliding it underneath and lifting the whole thing out. Push in two forks back to back and keep flexing them until the parts separate. Discard the weary centre and replant the outer sections a foot apart. This will smarten things up and start the whole process anew. Hoe out the footprints, clean off the tools and review your work. SCD…

A scrumptious side of butternut Arrange equal amounts of diced potatoes and butternut on a roasting tray. Add a red onion cut into wedges, a sprig of rosemary, some thyme and toss with oil. (I used coconut because it adds crispness, but olive or vegetable oil works, too.) Roast in a hot oven until cooked—about 30 minutes depending on the size of your cubes—and then toss with crumbled feta and stone-free olives before serving. This is perfect with grilled or roasted meats. Whole-roasted-and-stuffed butternut Halve a whole butternut, skin on, from top to bottom. Remove the seeds and then fill with a stuffing made by frying together chopped leeks, garlic and lemon zest, then adding a sachet of ready-to-use mixed grains mixed with some grated mozzarella and cheddar cheese. When…

IN 1939, ahead of the expected London Blitz, the writer and painter Adrian Stokes sent his young wife out from Hampstead to seek a coastal retreat for themselves and their artist lodgers. Margaret Mellis searched the Norfolk and Suffolk shorelines as directed, but in vain. Instead, she charted her own course and eventually found the perfect place in Cornwall: a long stone house called Little Parc Owles, above Carbis Bay and next to St Ives. Once everything was ready, her spouse and lodgers, Ben Nicholson and Barbara Hepworth —plus triplets, nanny and cook—arrived to focus on stellar careers. As Mellis later recalled: ‘The problem was that I did all the work.’ Radical art had reached St Ives via Whistler and Sickert in the 1880s and, after a visit in 1928,…

FOR the next five months, visitors to The Box in Plymouth can admire the portraits of prominent figures from the past centuries. On loan from the National Portrait Gallery, the works include two caricatures of an ape-like Charles Darwin, a portrait of James Cook and one of Napoleon, who in 1815 was held captive aboard a ship in Plymouth Sound. They are on display in the 100 Journeys gallery, which examines the role of Plymouth as the springboard for many famous expeditions and holds objects such as Sir Francis Drake’s sword, globe and drum, and the sextant Darwin used on HMS Beagle. ‘It’s been brilliant to reinvigorate our long-standing relationship with the National Portrait Gallery and be the first museum in the UK to display works on loan from them…

Nigel and Neville Last year, more babies were named Lucifer than Nigel, Neville or Graham, finds the latest Office for National Statistics data Expanding Wimbledon After controversy over the AELTC's plans for Wimbledon Park (September 29), Merton and Wandsworth councils have counted objections vs statements of support: 659 to 14 and 486 to 13 respectively British farmers The New Zealand trade deal may reduce the cost of Sauvignon Blanc, but the influx of imported meat and dairy could damage the interests of British farmers, say the NFU and the CLA…

A NEW hybrid-tea John Ystumllyn Rose, named in memory of an 18th-century black gardener, plants-man and florist, is the first to honour an ethnic minority Briton, believes Harkness Roses. The nursery bred the specimen with the We Too Built Britain campaign and, as such, ‘it might be one of the most important roses we have ever launched,’ says managing director David White. Taken from Africa as a child, John lived with the Wynn family of Ystumllyn, Gwynedd, and his eventual wedding to their maid Margaret Gruffydd was one of the first interracial marriages in Wales. Initially, they eloped, but were later given a cottage with a large, ancient garden by the Wynns; they had seven children —their eldest son was huntsman to Lord Newborough at the Glynllifon estate—and their descendants…

THE start of half term has been staggered, which has made for a complicated week. Each morning, one child has departed for school, as the other remains in bed. During the period of early-morning quiet that follows, there is an opportunity to make a focused start to the day’s work. Later on, when the other child surfaces, it’s necessary to assume an invigilator’s eye and impose some kind of balance between playing computer games and doing anything else. One happy escape from the friction this supervision necessarily generates has been a break at lunchtime or elevenses to play table tennis. The only public amenity in our local park that was not locked up during the pandemic was a ping-pong table and the mere opportunity to do something made it appealing.…

Bubblegum and berries Viña Zorzal, Garnacha Rosado, Navarra, Spain 2020. £8.25, The Wine Society, alc 13.5% Such a fun wine and perfect for parties. It's paler than some Navarra rosados, but still a vivid pink. On the nose, it's all bubblegum and juicy strawberry and raspberry. Don't be worried about residual sugar-it's dry, but exuberant, with bags of ripe fruit flavour. Sweet spice notes Antinori, Villa Antinori, Tuscany, Italy 2018. £13, Co-op, alc 14% A blend of Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot with Merlot and Syrah, given 12 months' ageing in barriques. Ripe red and black berry fruits with sweet spice notes and well-integrated oak. Velvety and plummy with juicy dark fruits, liquorice and cloves, balanced by mineral acidity. Attractive nuttiness Tesco, Finest Chablis 1er Cru, Burgundy, France…

I HAVE owned two labradors at any one time for most of the past 25 years and, for the most part, they have been ‘chockies’ (‘Sweet like chocolate’, October 20). I was often told by much more important people than myself that black labs are the brightest and chocolates are the thickest—the cream or whites (or pale yellows), presumably, are in between. Well, we decided to have pups from one of our chocolates, Roxy, and put her to a cream belonging to a good friend of ours. Roxy had 10 lovely puppies, all of which were black. As pups tend to inherit things such as intelligence from the parents, I think this dispels the somewhat derisory view expressed to me. More likely, it confirms that black is simply the dominant…

ATHENA recently enjoyed previewing a completely new heritage attraction that will open to the public this weekend: Chester House estate, Northamptonshire (www.chesterhouseestate.org). In 2004, Northamptonshire County Council purchased a 17th-century farmhouse a short distance outside the town. The building stands between two sites of known archaeological importance, a Roman town and an Anglo-Saxon settlement, now both open fields. There have been finds from the site indicating a yet deeper human history, too, stretching back 10,000 years to the Mesolithic era. The intention was to create the opportunity for an archaeological and adult-education centre largely supported on revenue from car parking. Four years later, in 2010, when the plans for the centre were still under development, the farmhouse accidentally burned down. New proposals were then put in train and, in 2012,…

NOT so long ago, and not so far away, farming and foraging were twins. A farm was expected to provide in every way it could, whether the food was grown in a field, shot by a Churchill 12-bore or plucked from the wild trees and feral hedges. My mother, a hop farmer’s daughter, was dispatched hedge-wards to gather blackberries, sloes, hazelnuts, elderberries and rosehips as a matter of course in the autumns of the 1940s. ‘Picking hedgerow berries when Jack Frost visits is the forager’s maxim’ Today, the only popular vestige of the old-time ‘hedgerow harvest’ is blackberry picking; I sometimes oblige my own children to procure hazelnuts and crab apples, but even when doing so I am aware that this is a constructed middle-class experience, something good for them…

‘I worshipped Dylan. I thought he was a great poet, a great reader... If ever’ I thought a man had a touch of divinity, it was Dylan John Arlott, cricket commentator, friend and fellow poet ‘Unlike Eliot, Thomas accepted man as he was: he had a relish for humanity’ David Daiches reviewing ‘Under Milk Wood’ in 1954 ‘The greatest living poet in the English language’ Philip Toynbee, on the publication of ‘Thomas’s Collected Poems’ in 1952 ‘I asked the barmaid whether anyone had found a script by Dylan Thomas (who was a fairly regular habitué). She looked under the counter, said “Here it is”, and gave it to me in its rather tattered folder’ Douglas Cleverdon (radio producer) on how he finally found the lost ‘Under Milk Wood’ manuscript in…

My passion is cars, especially restoring classic cars. I collaborated with Jaguar Classic on the restoration of my Jaguar XK120, a model I believe to be one of the most beautiful cars ever built. After an incredible 2,700 hours of restoration, the car was finished at about the same time that my daughter was born and is, therefore, named Matilda, after her. I very much doubt I will ever sell the Jaguar; this is the car I would love to pass down to generations of my family (www.jaguarlandroverclassic.com). I walk everywhere. Walking is escapism for me. When people ask about my fitness regime and the cardio I do, I tell them I walk. Since getting my beloved dog Dora from Battersea Dogs Home, we go for a five-mile walk every…

THE launch onto the market of the illustrious 1,528-acre Careston residential and farming estate, near Brechin, Angus, through Savills (0131–247 3720) at a guide price of £11.3 million for the whole—or in eight lots—marks the end of an era for the Adamson family, whose home it has been for 149 years. The last time Careston graced the pages of COUNTRY LIFE was on March 1, 1913, when the magazine’s then Architectural Editor, Lawrence Weaver, traced the history of the estate and its magnificent Category A-listed castle, built in the late 16th century by Sir Henry Lindsay of Kinfaines, later 13th Earl of Crawford. Sir Henry’s ‘new place of Carraldstone’ was a tall, L-shaped house, probably built around the 13th-century keep of one Keraldus, a high-ranking court officer to the Earls…

Bob says that jacking in his job in IT to make craft ale was the best decision he ever made. As well as loving the malting, milling and mashing, he's enthusiastic about marketing; the Bob's Beautiful Brew logo doesn't only appear on the side of his van, but also on the vast quantities of sweatshirts, baseball caps and wristbands he sells at festivals. As a result, Bob has become something of a cult figure on the music scene; after a long day pulling pints at the Bob's Beautiful Brew tent, he can often be seen letting his generous amounts of hair down in the mosh pit in full Bob's Beautiful Brew regalia, reliving his youth and clearly very high on his own supply. GK…

Sollya heterophylla Blue flowers are always special and this evergreen climber is covered in them during the summer. The delicate flowers are the shape of bells, half an inch long, and hang in clusters. This is a twining plant that will grow to 6ft tall. There are cultivars with white or pink flowers, but it is the blue-flowered species that stands out Billardiera longiflora A small-leaved evergreen with greenish-yellow flowers that look like tubular bells and are muted and modest. Not so the fat berries that follow in late summer: the shape of miniature apples and polished like the skins of aubergines, they sparkle against the dark foliage. Billardiera longiflora flourishes most in a bit of shade and grows to 6ft tall Hoya carnosa An evergreen plant that looks as…

Butternut shakshuka Serves 4 Method 'Autumn brings comfort food and this spiced dish is sure to keep you feeling warm, Heat a splash of olive oil in a large heavy-based pan with a lid. Add the onion and cook over a medium heat until soft, but not browned. Tip in the butternut and red pepper and continue to cook until they soften. Add the garlic and rose harissa and cook for a couple of minutes to release the flavours. Pour in the wine, reduce by half, add the tomatoes and leave to simmer for 10–2 minutes. Once the butternut is cooked, stir in the chickpeas so they are evenly distributed. Crack one egg into a cup and tip it gently onto the mixture. Repeat with all four eggs. Place a…

BY the 18th century a ‘flourishing town’, according to Celia Fiennes, Canterbury boasted an unusual number of shops offering wares for the home. Fiennes noted ‘good tradeing in ye weaving of silks’: the Kent city was almost certainly the source for both the silks and the fabrics used by Priscilla Redding, daughter of Capt Samuel Tavenor, governor of nearby Deal Castle, in making a quilted patchwork cover for a child’s bed some time after 1700. Today, Redding’s cover survives in the V&A Museum, an unusually sumptuous patchwork of silk velvet, satin and tissues of silver and silver-gilt. Lined with wool wadding and bound with pink silk, it is quilted all over in a geometric design of diamond shapes. In 1933, a cot cover of quilted, pale-blue silk, by a Mrs…

WE once lived for six months in a tiny Pyrenean village in which absolutely nothing ever occurred except the grocer’s van every week and a fortnightly church service. The village had no bar and no shop, and lay on a little road to nowhere in particular. Until the 1970s, the children of the village spoke a Occitan dialect that varied in crucial vocabulary from the Occitan spoken at the slightly bigger village in the valley, a mile away, where the other children used to taunt them for being country bumpkins. Although remote, the EU had given the village street lights and a zebra crossing, and its single street was named rue du Dix-Neuf Mars Mille Neuf Cent Soixante-Deux to commemorate the end of the Algerian war. The EU had also…