I heard them before I saw them—you nearly always do. High above me, echelons of honking geese, written like calligraphy, passed across the mouldy sky: the hounds of heaven were on the move.
Geese fly with a sense of purpose—they’re always clearly going somewhere to feed, roost or migrate. There’s tension among them as they jostle for position within the V formations and various birds take the lead as the wind shifts. More than 250,000 pink-footed geese arrive in Britain each autumn and add a touch of wildness to our winters. To see and hear them is to feel alive, although farmers curse them for the damage that they do to crops, particularly sugar beet.
It was the greylag goose, another winter visitor, that, once domesticated, went on to change our history, in both times of war and peace. They were reared for meat and their feathers were used as fletching for the arrows fired at Agincourt as well as making the quill used to sign Magna Carta. That’s the truth behind the old proverb: ‘A goose quill is more dangerous than a lion’s claw.’
Country mouse reflects on his favourite hats
Country mouse reflects on his favourite hats, from heirloom top hats to sporting flat caps.
Country mouse goes shooting in Hampshire
Country mouse goes shooting in Hampshire and considers the beauty of the autumn landscape.
Country mouse attends the opening meet
Country mouse is impressed with his son's hedge jumping.
Country mouse craves double summertime
The clocks have gone back and country mouse is struggling with SAD.
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'Just look at those stairs. Just as an art form, they are bewitching, like the shell of a nautilus': The lure of buying a stairway to heavenIt seems like madness to buy a house purely because you fall in love with the staircase — but sometimes, they are simply so beautiful that it's impossible to resist. Toby Keel takes a look at some glorious examples of staircases we've seen in Country Life in the last couple of years.
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'I found myself in a magical world of a sun-dappled forest, speckled with wild flowers of kaleidoscopic colours and brilliant mosses': Solo walking in the PyreneesThe Pyrenees reserves its best treasures for walkers prepared to venture off the well-beaten trail, says Teresa Levonian Cole, on a solo holiday in Ribes de Freser.
