
Melanie Bryan
Melanie is a freelance picture editor and writer, and the former Archive Manager at Country Life magazine. She has worked for national and international publications and publishers all her life, covering news, politics, sport, features and everything in between, making her a force to be reckoned with at pub quizzes. She lives and works in rural Ryedale, North Yorkshire, where she enjoys nothing better than tootling around God’s Own County on her bicycle, and possibly, maybe, visiting one or two of the area’s numerous fine cafes and hostelries en route.
-
‘It has been destroyed beyond repair, not by the effect of gunfire, but by a deliberate act of vandalism’: Britain’s long lost great houses that live on only inside the Country Life archive
In the wake of the First and Second World Wars, some of Britain’s greatest houses were lost forever — to extinct familial lines, financial woes, neglect, vandalism and tragic accidents. Thankfully, plenty are preserved — in photographic form at least — for eternity, inside the Country Life archive.
By Melanie Bryan Published
-
From the Country Life archive: The questionable vacuum caps that promised a 'healthy, vigorous growth of hair'
Every Monday, Melanie Bryan, delves into the hidden depths of Country Life's extraordinary archive to bring you a long-forgotten story, photograph or advert.
By Melanie Bryan Published
-
From the Country Life archive: Yes, that is a Moon Transmitter on London's South Bank
Every Monday, Melanie Bryan, delves into the hidden depths of Country Life's extraordinary archive to bring you a long-forgotten story, photograph or advert.
By Melanie Bryan Published
-
From the Country Life archive: The St Michael’s Mount Barge long oarsmen
Every Monday, Melanie Bryan, delves into the hidden depths of Country Life's extraordinary archive to bring you a long-forgotten story, photograph or advert.
By Melanie Bryan Published
-
From the Country Life archive: The Maori meeting house in leafy Surrey
Every Monday, Melanie Bryan, delves into the hidden depths of Country Life's extraordinary archive to bring you a long-forgotten story, photograph or advert.
By Melanie Bryan Published
-
10 outstanding British gardens from the Country Life Archive
With Chelsea Flower Show is on the horizon, we've mined the 128-year-old Country Life Archives for 10 inspiring gardens from across our Isles.
By Melanie Bryan Published
-
Country Life's best, worst and funniest adverts of 1923, from Burberry and thinning baths to the SUV of a century ago
From telephone-equipped hotel rooms to cars ‘for lady drivers’, the advertisements featured in Country Life in 1923 captured Britain’s evolution as well as the odd quack remedy. Melanie Bryan takes a look.
By Melanie Bryan Published
-
How to make a refreshing and delicious clementine cake
Clementine cake with almonds and clementine creme diplomat is a scrumptious treat that probably just about qualifies as one of your five-a-day. Well, maybe.
By Melanie Bryan Published
-
Petworth: What to do, where to stay and what to eat in one of Sussex's most charming towns
Melanie Bryan spent a weekend in Petworth, the picture-perfect market town in the South Downs that boasts superb shopping, food and one of Britain's greatest country houses.
By Melanie Bryan Published
-
Bahama House, Harbour Island: A 19th century paradise perfect for a 21st century escape
Tucked away to the north of Eleuthera is the Bahamian paradise of Harbour Island, where you'll find the delightful Bahama House Hotel. Melanie Bryan paid a visit.
By Melanie Bryan Published