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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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One year after being cut down, Sycamore Gap tree lives on with new legacySaplings from the iconic tree will be planted across the country and a new exhibition in Northumberland will ask the public to make promises to nature.
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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.
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The rest is photographsAn afternoon spent going through dusty old albums puts our columnist Jonathan Self in contemplative mood.
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70 mesmerising pictures of Nature and man going on display at Charlie Waite's latest exhibition in LondonAdmission is free to Charlie Waite's Light & Land exhibition at the Mall Galleries.
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The Pre-Raphaelite painter who swapped 'willowy, nubile women' for stained glass — and created some of the best examples in BritainThe painter Edward Burne-Jones turned from paint to glass for much of his career. James Hughes, director of the Victorian Society, chooses a glass masterpiece by Burne-Jones as his favourite 'painting'.
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George Stubbs (1724–1806): Hero of the turfGeorge Stubbs, born 300 years ago, found Nature superior to art and approached his pictures with the eye of an anatomy scholar, yet no contemporary could rival him in capturing the elegance and character of racehorses, dogs and even zebras, as Jack Watkins discovers.
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The Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece that never was, thanks to an assassination, a war, an abduction and an invasionThe great master Leonardo da Vinci was on course to create an equine statue that could have rivalled his greatest pieces — until fate intervened. Carla Passino tells the tale of the da Vinci sculpture that never was.
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Leading landscape photographers share their secrets in latest Light & Land exhibitionCharlie Waite, Bill Ward, Astrid McGechan, Ed Rumble and Charlotte Bellamy are some of the many famous names who will be exhibiting at the Mall Galleries from September 3.
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A manor house built for the British Empire Exhibition in London that was transported to Salcombe brick-by-brickFalconers sits in seven acres of pristine hillside above one of Britain's most famous seaside towns. The only thing more interesting than the house is how it got there.
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The tragic tale of Rex Whistler, the brilliant young artist whose time at the Front Line lasted less than 24 hoursRex Whistler, determined that the Second World War shouldn’t be left to young boys, worked hard to become an officer and lead troops into battle, but the naivety of early courage cost him his life on his very first day of battle, as Allan Mallinson reveals.
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David Messum: Whimsical tales from the life of one of Britain's greatest art dealersDavid Messum joins Country Life to discuss his 60-year career in the art world.
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The Legacy: Godfred Baseley, the man who invented The ArchersWe take a brief look at the life and inspiration of the man behind the world's longest running radio serial.
