Innholdsfortegnelse for 26-Jan-2022 i Country Life

Chelsea, from £13,750 per month, including service charges The Auriens development in Chelsea already offered 56 stylish properties, an array of exceptional amenities, from swimming pool to restaurant, bar, cinema and hairdresser, plus a garden landscaped by Chelsea Gold Medal-winner Andy Sturgeon. To all this, it has added a health and wellness programme that employs the same methods used to optimise the performance of Olympic athletes, combining training and nutrition to improve the health of the over-65s. Also on the menu is a packed calendar of events, which include wellness and wealth-planning talks, music recitals and even breakfast and after-hour experiences at the Chelsea Flower Show 2022. Apartments are available on lease and monthly fees include utilities, broadband, telephone, television licence, council tax and building insurance, plus 24-hour on-site…

AS the shooting season draws to a close this week, one Norfolk farmer reckons that letting his Purdeys go to America is the only solution, ‘while they work exactly as they did when my great-grandfather bought them in 1894. They’re likely to struggle with steel shot. Better to send them somewhere where there’s no looming lead ban—let a Midwestern gent use them for quail’. As first-world problems go, this one is up there with the ancient Bentley being hit by the London Low Emissions Zone charge en route to the club, but ever since Britain’s shooting organisations announced last year that they were backing a transition to using non-lead cartridges, fine-gun owners have been concerned. The move has been a long time coming—too long, many argue. Lead fishing weights plumbed…

IT’S that time of year: the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch is imminent, on January 28–30. Last year, more than a million people took part, counting 17 million birds, increasingly necessary as we’ve lost 38 million from UK skies in the past 50 years; in 2021, more birds than ever before were added to the charity’s red list, including the swift, house martin, greenfinch, goldeneye, smew, Bewick’s swan and dunlin. Visit www.rspb.org.uk for more details and to sign up. Hot on its heels, the GWCT’s Big Farmland Bird Count takes place on February 4–20. ‘Farmers and gamekeepers are vital in helping to ensure the survival of many of our cherished farmland bird species, such as skylarks, yellowhammers (left), corn buntings (above) and wild grey partridges,’ explains GWCT’s Roger Draycott. They are…

PARISHIONERS in the Lorna Doone village of Oare in Somerset are considering legal action to prevent the Church of England selling off their vicarage. In 1967, a local landowner donated land upon which parishioners paid for a new rectory to be built. The land was offered by Mrs Seal, occupier of The Manor, and a covenant that still stands today at the Land Registry was put on stating it was given for the purpose of ‘building a private residence or Rectory/Parsonage’. A peppercorn sum of £145 was paid for the land. The parish villages of Oare and Culbone are admittedly small, but the existing rectory has for decades been home to retired vicars, rent-free, at the end of their careers, who take weekly services—a unique post that costs the Church…

Some animals we expect to be white-polar bears-and some are seasonally so: Arctic foxes and hares, stoats as ermine and ptarmigan on a snow-blasted mountain. Many seabirds are white across their underparts, which gives them, when bobbing on the water, a degree of camouflage from submerged predators when seen against the light of the sky. But white is less helpful in the wild when produced by albinism. White catches the eye of a predator as it darts effortlessly from branch to branch, tree to tree, fluffy-tailed and squirrel-like in every way except its snowy colour. A sight that resolves itself into an albino squirrel, with red beads for eyes. Some estimates conclude that, in Britain, about one in every 100,000 grey squirrels is albino, thanks to a rare gene inherited…

I SYMPATHISE with J. B. of Derbyshire’s dilemma on whether her retired husband should buy his first suit to comply with Cunard’s dress regulations (Oh, the agony!, January 12). Last summer, I went to a dear friend’s funeral on a scorching hot day. Ancient men had climbed into their suits, ranging from linen to Himalayan weight. However, one chap was as cool as a cucumber. He wore battered sandals, old shorts and a faded brown T-shirt with ‘Don’t kill squid’ on the chest at a jaunty angle. It is possible that this was an in-joke, as Mickey had a good sense of humour. Why should J. B.’s husband buy a suit? He should simply claim a medical exemption if challenged by Cunard’s suit police. That usually works. Comfort and cheerfulness…

THIS is a story about creativity in the countryside. It is a women’s tale because, crucially, they are playing a significant role in improving understanding of the countryside and reinvigorating its rural economy. It seems that the age-old idea that Mother Nature personifies the Earth, as the source from which all life springs, is echoed by the feminine way of seeing the land and understanding it—this is often Nature-based and grounded in long-term regeneration. Many notable women have thought this way throughout history. The Egyptian queen Cleopatra issued several edicts decreeing that anyone found killing earthworms should be imprisoned—or even killed—because she understood the importance of the soil in the Nile valley delta. Lady Eve Balfour, the organic farming pioneer who co-founded the Soil Association in 1946 (‘All about Eve’,…

MY wife, Lulu, and I took what is becoming a regular autumn-winter break towards the end of last year in the Isles of Scilly. The British Isles make up an area awash with fantastic places to visit, so why go back to the same one year after year? Well, many years ago (in 1984, to be precise), I wrote a book called The Wildlife of the Royal Estates and the Isles of Scilly were on my list of land and sea to visit. I was immediately hooked and have returned almost every year since. However, since 2013—and the arrival on Tresco of red squirrels—the pull has been even greater. What a scheme of sensible animal introduction and what a success story, popular with visitors, residents and the squirrels themselves. The…

Hide and seek India Hicks-entrepreneur, philanthropic activist and former model-approached British leather company Tusting to re-create her husband's beloved, but worn-out Tusting bag as a wedding present. This sparked an idea for a collaboration on a beautiful collection of bags, which will take you from winter to summer, getting better with every wear. From £215, Tusting (01234 712266; www.tusting.co.uk). Skin deep Irene Forte's skincare uses only organic ingredients grown on the farm at the Rocco Forte-owned Verdura Resort in Sicily. Described as a Mediterranean diet for the skin, organic olive oil, floral hibiscus, fragrant lavender and herbal rosemary are blended with icy fresh mineral water from Sicily's mountainous Madonie Regional Natural Park. The Hibiscus night cream lives up to its excellent reputation -nourishing, plumping and perfect for wind-ravaged faces at…

West Sussex, £1.35 million A little mackerel-fishing hamlet until the 18th century, when Georgian Society flocked to the seaside, Worthing, with its Art Deco pier, is as popular as ever. This Grade II*-listed five-floor townhouse on Park Crescent-designed in the 1830s by Amon Henry Wilds in a serpentine shape with a triumphal arch at the entrance, overlooking Amelia Park-is a rare occurrence on the market. Beautifully kept, it has six bedrooms (including one in a stand-alone apartment on the lower ground floor), two garden terraces, a balcony and a roof terrace. Winkworth (01903 216219) Hampshire £620 000 Three vaulted bedrooms at 17th-century Fern Cottage, in the east Hampshire village of Upper Froyle-about four miles from Alton and six from Jane Austen's Chawton-peep out beneath thatch towards views over…

LIVING in the high Cots-wolds lets you experience the full force of every season and, sometimes, we get all four in one day in my garden. When winter bites, my thoughts turn to my glorious dahlias. I’ll soon be ordering more varieties from Rose Cottage Plants, despite the fact that there are already 140 tucked up under the greenhouse bench, packed together under a layer of protective compost. The plants are guarded by a frost-breaking heater, but new shoots won’t appear until April here and then they’ll be divided and potted on. They’re not fed, or pinched out, and they spend most of May outside to toughen them up. The dahlias are planted in haste in early June and crammed into 4ft-wide cutting beds, arranged by foliage because labels often…

At the time of writing, it seems that the Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair will be taking place in Battersea Park (until January 30). Hatchwell Antiques have just the thing for anyone now organising a work event in their garden: a 3ft-long working model steam engine quite capable of hauling a freight train of bottles and canapés, or, indeed, comparatively small guests, around the lawns. It's priced at £14,000. The exhibition-standard model built in 1910 represents a Beyer Peacock & Co 4–4–0T London Underground condensing steam locomotive as worked on the original Metropolitan Line from Broad Street in the City to Poplar and Camden Town. There is room for a slim driver on the tender, but further carriages would be needed for bottles.…

We often praise a hotel for feeling like a home away from home, but, after two years stuck in our actual homes, the notion feels a tad outdated. And really, is somewhere that feels like home really where we want to go on our much-deserved breaks from reality? Instead, in our annual top-10 feature (page 118), discover some of the most stylish hotels and villas in the world. Alternatively, stay in someone else's home -that of Louis XIV's treasurer. Le Grand Contrôle is the only hotel inside the perimeter walls of Château de Versailles. It has been renovated to late-18th-century style and furnished with a mixture of period antiques and replica pieces. Pretty side tables groan under the weight of seasonal fruit and Ladurée macarons; some of the 14 bedrooms…

Many restaurants in retirement villages serve fresh local produce, but The Greenhouse at Rangeford Villages's award-winning Wadswick Green community, in Corsham, Wiltshire, takes this approach one step further. Under the direction of chef Adrian Warren, the restaurant uses produce grown directly on the village. Menu highlights include slow-roasted tomatoes, black pudding, potato beignets and pan-fried smoked bacon finished with a caramelised onion puree; chicken supreme nestled on ratatouille finished with potato gnocchi and pesto; and apple and cardamom tarte tatin with vanilla-seed ice cream, all accompanied by an excellent selection of wines and beers. ‘We pride ourselves in offering a wide choice of dishes at The Greenhouse restaurant,' says Rafael Marques, village manager at Wadswick Green (where properties are only available for sale). ‘With an increasing demand for healthy food…

WESTMINSTER CITY COUNCIL appears to be engaged in a ‘gaslighting’ operation—about the 300 elegant gas street lamps that remain in its jurisdiction. It is no coincidence that the streets, courts and alleys in which these lights, with their gentle yellow glow, have survived for up to 200 years and are among the most loved alike by Londoners and tourists. Almost half of Westminster’s lamps are listed, but the council wishes to install replica lanterns with bright, white and dazzling LED lighting and has already begun to replace unlisted lamps in Covent Garden and the Smith Square and St James’s areas. Discussions are currently being held with Historic England about the listed lamps. The council claims that the changes will be good for the environment and night-time safety as well as…

WE wish a fond farewell to Philip Bannister, whose illustrations have enlivened this magazine for 13 years. ‘It was my luck that Philip illustrated my column; when words failed me, his pictures never did,’ says John Lewis-Stempel. ‘His illustrations were not accompaniment to “From the Fields”, they were Art. Lucky me to have been his caption writer.’ ‘He has been a joy to work with and will be missed,’ adds COUNTRY LIFE Picture Editor Lucy Ford. ‘My plan is now to keep painting and working on my own projects, but it has been an honour for me to have had such a close and happy relationship with the magazine, a publication which continues to give us inclusion and pride in our country,’ he responds.…

LOOKING back now at those first sketches I did, I am appalled by how bad they are,’ writes The Prince of Wales, whose exhibition of watercolours is currently at the restored Garrison Chapel, Chelsea Barracks, London SW1—new home of The Prince’s Foundation. He explains that he first took up painting because he found photography unsatisfying. ‘You discover so much more about [a scene] than by just pointing a camera… things like the quality of light and shade, of tone and texture and of the shape of buildings in relation to the landscape. It all requires the most intense concentration and, consequently, is one of the most relaxing and therapeutic exercises I know. In fact, in my case, I find it transports me into another dimension which, quite literally, refreshes parts…

WITH reference to the article ‘Golf in a Flemish Book of Hours’ which appears in COUNTRY LIFE for August 14th, 1920, may I call your attention to an even earlier representation of golf in English mediaeval art, which occurs in the great east window of Gloucester Cathedral. It consists of a roundel of mid-fourteenth century glass containing a figure clad in the civilian costume of that period striking at a ball with a crooked stick, and placed on a red background. The figure’s head has been lost and replaced by plain white glass. The roundel is set on a background of quarries, the whole light bordered by a running repeat of foliate character.—John D. Le Couteur 1) Lord Louis Mountbatten 2) Pink 3) Oil 4) Deer 5) M1 Riddle me…

1907 Published May 25 A to Lord Leycester Hospital, Warwick, founded in 1571 and incorporating several medieval buildings. A sign to the right states that visitors should not enter without a guide and sets the price of a tour between 8.30am to 7pm at 6d. The seated figures look less like almsmen than visitors waiting for the tour. Every week for the past 125 years, COUNTRY LIFE has documented and photographed many walks of life in Britain. More than 80,000 of the images are available for syndication or purchase in digital format. To view the archives, visit www.countrylifeimages.co.uk and email enquiries to licensing@futurenet.com…

INVISIBLE as it is from public roads, Downton Hall to the north of Ludlow —not to be confused with nearby Downton Castle—has long been one of England’s mystery houses. Its position seems to have been chosen with an unerring eye to the view and the red-brick building (Fig 1) enjoys a splendid vista east across a broad valley to the distinctive profile of Titterstone Clee Hill. When it was last written up for COUNTRY LIFE in 1917, H. Avray Tipping gave appropriate prominence to the splendid Music Room (Fig 4), one of the most remarkable interiors of its period in the West Midlands, but, in the second part of the 20th century, the house disappeared completely from the public eye. Recent restoration and the progress of architectural scholarship into what…

Almost all around Britain, there are islands that either have red squirrels or should have them. The first that I visited, several years ago, was the Isle of Arran, off the west coast of Scotland, which has what is regarded as the healthiest population of red squirrels in Britain. How red squirrels initially arrived there is still shrouded in mystery. However, it is said that, because the locals wanted squirrels and the usual conservation purists didn't, the squirrels magically appeared-and subsequently flourished-after being ferried across the sea in a laundry basket. This mode of travel is, on reflection, a most secure, safe and comfortable way for squirrels to travel. I would like somebody with an equally dependable laundry basket to do the same on squirrel-less Mull. After Mull, they can…

THERE is much press around the carcinogenic nature of candles, with many made using petroleum wax and synthetic fragrance to make production cheaper. Being full of toxic compounds, they release unpleasant elements, such as acetone, benzene and toluene, when burned. Eym Naturals is a proudly British candlemaker, started by Poppy and Sam Wall when Poppy was pregnant and looking for a healthy alternative to her candle obsession. The company makes the purest candles possible, using only soy wax, cotton wicks and essential oils (made by pressing or steaming parts of a plant—one kilogram of synthetic rose fragrance costs about £100, compared with a single teaspoon of natural rose oil at about £150). Scent is carried by olfactory nerve cells in the nose, sending the aroma to the limbic system, the…

WHEN the ice retreated from Cumbria some 10,000 years ago, it left behind a dramatic landscape of carved peaks, wide U-shaped valleys and 99 lakes, tarns and meres that provided a dramatic backdrop to the many notable Arts-and-Crafts houses that were built there in a brief, but brilliant decade in the early 20th century. Drawn by the magnificent scenery, a ready supply of stone and slate and an abundance of local labour and craftsmen, leading architects of the day, such as C. F. A. Voysey, M. H. Baillie Scott and Sir Edwin Lutyens, built impressive holiday homes in the Arts-and-Crafts style for wealthy northern mill owners and industrialists along the shores of Windermere or high on the wooded slopes of the surrounding hills. They were joined by lesser-known local architects,…

THE house and garden at La Foce in the Val d’Orcia are a monument to the energy and vision of Antonio and Iris Origo, who bought the estate in 1923. The house was built in the 15th century as a hospice for travellers along the Via Francigena, the ancient road that brought pilgrims from France and England to Rome. It was not an imposing residence when the Origos first set eyes upon it, because its owners for more than a century had been absentee or lazy landlords with no desire to make improvements. Iris described La Foce when she and Antonio first saw the estate: ‘Long ridges of low, bare clay hills—the crete senesi—formed a lunar landscape, pale and inhuman… grey as elephants’ backs, as treeless as the mountains of…

DID you first visit Bilbao in Spain to explore Frank Gehry’s titanium-clad Guggenheim? Or travel to Japan to tour the art island of Naoshima? Have you heard about the new Hauser & Wirth gallery on Isla del Rey, Menorca, or of the priceless art collection inside Lopud 1483, a former monastery turned hotel in Croatia? Art tourism is booming and one of the best places to experience it is Cape Town, South Africa. Stay at the lofty and luxurious Silo Hotel that sits atop the new Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA) in the city’s V&A Waterfront district. The museum and hotel opened in 2017 in an old grain silo, which was repurposed by British designer Thomas Heatherwick. Now, Zeitz MOCAA features seven floors of exhibition space, making…

REDUCED to ant-like proportions in a forest of 65ft-high, hieroglyph-carved columns, our group stood a mere arm’s length from 3,500 years of history. ‘Karnak was the holy shrine of ancient Egypt,’ my guide Mohammed explained of the vast temple-within-a-temple, crowned the largest surviving religious complex in the world. ‘Some pharaohs chiselled away pictures of their predecessors in an attempt to wipe out their memory,’ Mohammed continued, pointing to a gouged-out face in a sandstone wall. Karnak is one of a rich cache of monuments that lure modern-day-pilgrims such as me to Egypt’s legendary city of Luxor, home to two-thirds of the ancient world’s antiquities. Many ornament the fertile banks of the Nile, that fabled river that courses through the country’s heart and has been the lifeblood of Egyptian civilisation for…

Glyndebourne Green opera is celebrating 10 years since installing its wind turbine, the first of any UK Arts organisation to do so. It produces 100% of the electricity used by the venue, reducing emissions by 83% Puppies The largest litter in Guide Dogs history has been born-a 16-strong German shepherd-golden retriever mix with exactly the right combination of loyalty and friendliness, says the charity Head’s up The replica skull of Elizabeth Johnson, the last woman to be hanged at York's Tyburn in 1800, was stolen from the 16th-century Golden Fleece pub in York-which apparently, she used to frequent-in the early hours of New Year's Day and returned last week, together with a letter of apology from the thief Back to the future For the first time in 200 years, a…

TIMED to coincide with the magic of the early Italian summer, when roses bloom and nightingales sing, the next COUNTRY LIFE tour will explore some of the most famous rose gardens in Lazio and Umbria, including Ninfa and a private garden owned by a former president of the World Federation of Rose Societies. In Rome, we’ll stay at the enduringly glamorous Hotel De Russie, a Rocco Forte hotel with interiors created by Rocco’s sister, Olga Polizzi, that successfully blend modern design with Classical architecture and provide a tranquil retreat. Known as ‘the green heart of Italy’, Umbria is a region of great beauty encompassing medieval hill towns, mountains, lakes and verdant valleys edged by wooded slopes. It is here, in Perugia, where our other base, the Brufani Palace Hotel, is…

THAT admirable global superstar, Ed Sheeran, has been voicing his concern at the inevitably unsustainable lifestyle of a performer travelling all over the world. His frankness about the realities of the international concert circuit was accompanied by a determination to make up for it by planting trees. It was an understandable suggestion from a countryman who still lives in rural Suffolk within a stone’s throw of where he was brought up. It was for him a natural proposal to ensure that his emissions were offset by the carbon sequestration that trees provide. It is typical of our contrary world that even that simple proposal evoked criticism. The media dug up a spokesperson from a far-left organisation to complain that rich people shouldn’t be allowed to make decisions about land that…

Pneumatic was owned by Bill Wightman and was buried under the pristine front lawn of his stables; the portrait now hangs front and centre in my owners’ lounge. Bill was the man I turned to when I bought my first horse, Cathy Jane, and he trained her with great success. He was old-fashioned, but generous with his time and something of a father figure to me. He insisted patience was required for training horses, a belief he quickly forgot when I became his trainer! This painting represents so much. It looks like something Stubbs could have done. Bill gave it to me at his 90th birthday party and the note that accompanied it meant almost as much as the gift itself. The old boy stayed on to finish his race…

THIS is the drawing room of The Stewardry, a house on the Boconnoc estate in Cornwall that overlooks ancient woodland and a river valley below. The house, which is available to let, hadn’t been touched for about 50 years and, in the words of interior designer Sarah Fortescue, whose family has had ties to Boconnoc since 1717, needed some ‘refreshment’. The layout required the transformation of a warren of smaller rooms on the ground floor, including the removal of partition walls to create a more coherent sense of space. With its grand proportions, this room became the perfect setting for Miss Fortescue’s newly launched wallpaper collection Chinoiserie Grandiflora, which celebrates the magnolias, camellias and azaleas seen throughout Cornish gardens in spring. ‘I tend to take inspiration from the natural world…

THE fake news—les infox —that Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon was vigorously refuted on November 20 at the Artcurial sale in Paris devoted to the World of Hergé. Proof positive was the original 10¼in by 11½in ink, ecoline and watercolour drawing showing that the American astronaut was welcomed to the Moon by Tintin, Capt Haddock, Snowy and Prof Calculus, who had first landed there in the 1950s (Fig 1). As it was drawn by Hergé in 1969 at the time of the Apollo 11 mission, who could doubt that it was true? The price of €573,000 (£481,583), a European record for a coloured Hergé drawing, provides further support for this view. What is not explained (although it may be in one of the books,…

Sanctuary Sun Boat III is an elegant river yacht that can accommodate 36 guests. There are 14 cabins and four suites at the boat's bow. The four-night, all-inclusive itinerary takes in 140 miles of the Nile. Hotel Four Seasons First Residence rises on the western bank of the Nile. The five-star property has 262 rooms, but still manages to feel like a boutique hotel. It's conveniently annexed to a luxury shopping centre. Seven-night Highlights of Egypt trip from £3,150 per person, including three nights in Cairo with excursions and four nights on the Nile with Sanctuary Retreats, return flights and transfers (01242 386460; www. abercrombiekent.co.uk)…

The Bahamas by India Hicks WHEN I renewed my driver’s licence a few years ago, the agent remarked that I had lived on Harbour Island quite a long time. ‘Yes, I’m practically Bahamian,’ I replied. My husband, David, and I fell in love with the gentle spirit of this place many years ago and I’m very grateful for the privacy it brings, the small school that my children attended and the fact that they all grew up wild, free, and mostly barefoot. Despite The Bahamas being tropical, I see distinct seasons: lucky nuts wash up on the beach during certain months, there are cooler evenings in the winter and flame trees bloom in July. September and October are normally the rainiest months and come with the theatre of hurricanes,…

GRANDFATHER MEZEI, in trilby and suit, plays the viola clamped vertically to his cheek, together with his daughter, as her brother saws away at a double base. Her husband and son, in trainers, jeans and Puffas, deftly swing a pair of fiddles, their haunting, squeaky folk tunes soaring as we tuck into steak, spicy sausages and potatoes fried in a huge outdoor cauldron. Surprised by the troupe’s arrival just as we’re discussing the unconnected origins of the words Romany and Romania, we tap and sway happily to the rhythm. Between the sets, the musicians throw back glasses of wine; on departure, they purloin our last bottle for their journey. ‘The reality, it turns out, is not unlike a fairy tale, with medieval citadels’ We stay that night in a restored…