Annunciata Elwes
Annunciata grew up in the wilds of Lancashire and now lives in Hampshire with a husband, two daughters and an awful pug called Parsley. She’s been floating round the Country Life office for more than a decade, her work winning the Property Magazine of the Year Award in 2022 (Property Press Awards). Before that, she had a two-year stint writing ‘all kinds of fiction’ for The Sunday Times Travel Magazine, worked in internal comms for Country Life’s publisher (which has had many names in recent years but was then called IPC Media), and spent another year researching for a historical biographer, whose then primary focus was Graham Greene and John Henry Newman and whose filing system was a collection of wardrobes and chests of drawers filled with torn scraps of paper. During this time, she regularly gave tours of 17th-century Milton Manor, Oxfordshire, which may or may not have been designed by Inigo Jones, and co-founded a literary, art and music festival, at which Johnny Flynn headlined. When not writing and editing for Country Life, Annunciata is also a director of TIN MAN ART, a contemporary art gallery founded in 2021 by her husband, James Elwes.
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Britain's rarest plant is set to go on public display at Kew Gardens
Those wishing to enjoy what might be a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see flowers such as the lady’s slipper orchid should probably start planning now.
By Annunciata Elwes Published
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Curious Questions: What are the finest last words ever uttered?
Final words can be poignant, tragic, ironic, loving and, sometimes, hilarious. Annunciata Elwes examines this most bizarre form of public speaking.
By Annunciata Elwes Published
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National Racehorse Week, a unique chance to go behind the scenes of the Sport of Kings
National Racehorse Week returns for the fourth consecutive year next month, in a bid ‘to show the public what life as a racehorse is really like’.
By Annunciata Elwes Published
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Vote for your tree of the year and help save our 'Living Legends'
This year's theme is 'Magnificent Oaks', and the competition aims to spread awareness that trees have little legal protection, according to organisers the Woodland Trust.
By Annunciata Elwes Published
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Newly revealed letters from the Dickens family reveal strange names, odd jobs and mutual distrust
If you think you and your siblings don't get on, just wait until you see what Charles Dickens's children said about each other.
By Annunciata Elwes Published
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Shipwreck of the Earl of Abergavenny receives protected status
The ship was captained by John Wordsworth, brother of the romantic poet William, and sunk off the notorious Shambles bank in Dorset.
By Annunciata Elwes Published
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University Arms, Cambridge, review: The hotel where a book butler comes as standard
The world’s biggest crème brûlée, Edwardian luxury, books, books and more books — Annunciata Elwes explores the University Arms, Cambridge.
By Annunciata Elwes Published
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Thatch under threat? Poor harvests, labour shortages and war are causing the industry to struggle
A new report from Historic England suggests that, despite high demand for the work, the profession is struggling.
By Annunciata Elwes Published
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The £20,000 watch made from the wing of a Spitfire shot down in the Second World War
The ultimate enthusiast's timepiece?
By Annunciata Elwes Published
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A single peat moor stores the carbon of 1,000,000 cars — and this 'climate-action trump card' needs urgent protection
Recent research has discovered that one moor in Yorkshire stores as much carbon as one million cars would release in a year, highlighting why we need to restore them.
By Annunciata Elwes Published
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Waterside homes are cheaper than they have been in years — but it won't last
Now is the time to buy a house by the water, according to research conducted exclusively for Country Life by Jackson-Stops. Annunciata Elwes finds out why.
By Annunciata Elwes Published
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The 'holy grail' of JRR Tolkien's letters are up for sale, showing his anger at his editors and the 'priggery' of Sherlock Holmes
Bayliss Books are selling the biggest collection of Tolkien first editions and personal letters to come up for sale in twenty years. Annunciata Elwes takes a look.
By Annunciata Elwes Published
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A £150 million, 10-year programme to help save the countryside: 'Our job is to give money away to do good things'
Lottery funding is now being used to benefit Nature with a new 10-year programme. Annunciata Elwes reports.
By Annunciata Elwes Published
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Thanks be to Jeremy? What you need to know about the changes to permitted development rights
As the changes to permitted development rights for agricultural buildings — known as Clarkson’s Clause — start to kick in, Annunciata Elwes assesses their impact
By Annunciata Elwes Published
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The Uffington White Horse restoration has got it looking at its best, 3,000 years after it was first created
The Uffington White Horse, the oldest chalk figure in Britain, has just undergone a superb restoration.
By Annunciata Elwes Published
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The shire horses still ploughing the fields of London deep into the 21st century
Photographer Natasha Durlacher's passion project shines a light on the wonderful shire horses who still have a place in modern London.
By Annunciata Elwes Published
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The cosmos, as you have never seen it before
This year's shortlist for the Astronomy Photographer of the Year has been released, and the images are truly out of this world.
By Annunciata Elwes Published
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The Big Butterfly Count is here — time to get out into the garden and do your bit
Do your bit to save the butterflies of Britain.
By Annunciata Elwes Published
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The Titian masterpiece found in a plastic bag at a London bus stop has sold for £17.6 million
The painting that secured Titian’s reputation as 'the greatest painter of the Venetian Renaissance' is going up for sale, 30 years after it was recovered in a carrier bag in the most unlikely of spots.
By Annunciata Elwes Published
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Golden times for golden eagles as Britain's most majestic bird of prey hits 300-year high
Conservation efforts to help golden eagles are paying off, reports Annunciata Elwes.
By Annunciata Elwes Published
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Bridesmaid's dress from Queen Elizabeth II's up for auction at Christie's
The dress, designed by Sir Norman Hartnell, was commissioned by the Queen Mother and was once worn by Kate Moss.
By Annunciata Elwes Published
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Half a century ago, one of Britain's greatest ever gardeners planted roses at Mottisfont Abbey — and right now is the perfect time to go and see them
Planted by the legendary horticulturist Graham Stuart Thomas, the 1,000 individual roses at this priory-turned-country house are considered his 'masterpiece' and bloom only once a year.
By Annunciata Elwes Published
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The best places to commute from Warwickshire, Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire and even Yorkshire: 'Up here, you can have it all'
If you’re only in the office a few days a week, what does a little extra journey time matter? Annunciata Elwes begins a four-part series looking at how our new work patterns have redefined the concept of a commutable home.
By Annunciata Elwes Published
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A venue where AC/DC played, a hospital where Vera Brittain wrote and the largest glassmaking company in the world are the newest additions to the Victorian Society Endangered List
Every building has a unique story and they are all in danger of being lost, the heritage society warns, unless we act now to save them.
By Annunciata Elwes Published