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Mushroom gin, Lego houses, and dull men and women, with James MayThat bloke off Top Gear joins the Country Life Podcast to talk about making his own gin, how to run a pub, why dull men and women are anything but and why he hates the North Pole and suitcases with wheels.
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The Christmas wreath-maker: 'They sell quicker than we can make them'All this week we're running a series on the people who make Christmas in the country what it is. Today, Paula Lester meets wreath maker Ellie Taylor.
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How 'the best picture in the world' was saved from destruction by a British army officer refused to follow his ordersClaudia Pritchard on the extraordinary tale of how Piero della Francesca’s 1460s fresco 'The Resurrection' was saved.
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'I don't understand why we have gone backwards': Historic country houses take stock after the budget50 years on from the landmark exhibition at the V&A, the country house is once again facing huge pressures. Lucy Denton speaks to owners and organisations about what the future might hold.
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Eyes wide shut: The art of sleepingSleep takes many shapes in art, whether sensual or drunken, deathly or full of nightmares, but it is rarely peaceful. Even slumbering babies can convey anxiety, discovers Claudia Pritchard.
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The happiest places to live in Britain, including the gorgeous town that's 'like living in a Constable painting'This riverside spot has topped Rightmove’s annual ranking for the first time, taking the crown from Richmond upon Thames. Here’s why.
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The grand master 'paintings' that are actually the most exquisite floral photographs you'll ever seeHarald Altmaier’s photographs of floral tableaux, as colossal in effort as in scale, recall 17th-century Dutch still lifes, but the inspiration behind them is far wider, as Carla Passino finds.
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The £3 million Van Dyck painting going under the hammer with a unique buy-one-get-one-free offerIf you've ever dreamed of owning an Anthony van Dyck, now's your chance to pick up two in one go — plus more fun from today's Dawn Chorus.
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Lost and then found: A missing painting by Lord Leighton returns to LondonSomeone, somewhere, knows something about where it went.
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The First World War, as seen through the unique Country Life Picture ArchiveCountry Life looks back at the First World War through the lens of the Country Life Archive. View images, read a selection of wartime articles, and also download war artist Muirhead Bone’s first catalogue of drawings, originally published in 1917.
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'Wrecking balls swung from the ceiling, pillars were shown toppling, cornices crumbled... it was sensational': The groundbreaking museum exhibition that helped save the country houseAfter years of neglect and countless demolitions, 1974 witnessed a revolution in attitudes towards country houses. It proved a turning point in Britain’s treatment of its old buildings generally and the saviour of places such as Covent Garden, as Simon Jenkins explains.
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Who was the real St Crispin, and what did he have to do with the Battle of Agincourt?You have questions about Shakespeare's most famous speech. We have answers.
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A few of my favourite things: Matthew GoodeThe British actor tells Hetty Lintell about three objects he can't live without.
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Horsepower and hot air balloons: All of the action from the Chantilly Arts et Elegance Richard MilleEurope's most beautiful concours returned to Chantilly, France, last week and it didn't disappoint. Rosie Paterson was there to record all of the action.
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The story of how 007 creator Ian Fleming came to write Chitty-Chitty-Bang-BangChitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang, our fine four-fendered friend, turns 60 on October 22nd. Mary Miers relives the adventures of the magical flying car and reveals the little-known story of its creation by Ian Fleming, as the writer turned his attention from the world of 007 to a children's tale.
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An exhibition that brings together the gun that started the First World War, Hemingway's typewriter, Captain Scott's snow goggle and Sgt Pepper's DrumThe gun used to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Hemingway's typewriter and the drum featured on the cover of Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band are part of Rick Guest's extraordinary collection of photography, Holy Relics at the StART Fair.
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'As a child I wanted to snuggle up with the dogs and be part of it': Alexia Robinson chooses her favourite paintingAlexia Robinson, founder of Love British Food, chooses an Edwin Landseer classic.
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My Favourite Painting: Geraldine CollingeGeraldine Collinge, the director of Compton Verney art gallery in Warwickshire, selects Pierre-Jacques Volaire's An Eruption of Vesuvius by Moonlight.
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My Favourite Painting: Rachel PodgerRachel Podger, one of the world's leading violinists who specialises in Baroque music, chooses one of Vincent van Gogh's 'Sunflowers'.
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The Legacy: Sir Henry Tate and art for allAfter making his fortune in the sugar business, Sir Henry felt he deserved to give something back to the nation. And so, the Tate gallery was born.
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The timeless appeal of Vaughan and the secrets of good lighting to be unpacked by four of Britain's top designersFor more than four decades, Vaughan has combined inspiration from past and present to create beautifully crafted lighting, furniture and textiles that will stand the test of time.
