Innholdsfortegnelse for 29-Nov-2023 i Country Life

LAST week’s Autumn Statement was met with mixed reviews from rural groups, with calls for the Chancellor to ‘go further’ from the NFU. The union’s president, Minette Batters, was pleased to see cuts to National Insurance contributions, extensions to business rates relief and new 5G innovation regions, but she added that these will only benefit ‘some farm businesses’, with ‘the majority… set to miss out on some of the Chancellor’s headline measures’. ‘For instance, although we acknowledge the announcement of full expensing, most farm businesses are ineligible, as the vast majority are unincorporated businesses,’ she continued. ‘Similarly, although it’s positive to see streamlining of the planning system, especially on grid connections, again this appears limited to large-scale projects.’ Mrs Batters’s warnings about the exclusion of rural businesses from the tax…

Scrabble Gàidhlig Scrabble will release the first Gaelic version of the word game next month. The edition features 18 characters, grave accents to indicate certain pronunciation and different letter scores to match how difficult it is to use them in Gaelic spelling Gassy cows Northern Ireland has introduced bio-methane into its gas-supply network for the first time. The more environ-mentally friendly product comes from manure, chicken litter and food waste. It could meet up to 80% of NI’s gas demand in future years Hampshire hedges Work has begun on the Hampshire Hedge project to create a 14-mile ‘Nature-recovery corridor’ linking woodlands, meadows and nature reserves through central Hampshire Sheep show London clothing brand Sheep Inc has unveiled a campaign featuring AI-generated sheep in ‘a potent statement of its commitment to…

RECKONED to be two centuries old and originally from Bhutan, this carved-crystal snow leopard—battle scarred, but still beautiful—caught my eye in a market when I was in search of something else entirely and it now resides among my late mother’s geological collection. The snow leopard (Panthera uncia) is a rare high-altitude big cat, historically revered by Himalayan Buddhists and long an emblem of splendour and might in Central Asia. Rock crystal is colourless macrocrystalline quartz, once thought to be preserved ice, and deeply associated with magical properties—alchemists fashioned their visionary spherical showstones from it. Being an ultra-hard silicate (seven on the Mohs hardness scale of 10), it is tricky to carve and cannot be chiselled; one medieval scholar believed the mineral had first to be heated in the cardiac cavity…

Until February 25, 2024 ‘Victorian Treasures from the Cecil French Bequest’, Leighton House, Holland Park Road, London W14. Showcase of 21 works by Victorian masters, collected when their art was out of fashion (020–7361 3783; www.rbkc.gov.uk) Until April 10, 2024 ‘The Devil is in the Detail: Dürer’s “Great Passion” and Early Woodcuts from the Schroder Collection’, Strawberry Hill House & Garden, Twickenham, London TW1. One of the most important series of woodcuts of the artist’s career will be accompanied by modern works by Christiane Baumgartner (020–8744 1241; www.strawberryhillhouse.org.uk) November 30–January 1, 2024 Christmas at Windsor Castle, Berkshire. This year’s State Apartment decorations mark the 675th anniversary of the Order of the Garter (0303 123 7300; www.rct.uk) December 1–January 1, 2024 Christmas at Ken-wood: An Enchanted Christmas Light Trail (pictured), Hampstead…

THE slice titled ‘one for the bin’ is anything but and would fill my late Lancastrian grandfather with horror (‘Toast of the town’, November 15). Observing him at the open hearth with a toasting fork and slice of bread, I did on many occasions witness a momentary inattention to detail in the art, whereby an example would emerge that had enjoyed the flames of Fahrenheit longer than was strictly necessary. The burnt offering would be subjected to some attentive scraping with a knife, in order to restore it to an edible condition. I pride myself that this skill, taught to me at my grandfather’s knee, remains with me to this day. On the rare occasion that a slice could not be rescued in this manner, it would not be binned,…

1907 Unpublished A well-dressed gentleman—probably a model—pauses at the chapel door of the Henry Lucas Hospital, Wokingham, Berkshire, his hand resting on the poor box. Erected after 1663, possibly with the involvement of Wren, the hospital was sold in 2001. The photograph was taken for an article published on November 30, 1907, but not used. Every week for the past 125 years, COUNTRY LIFE has documented and photo-graphed 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…

IN English Hours (1905), Henry James suggested that ‘the well-appointed, well-administered, well-filled country house’ was the only thing the English had ‘mastered completely in all its details’. Born in 1843 in New York, James had a cosmopolitan upbringing that included long periods in Europe. By his early thirties, he was living in Paris, before settling in England in the 1870s and becoming a naturalised British citizen in 1915, the year before his death. A successful, well-connected author, he had become an experienced country-house visitor. He was not always impressed. After staying at Eggesford Manor, Devon, he observed in a letter to his father that: ‘The whole thing is dull… there is nothing in the house but pictures of horses—awfully bad ones at that.’ The country house was one of his…

Conditioning will help to extend vase life Dry grasses in late autumn to use at Christmas by standing them upright in a vase in just a little water. Don’t stand them upside down, which leads to them fixing in odd shapes when you turn them back up again. Let them drink the water and leave them to dry naturally. It will only take about a week Although they are thorny, the more lax and open habit of wild dog roses makes them prettier in displays than garden-grown kinds Choose the right vase for your display. Fan vases and bowls work well or gather together several bud vases of the same or complementing colours and textures To support the stems in the vase, place a pin holder in the base and…

THE contraption looks innocent enough, all gleaming silver dome and delicately wrought legs, decorated with pretty Rococo swirls. A vast screw protrudes from the top, its handle shaped like a ship’s wheel, giving the impression of a particularly ornate nutcracker. Or a juicer, designed for Marie Antoinette. But rather than plump walnuts or luscious oranges, this machine craves only one thing: bones—and lots of them. For this is a tool more suited to a medieval torture chamber than a lady’s boudoir—an antique duck press, hand-cranked to crush sinew, bone and cartilage alike, squeezing out every last drop of fat, juice and blood. And it’s sitting beside my table at Otto’s, Gray’s Inn Road, London WC1 (www.ottos-restaurant.com), where the eponymous Otto Tepasse, whippet thin and elegantly attired, is working his tableside…

2007 Within three months of launching, Biscuiteers partners with Selfridges Food Hall, where its biscuits are still stocked today 2009 Biscuiteers creates its Great Ormond Street range, inspired by the ward names of the children’s hospital—a donation from the sale of every biscuit tin in this collection goes to the charity 2014 Biscuiteers produces the bestselling Beatrix Potter collection 2015 Partnering with the National Portrait Gallery, the company launches an exclusive collection to mark 100 years of Vogue magazine 2018 Biscuiteers collaborates with British icon Paddington Bear, releasing the Paddington biscuit tin and letter-box biscuits 2023 Biscuiteers once again joins forces with renowned British designer Emma Bridgewater, to create a limited-edition Advent calendar…

ACCIDENTS will happen, but their consequences needn’t always be disastrous. In the 1930s, Ruth Wakefield, proprietor of the Toll House Inn in Whitman, Massachusetts, US, created the chocolate-chip cookie by chance when throwing broken slabs of chocolate bars into her biscuit mix, assuming they would melt in the oven. Her mishap created one of the world’s favourite sweet treats. And so it is with buildings that tilt, lean, list, slope or camber. We have long embraced these architectural equivalents of the failed soufflé with the kind of warmth and sentiment usually reserved for the retro sweets of our childhood. Wonky pubs, houses and church spires are the poor kittens of construction and their obvious failings are precisely what we most adore about them. Perhaps it’s because a crooked building is…

Coconut curry prawns with kalettes Method ▸ Heat a splash of olive oil in a large, heavy-based pan to a medium heat. Fry the garam masala, turmeric, coriander and ginger for a few minutes, in order to release the flavours. Add the onion, garlic and chilli and cook until the onion has just softened. Pour in the tomatoes and vegetable stock and simmer until reduced by one-third. Add the tamarind and process in a blender. ▸ Return the tomato mixture to the pan and heat. Pour in the coconut milk and heat to a simmer, before adding the kalettes and prawns for only a few minutes to cook through. Taste for seasoning and adjust. ▸ Spoon the curry over white basmati rice and add a squeeze of lime to each…

ALL summer, we have barely noticed holly. Dark leaved and producing tiny white flowers, it takes a back-ground role in summer gardens and parks, a foil to other more flashy plants, patiently waiting for its moment. However, as the leaves around it begin to turn and fall, holly steps into the limelight. It looks impossibly glossy for the time of year, shiny and green among all of the beige and brown fading away of autumn and winter, its leaves dramatic-ally edged in silver or gold, its berries deep blood red, golden orange or even yellow, begging to be cut and made into a Christmas wreath. ‘It looks impossibly glossy for the time of year, shiny and green’ We associate holly with Christmas partly because that is when it looks most…

THE fifth annual Winter Appeal has been launched by food-poverty charity the Country Food Trust (CFT). The goal of the Winter Appeal is to raise ‘essential funds’ for the charity, which combats food insecurity by providing high-protein meals sourced from wild game, such as pheasant and venison. ‘There is unlimited demand for our high-protein ambient meals,’ says S. J. Hunt, CEO of the CFT. ‘Every pound donated through the Winter Appeal goes towards producing and distributing these fantastic meals to help feed people in need. Your generosity will make a difference to those facing food insecurity.’ Formed in 2014, the CFT takes wild protein harvested legally in the country-side (for example, by shoots) and uses a specialist food manufacturer to create ready meals stored in retort pouches, which have a…

DRAFT advice on balancing climate action with building adaptation has been published by Historic England (HE), which is hoping to provide ‘consistent decision making’ on how historic buildings can be adapted to tackle a changing climate. The advice is primarily aimed at local planning authorities, heritage consultants and those involved in the planning process, but is open for consultation to ensure ‘everyone can comment on the final advice’. ‘It’s not a question of “if” change can happen, it’s a question of “how”’ The note will provide ‘advice on the need for planning permissions or other consents for some of the common changes required to decarbonise and improve the energy efficiency of historic buildings,’ HE says, as well as answering key homeowner questions about listed buildings and homes in conservation areas.…

‘How horrifying that morning when you wake up and your first thought is not of the person who has left. That’s when you know, I will never die of a broken heart’ Salt and Saffron, Kamila Shamsie Riddle me this I am an instrument that you can hear, but will never touch or see. What am I?…

CHEF Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is on manoeuvres again. The campaigning celebrity food writer is rightly furious about the vast piles of food we waste every day when so many go hungry. He’s also well aware that the days of an endless supply of food, in and out of season, are over as the world grapples with climate change and a growing and more demanding population. With the support of major food companies, he’s off after the Government to demand action. A big crowd-funding effort will see him and Defra fight it out in court. That’s because the Government has abandoned its sensible scheme to crack down on waste. The issue had been something of a generational divider: war babies didn’t waste food because they remember when what was around was all…

‘I’m a sheepophile, so every time I catch sight of Weaver’s painting–I have a print of it pinned on my study notice board–I think “those were the days”. Imagine, instead of vilifying sheep, valuing them. Imagine, days when farmers and estate owners such as Coke were so proud of their stock they had them immortalised in oils by painters such as Weaver. Farm animals as fit subjects for art were proof, too, of the era’s improved livestock breeding, of which the Southdown sheep was perhaps the ovine acme. Lovely, aren’t they? A work of art themselves, sentient sculptures of flesh and blood’ Charlotte Mullins comments on Portrait of Thomas William Coke, Esq. THOMAS WEAVER was a self-taught artist from Shropshire who carved out a niche career painting the prize-winning livestock…

THE stately Jemima Puddle-Duck, Beatrix Potter’s much-loved creation, is supposedly an Aylesbury duck, yet the pure version of this heavy (up to 12lb) snowy-white breed with its horizontal (as opposed to upright) self-carriage is not as common as one might think—most are hybrids. Duck keeping was once the traditional industry of the countryside surrounding the eponymous Buckinghamshire town, with ducklings farmed out to cottagers to rear and regular consignments sent on night trains to the London markets and the feathers used in quilts. ‘Its snowy plumage and comfortable comportment makes it a credit to the poultry-yard, while its broad and deep breast, and its ample back, convey the assurance that your satisfaction will not cease at its death,’ wrote Mrs Beeton of the Aylesbury duck in 1861. Up to the…

Dispatched Assisted seating Any woman who has had her knees clumsily banged against a table leg as a well-meaning neighbour repeatedly bashes a chair against her bottom will agree that the custom of helping the ladies into their seats can take a back seat. It’s polite to pull out a chair, but the guardsman’s habit of tucking in is only really appropriate for the aged or infirm. Gender symmetry With gender fluidity, same-sex or opposite-sex couples, the traditional male/female placement makes table plans a little complex. What’s more, the idea that men will be happiest chatting only to women and vice versa is outdated; flirtation and good conversation do not discriminate. That said, never place couples next to each other. No one should be holding hands under the table—the goal…

Petri Anderson set up his Hertfordshire studio in 2005, after 16 years at nearby Chapel Studio, which he joined as a protégé of its co-founder Alfred Fisher, a leading light in the stained-glass world who is now aged 90. ‘Everything I learnt was from hands-on working on fine old glass,’ he says. He now does a diversity of mostly new work, ranging from a pair of 400th-anniversary windows for Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School in Marlow, Buckingham-shire, with stylised, modern imagery, to intricately detailed woodland scenes (left) and contemporary takes on old fables. His advice for aspiring makers is: ‘Major on your glass painting and other techniques and then start learning by working. What you see in my studio is 30-plus years of experience; you wouldn’t be able to teach…

DESCRIBED by the poet Matthew Arnold as ‘deeply rural’, the small rustic village of Easthorpe, three miles from Marks Tey and seven miles from Colchester, Essex, lies within the farmlands of south-west Colchester in a landscape that’s a mix of small pasture and large arable fields traversed by the gentle slopes of the Roman River valley. Previously a separate parish, Easthorpe amalgamated with nearby Copford in 1949. Originally heavily wooded and despite clearance over the centuries, a significant amount of woodland and planted forestry remains a feature of much of the area, providing barriers against soil erosion and an important habitat for wildlife and shooting. Many of the large mature oak trees scattered in and around the parish were planted in the 17th century to help boost the national supply…

AS most of the garden settles into a state of restful melancholy, there are a few plants that are stirring themselves towards an unseasonal flamboyance. In a shady area, the fat buds of a camellia are starting to reveal glimpses of brightred petals. This teasing will continue as reliably as any Advent calendar until Christmas, when the whole shrub will be aglow with scarlet flowers. It never disappoints, even blooming on those rare occasions when we do have snow at Christmas. The camellia was a gift and not something I would have chosen for myself. As do all unsolicited plants, it immediately made me anxious: I didn’t know where to plant it and was convinced that it would not like my thin, chalky soil. Happily, I was wrong. The shrub…

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THIS Month marks the 10th birthday of the 2 Minute Foundation, the charity that encourages people to ‘clean up our planet, two minutes at a time’. Many will recognise the A-frame signs that contain litter pickers and bags situated at more than 1,200 beaches, woodlands and other places across the UK. Few might know that the idea began as a simple hashtag posted on Instagram by writer Martin Dorey, who, when ‘knee deep in plastic on a local beach’, decided to do something about it. Commenting on the milestone, he said ‘who would have thought that this little (but mighty) idea would go around the world and become the thing that it is?’ ‘Our vision is to clean up the planet two minutes at a time,’ says CEO Nicky Green.…

A FREEDOM of Information Request (FOI) submitted to West Yorkshire Police on the prevalence of extra-terrestrials flying around the county was rejected because it would be too expensive to compile the data. The FOI request, submitted by West Yorkshire resident and editor of UFO Truth magazine Gary Heseltine, revealed that, since 2020, 1,805 cases were logged with the police in which the words ‘UFO’, ‘alien’, ‘UAP’ or ‘spaceship’ were included. On average, this amounts to 56 sightings a month. However, the police refused to hand over the information as it was estimated that it would take 60 hours of work to compile it all—far exceeding the £450 limit for the cost of an FOI. ‘It is a disappointing response and I am surprised that they do not have searchable keyword…

The water’s surface is a vision of calm, but, beneath it, Esox lucius lurks in the shallows, particularly near submerged vegetation—a mottled, olive-coloured, lean-and-mean hunting machine, lying torpid, but, at the same time, watchful. The lone pike is a sniper with deadly aim and crafty camouflage, its skin marbled and spotted, neatly breaking up the outline of this barracuda of our rivers and lakes. Average lengths of adult pike vary, being generally between 2ft–4ft, although rare specimens have been measured at up to 5ft. With rising water temperatures, spring is breeding time, when males reach the spawning ground first and large quantities of eggs are released by females. The name ‘pike’ is ancient, referring to the pole weapon of centuries past—both pointed and deadly. Appropriately, too, as this submarine carnivore…

Bats in the belfry IT is said that a vicar in Kent suggested a novel and humane solution to a bat infestation in his church (‘No, you’re not going batty’, November 15). ‘Let me baptise one of their number and, if humans are anything to go by, we will never see any of them again.’ Jane Dickins, Oxfordshire Wiltshire initiative JOHN MARTIN ROBINSON pays tribute to the initiative of Lytham Town Trust in rescuing Lytham Hall, Lancashire, when it was disposed of by the Guardian Royal Exchange (‘A local revival’, November 1). An even more remarkable instance of local initiative in saving a great house is afforded by Swindon Council’s acquisition of Lydiard Tregoze, Wiltshire, the St John family seat, in the depths of the Second World War. In neither…

A is for ADVENT. Early versions of the Advent calendar saw cupboard doors marked with chalk, God descending to earth on ladders (one rung per day) and Christmas clocks counting down, tick after tock. German publisher Gerhard Lang produced the first commercial Advent calendar in 1908, but it was our magazine’s Editor, Mark Hedges—and our then Art Editor, Phil Crewdson—who produced the greatest Advent calendar of all in 2007 and the most anticipated COUNTRY LIFE cover ever since. B is for BELLS. From the ringing of bobtails to the resounding peal from church bells at Midnight Mass, a sense of magic lingers in every chime and echo. The jingling percussion accompanies many a Christmas song, but their guiding abilities go far beyond the music. In poor weather, bells would be…

YEARS of growing a large range of flowers, grasses and shrubs at her flower farm in Oxfordshire, with observation of their habits and needs, has given the flower farmer and florist Rachel Siegfried a keen sense of the value of shrubs and perennials in flower arrangements—particularly late in the year when flowers for cutting are few and far between. In The Cut Flower Source Book, she makes a strong case for woody plants and perennials forming a ‘permanent backbone’ to a cutting garden. If grown for cutting, trees and shrubs can be planted closer together than they would be normally. They can even be used to create a windbreak for more susceptible plants. Hardier and longer lived, they not only offer flowers in spring and summer, with berries later in…

Love at first bite I’m often asked for special restaurant recommendations in town and now I have a new favourite: Italian Il Gattopardo (right) on Albermarle Street, W1. Think magical Christmas evenings, a lunch date with a certain someone or wooing a top client—this spot has oodles of atmosphere, but no kitsch and the beautiful trompe l’oeil-trellis courtyard room at the back has an opening roof for late-night cigar smoking. Excellent Negronis and sensational seafood, finished with cream doughnuts for pudding—and, of course, the staff are charming, as you’d expect from a true Italian experience (www.gattopardo.restaurant). Sloping off Grenoble is Moncler’s performance line of ski jackets, trousers, knitwear and accessories—perfect presents for the ski nut in your life. This ladies jacket calls for elegant swooshing down the slopes and…

THERE are few to-dos on the annual schedule of household jobs less appealing, yet more important than the renewal of household insurance. For contents insurance, the price comparison websites, brokers and forms to fill in ask for a rough value of all of the worldly goods in your home. How to calculate the value of your prized dresser, handed down from granny? And then there’s buildings insurance and calculating the rebuild cost of your home. Few of us, relatively speaking, are surveyors: must we become proficient in measuring the cost of bricks and (lime) mortar in a few minutes to get the right insurance deal? No—but it surely feels that way. For owners of listed buildings, the task of securing home insurance is not necessarily harder or more important—we all…

AN odd thing might happen as you walk down a city street on a mild winter’s day. Everything seems dull and grey, the colourful blooms of spring and summer a distant memory, and then… a waft of something floral and citrusy, with a hint of spice, hits your nose. Surely not a flower, at this time of year? We probably all encounter many more winter-scented plants than we realise, only partly registering their unlikely perfume. Several of them are so easy to grow that they are often incorporated into council planting schemes or placed in banks outside smart offices, only for us to give a cursory sniff and shake of our heads as we pass by. What we are smelling is an evolutionary strategy in action. All flowers offer a…

THANK heavens for the web. The winter version of London Art Week (LAW, December 1–8; www.londonartweek.co.uk) is more diverse than ever and would challenge the fittest and most enthusiastic art lovers, were not a good number of the shows on the internet, rather than on the wall. Naturally, online dealers will have a warm welcome for visitors in the flesh, should anything catch their eyes. This time, as well as the Old Master to modern paintings, drawings and sculpture that are at its core, there will be works of art, porcelain, furniture, books and manuscripts and the auction houses will also be active. I should not complain that it presents me with an embarrassment of rich subjects to consider—after all, the point of this column is that I am able…

HAVING spent three decades writing about and enjoying the occasional Havana cigar, I really should be beyond being surprised. Cuba is a land of paradox and curiosity: think Alice Through the Looking-Glass, add the Land of Oz and for good measure have it re-written by Kafka. The sheer roulette wheel-like sense of chance keeps me interested and on my toes. The last thing that I anticipate from the island paradise of Cuba is consistency: and, therefore, just when I am least expecting it, consistency arrives from Cuba in the seductive shape of the new British regional edition, the Por Larrañaga 47. I used to be rather dismissive of this brand, for which I now heartily atone, as it would be the height of folly to dismiss this cabinet of 50…