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If this drought has one upside, it's that it's revealed many of our landscape's long lost treasuresThis week's Athena notes that at Portchester Castle, and other sites, more history is on show than usual due to the heat and drought.
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The ultimate shapeshifters: There's more to clouds than meets the eyeConstable spent hours re-creating them on canvas and Shelley was so obsessed that he wrote a poem pretending to be one.
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Why centuries of superstitions cast this bird as a villain and an omen of ill fortuneThe swaggering corvid with the chain-smoker’s rasp carries around centuries’ worth of superstitions. Mark Cocker asks if the magpie’s reputation has been unfairly tarred.
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Country Life's heatwave winners and losers. Spoiler alert: it's good news for tomatoesAs we struggle through another heatwave, we list our winners and losers of the sweltering season.
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No shirt, no shoes, no respect: Well dressed and well-behaved tourists only, pleaseAs holiday's in the UK are set to rise, we need to make sure that visitors, both domestic and foreign, are dressing the part.
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'The human equivalent would be able to leap across London's Park Lane': The wonderful world of insectsBe they bioluminescent, possessed of inbuilt violins or builders of Gaudí-esque cathedrals, the insects beneath our feet are worthy of closer inspection, says Charles Harris.
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Pigeons are too successful for their own good — that's why we hate them so muchSpare a thought for these much maligned birds with their soft, crooning seven-note song, writes Mark Cocker.
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Bugs bugs, glorious bugs: 'The little things that run the world'This week's leader celebrates the many merits of the humble insect, from the bumblebee to the butterfly.
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Riding a wave: is the tide turning for seaside heritage?Britain's coastal areas aren't totally washed up just yet, finds Emma Hughes, who discovers how lidos, piers and promenades are riding a new wave of regeneration.
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The ultimate noisy neighbours: The antisocial squawking seabirds whose screams have been heard in ParliamentMany of us have heard the shrill cackle of a herring gull at 4am, writes Mark Cocker, but these birds have an ethereal beauty.
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When every drop counts: Eight stories to help understand the water that surrounds usWe are ‘sleepwalking into an ecological disaster’ due to a modern disconnection from the water cycle, warns one campaigner. Here, eight people whose lives involve working around water talk to Kate Green and Mary Skipwith about how we need to rediscover a fundamental relationship with our most precious resource.
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Why our water is going down the drainHaphazard development, lack of investment and reliance on Victorian structures are creating a looming water crisis in parts of Britain. It will take effort, organisation and a lot of money, but adequate supplies for all are within reach.
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Rights flow to more threatened rivers facing further pollutionFollowing the Ouse, more rivers across the UK are receiving charters to protect their integrity and ecosystems
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Why have the songbirds that protect the Tower of London been branded 'trickster Gods' and 'butcher crows'?Considering that it was Edgar Allan Poe’s avian muse, the raven has a bloodthirsty reputation that isn’t entirely deserved.
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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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If the Unloved Birds’ Club has an apex predator in its midst, then it is surely the white-tailed eagleWhat part–if any–did the white-tailed eagle play in the mysterious disappearance of a group of Shetland foals? Mark Cocker investigates
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The modern farming festival is many things — but is it still for farmers?Has the festival saved farming — or sold it?
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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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The Prince of Wales to guest edit Country Life in NovemberThe November 11 issue will see Prince William join a long line of royal Guest Editors and will focus on His Royal Highness’s advocacy for improving access to mental-health services in the countryside.
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'I can get the same sort of wellbeing from a glass of wine in the bath': A snob’s guide to pretending you like cold-water swimmingAs temperatures rise so too will the calls to go cold-water swimming — much to Sophia Money-Coutt's chagrin.
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If England wants to win the World Cup, it should listen to these emperor penguinsAs it turns out, the natural world has a lot of good advice for how to make a great football team. Country Life and the World Wide Fund for Nature break down the keys to success.
