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The Country Life team's favourite wild swimming spots in England, Scotland, Ireland and WalesYour indispensable summer swimming guide.
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Gyles Brandreth: ‘Who would play me in a film of my life? Kermit the frog’Ahead of his Edinburgh Fringe show, Lotte Brundle talks to the author, presenter and former politician about his podcast, hoarding issue and love of the Muppets.
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The intimate letters 'full of nerdy detail' that Tolkien shared with his most devoted fanThis week, letters and signed copies of the author’s work go under the hammer. They reveal a friendly correspondence between JRR Tolkien and his fan Eileen Elgar.
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‘I see a snail, and I feel no animosity towards it. I'm perfectly happy for it to continue being a snail without being on my plate’: George the Poet’s Consuming PassionsLotte Brundle chats to the spoken-word artist about his most memorable meal, starting his career aged 15 and swapping grime music for poetry.
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Jim Chapman: ‘I once signed an autograph as Andrew Garfield by accident’The YouTuber and creative chats to Lotte Brundle about moving to the countryside, content creators today and why he doesn’t read his own press.
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The most artfully designed dog kennels — from spaceships to antiques that belonged to French royaltyFrom an antique dog bed that could've been Marie Antoinette's, to the very best in 'Barkitecture'.
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Forget all about caviar and Champagne, five-star hotels now want you to forage for your own foodForaging is the luxury traveller's new activity of choice, finds Lotte Brundle on a trip to Bovey Castle in Dartmoor.
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With Nothing Underneath's founder Pip Durell: ‘The Meghan Markle effect? That was crazy’Once a fashion assistant at Tatler making a measly ‘£12,000 a year’, Pip Durell is now the founder and CEO of With Nothing Underneath. Lotte Brundle meets her.
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Cheerio Churchill, hello hedgehogs: The British animals Country Life wants to see on our banknotesAs the nation votes on the British wildlife that will appear on the next series of banknotes, our writers argue their case for their favourite animals.
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Bagpuss's house is for sale — and it's every bit as magical as you could hopeThe house where Peter Firmin created and filmed the beloved children's TV show Bagpuss is up for sale — and Lotte Brundle longs to live in the home of the ‘magical saggy old cloth cat’.
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Sally Phillips: ‘I accidentally lived in a brothel’Lotte Brundle talks to the actor about returning to the stage after 20 years, her frustration at never getting to kiss Colin Firth in the Bridget Jones films and wanting to look like ET.
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A T-Rex by the name of Gus is going up for auction — and he could be the most expensive dinosaur ever soldThe dinosaur skeleton will be on the market as part of Sotheby’s Geek Week auction, next month.
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Lady Anne Glenconner: ‘Princess Margaret and I were quite naughty then, Elizabeth always had an eye out for us’The Baroness and British socialite tells Lotte Brundle about growing up with Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret, her tumultuous relationship with her late husband and being a ‘gay icon’ aged 93.
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Small-scale cut flower growers have now been formally recognised by the governmentThe UK trade body that represents more than 1,000 small-scale cut flower growers, has been awarded dedicated Standard Industrial Classification codes.
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Dame Prue Leith: ‘I won't say we were rolling drunk, but we were definitely tight’The former ‘Bake Off’ star tells Lotte Brundle about growing old, her burgeoning friendship with Blake Lively and the advice Mary Berry gave her about Paul Hollywood.
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Which one will you choose? Two tech millionaire's homes have come up for sale — but only one comes with its own BatcaveThe Batman films inspired a secret lair in one London mansion, while a painstakingly-restored property in California has all the charm of the south of France.
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A Wimbledon home adorned with wisteria and overlooked by a rather marvellous windmillThis property on Windmill Road in London is a sight to behold, with more alliterative features than you can shake a stick at.
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Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall: ‘Nettles, grey squirrels and the occasional placenta? I’m relaxed about that’Lotte Brundle talks to the celebrity chef about getting sacked from his job at the River Cafe, chowing down on some placenta and what she’s done wrong with her tomatoes.
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Forget a message in a bottle, how about a whole ecosystem? A five-minute guide to terrariums and their nasty historyThe solution to garden-less gardening began as a happy accident, has its roots in Victorian society and, also, the colonisers of Africa. The result, terrariums, are now beloved by hipsters everywhere, writes Lotte Brundle.
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‘My first introduction to her was to do with her death, which is a strange way to meet a character’: Our obsession with OpheliaThe lead in Shakespeare’s best-known play, Hamlet, may soon be eclipsed by the fame of his female counterpart, courtesy of Taylor Swift and others, argues Lotte Brundle.
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‘We thought they could be a lovely gift for our daughter-in-law’: How an unsuspecting couple found £11,000 worth of cat paintings in a skipTwo works by 19th-century artist Louis Wain are heading for auction, after being rescued by a couple in South Wales who had no idea of their value.
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Cariad Lloyd: ‘What I would like people to get from me is a Moomin vibe’The writer, actor and comedian talks about discussing grief on the toilet, raunchily re-writing Jane Austen and the importance of championing women’s writing with Lotte Brundle.
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George Saumarez Smith: ‘My sketchbooks are full of measured drawings of buildings from all over the world’The architect talks to Lotte Brundle about the death of his brother, designing the Country Life stand for RHS Chelsea Flower Show, and his Consuming Passions.
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Marcus Wareing: ‘I’ve sacrificed more than any other chef’The MasterChef host and celebrity chef talks to Lotte Brundle.
