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Jonathan Self: The rat who came to lunch in a fetching shade of Farrow & Ball
Jonathan Self tells the story of a rather friendly rodent who seems happy to ride his luck.
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John Lewis-Stempel: 'Rewilding is half backwards-looking fantasy, half dystopian vision'
Those who make the case for rewilding ought to be careful — MUCH more careful — what they wish for, says award-winning nature writer John Lewis-Stempel.
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Curious Questions: Who invented the vending machine? (Clue: they've been around for 2,000 years)
Coming across a bizarre statistic prompts Martin Fone to look at the creation of the vending machine, unearthing an incredible tale.
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Patrick Galbraith: 'The man had a blood blister on his lip, a gold earring and a Jack Russell in a crate in a pushchair. "The wife’s," he said, noticing me looking at the dog'
Anyone who laments a lack of tolerance in the country ought to visit the Appleby Horse Fair, says Patrick Galbraith.
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Carla Carlisle: 'You don’t need a map to tell you that East Anglia and Russia are closer than they look'
'It was like a Tarantino movie where the bad chase the bad,' says our columnist Carla Carlisle as events in Russia consume her attention.
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Britain's Victorian seaside towns: A tale of sun, sand, affection, neglect, decay and regeneration
Country Life's cultural commentator Athena looks at the sad plight of Britain's seaside towns, but has hopes that things may be heading in the right direction.
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Jonathan Self: After 44 years and seven attempts, I am finally starting to get the hang of this parenting business
Jonathan Self has nailed it, just as his twins leave for university.
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Jason Goodwin: They've started measuring distances in minutes. But what of loitering and lingering? What of the flowers of the wayside and the hill views?
Jason Goodwin rages against the sign-erecting quangos who are helping tourists miss the point.
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Jonathan Self: My 146-year-old timepiece is the antithesis of the smartwatches — and it's all the better for it
How lovely to have a beautiful watch to order your life, says Jonathan Self; but how much better to have no need of one at all.
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Opinion: Continuing feuds instead of seeking compromise is irresponsible. As we argue, British wildlife collapses
Dialogue, tolerance and trust are crucial to Nature restoration, so events that encourage an honest exchange of views among different camps, such as May's Why Moorlands Matter summit, mark the way forward.
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Our countryside is utterly magnificent — now is the time to find the will to save it
James Fisher reports back from the Future Countryside conference at Hatfield House.
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'The countryside faces either terrible harm or uplifting good. Which will it be? It really is up to us'
The countryside is for everyone and the problems facing it — and farming and the environment — will not be solved if the different factions continue to squabble, points out Julian Glover.
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Jason Goodwin: 'What makes a garden is serendipity. Two plants grow together and a stray seedling springs up between them'
Jason Goodwin's garden tours have kicked off, leaving him musing on things unplanned.
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Patrick Galbraith: 'We both agreed that, regrettably, adulthood is merely a series of youthful illusions being shattered'
Patrick has been rubbing shoulders with communists, publishers, New York Times writers and alumni of Cheltenham Ladies' College — and sometimes several of them at once.
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Jonathan Self: What I learned from the last garden hermit in Britain
Our columnist's rare time to himself causes him to reflect on his encounter with a man who had nothing but himself for company for years on end.
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Jason Goodwin: How to be a saint (you'll need some tongs and a furnace)
Ancient kings became saints by popular acclaim, says Jason Goodwin — and that is ‘the kind of sainthood worth achieving if you are a modern king, whose life through thick and thin is devoted to helping the less fortunate, upholding faith and caring for the planet.’
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Carla Carlisle: 'I think I sound as English as Judi Dench, but strangers still ask “where are you from?"'
Our columnist Carla Carlisle bumps in to a milestone in her life, prompting her to take a look at the nation of her birth — but her chief emotion isn't homesickness.
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Colin Heber-Percy: 'You literally can’t get it right. Not completely. And yet, so often, we think we can; we think we should'
Although often overlooked, the Easter message is as much about making mistakes as it is about Resurrection. However, getting it wrong and letting go of our perfectionism is the key to a more contented life, says the Revd Dr Colin Heber-Percy
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Patrick Galbraith: 'Rather than asking if she could be next up for a pigeon, she quit. Her liking for oat milk should have given the game away'
Country Life's newest columnist Patrick Galbraith on car washes, dogs and the inevitable culture clashes that come with being a country boy living in London.
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Curious Questions: Why do churches have gargoyles?
Inevitably hideous-looking and often mischievous, why do gargoyles and grotesques adorn some of our most solemn churches, asks Ben Lerwill.
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Jason Goodwin: 'He thought his wife had punched him — but he was down the pub with a six-inch knife sticking out of his back'
A chance encounter in the unlikeliest of places leaves Jason Goodwin with a memory he'll surely never forget.
