'Rain and cold wind might be uncomfortable, but they make you feel alive'
'There's no such thing as bad weather' isn't a questionable adage — it's a profound statement of optimism.
'There's no such thing as bad weather' isn't a questionable adage — it's a profound statement of optimism.
Joe Gibbs pours his heart out about his classic Land Rover Defender, and the peculiar strain of nutty devotion it's inspired.
Patrick Galbraith has a night to remember.
To celebrate the 50th birthday of Historic Houses, director-general Ben Cowell considers the unlikely importance of tax policy as a spur to its early development.
Learning Italian sends Jason Goodwin down a route he'd never have expected — and his life is all the richer for it.
Jonathan Self is toast-mad. His entire family is toast-mad. He's spent his life looking for the ultimate way of making the nation's favourite snack. Here's what he suggests you do.
Carla Carlisle shares her perspective on a war that truly feels Biblical.
The devilishly smiling image of Jack O'Lantern is inseparable from Halloween, but what's the story behind it? Martin Fone explains — and discovers that the festival many complain about as an American import has been this side of the Atlantic for centuries.
Patrick Galbraith's trip to the Isle of Lewis shows him a new perspective on how to land a bird for your festive roast.
If you've ever wondered why a six is a six and a ten is a ten, so has Martin Fone. He decided to find out how we came to settle on the shoe size numbers we use today.
Country Life's columnist Agromenes delivers a powerful and heartfelt message in praise of progress.
An encounter with a 21st century goatherd makes Jonathan Self wonder if things might one day again be simpler.
Our columnist on how some good might come out of the felling of the sycamore in the gap.
Country Life's cultural crusader Athena takes a look at the thorny issue of live music ticket prices — and how the habits of concert-goers today show that the struggles of classical music and opera to find an audience run far deeper than mere cost.
Joe Gibbs ignored the warnings and bought himself a boat. One year one, are the joys greater than the regrets?
England and France competed fiercely for bragging rights in the 19th and early 20th centuries — but no version of France's most famous building ever came to fruition. That wasn't for the lack of trying, though, as Martin Fone discovers.
A first encounter in decades with somebody hitching a ride prompts our columnist to look back on the days when hitch-hiking was entirely normal — and an incomparable way to get from A to Wherever.
The near-ubiquitous Leyland Cypress — or leylandii — is an evergreen with an extraordinary back story. Martin Fone explains.
Forget all the work you’ve done priming your home for sale: the latest research suggests that what buyers really want is to roll up their sleeves and get stuck in to a fixer upper.
'I know they will thank me in the end,' says our columnist, with tongue in cheek — though who knows how firmly?