Country Life

Published by TI Media Limited Country Life, the quintessential English magazine, is undoubtedly one of the biggest and instantly recognisable brands in the UK today. It has a unique core mix of contemporary country-related editorial and top end property advertising. Editorially, the magazine comments in-depth on a wide variety of subjects, such as architecture, the arts, gardens and gardening, travel, the countryside, field-sports and wildlife. With renowned columnists and superb photography Country Life delivers the very best of British life every week.

Miss Philippa Szepietowski • Philippa is reading Classics at Downing College, University of Cambridge, and is the daughter of John and Susan Szepietowski of St George’s Hill, Weybridge, Surrey. A choral scholar, she competes on the University Blues Ski Team and recently undertook an internship as judicial assistant to the Supreme Court Judge in the Falkland Islands.

Let’s end the trend

Country Life

Town & Country

Town & Country Notebook

Letters to the Editor

The power of food

Athena • Cultural Crusader

My favourite painting Josh Eggleton

Like cats on a hot tin roof • A feline stand-off has echoes of current tax and trade discussions on the wider political stage

Gothic splendours • A disastrous fire in 2005 prompted the rebirth of an outstanding Victorian house with a deep and remarkable history, as John Goodall explains

Jacqueline du Pré and the cello

Water you wading for? • The lowly duck pond–once the linchpin of village life–powered industry, weeded out witches and was an essential water source. Now, it’s an increasingly rare and cherished habitat, says Vicky Liddell

The red army • With an impressively proportioned brain and a passing resemblance to a fairy, the wood ant is one to avoid getting in your pants, says Ian Morton

Sorry seems to be the easiest word • ‘Golly, I’m so terribly sorry you just trod on my foot’: what makes the British so fond of apologising, asks Deborah Nicholls-Lee

Two’s company, three’s a crowd farmer • Instrumental in ensuring farmers receive a fair price, a European initiative promotes sustainable agriculture as it strives towards zero waste, finds Jane Wheatley

Think pink • Pretty pastels are back for spring, says Hetty Lintell, with lady-like styles seen on recent catwalks inspiring this selection

Bring me everlasting flowers • Traditionally carved ‘off the knee’, wooden flowers hewn from coppiced hazel are blooming for a photographer-turned-craftsman, finds Catriona Gray

The COUNTRY LIFE Top 100 • The appeal of Britain’s countryside owes much to our tradition of creating and preserving beautiful houses and gardens. Today, that tradition is as strong as it has ever been, thanks to the knowledge, dedication and creativity of the architects, interior designers, garden designers and craftspeople described on the following pages

Castaway • In one of these beautiful waterside properties of the West Country, a conversation inspired Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe

Keeping the faith • Lucy Denton examines how best to help former church buildings thrive as times move on and property changes hands

If you want colour… • The spectacular candelabra primula is surprisingly easy to grow, says Charles Quest-Ritson, as long as you can offer it damp soil or a stream edge and a little shade

The gentlemen in black velvet

Some like it hot • With the ability to extract toxins from the soil and elevate salads, the fiery black-mustard plant also reflects the Divine, establishes John Wright

Kitchen garden cook Rhubarb

Peak sugar • A happy accident, Kendal Mint Cake went on to become the world’s best-travelled confectionery, says...